Because of the need to hunt for food or protect themselves from wild animals, many people did have guns. I know the history is very flawed right on down to the appearance of the early cowboys. But after taking a little time to look at the historical record, it becomes clear that the real West was a bit different from the typical depiction in Hollywood. Myth and Reality: The Pattern of Relationship between the Hull House Circle and the "New Immigrants" on Chicago's West Side, 1890-1919 RIVKA LISSAK THE SETTLEMENT HOUSE MOVEMENT was established at the end of the nineteenth century in the slums of America's cities by groups of men and women drawn from the middle and upper classes. But by the late 19th century, these were the only frontiers left in the continental United States. The Wild West was the home of many colorful (often disreputable) characters. As in the rest of the country, corporations became increasingly common, and a growing number of Westerners found themselves employees rather than independent pioneers. There are some documentaries on the true history of the West and the horror the American Indians lived through that just breaks my heart. and 80% of the movies seemed to be another western. The Truth About the West. The Albany Plan of Union, which was drafted by Benjamin Franklin and the governor of Massachusetts Thomas Hutchinson, was a proposal to unite the thirteen colonies in preparation of a war with France. When a myth is created it is based off the actual event, however it is warped to seem more interesting. United States places their virtues and morals forward to the world, giving a clear righteous image of them, especially as a country that claims to know more right than wrong. The myths were the best way to advertise the American West, instead of the reality. View full document. COVID-19 Myths vs. In one the reality was grubby outlaws slitting the throats of travellers, and the other probably was some dark ages tribe living in a smokey hovel. Instead, they might die slowly, complete with blood, guts, excruciating pain, and dismembered body parts. As a place that was new and somewhat unsettled, law and order had not quite been established. https://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?id=803 Finally, the West is often depicted as an unspoiled wilderness, a land of wide-open spaces untouched by the environmental effects of civilization. View _The Western Frontier_ Myth vs Reality_ - Kesley Pearson.pdf from HIST 1203-1213 at University of Arkansas. And in the general culture, you can still see the glorification of our Western past. The first was to ally with the Iroquois. Myth 5: Discrimination Against the Newcomers. 1. The enthusiasm many people felt when embarking on their adventures out west, whether mining, farming, or working as a cowboy, soon faded when the reality of life on the frontier set in. The West could certainly get violent at times, but Western towns were far less violent than in the movies. For some it was old western movies that showed us what the American west was like, for others it was stories passed down through their family. The final misconception is that fifteen years after joining the EU, the CEE countries remain the poor relations in the European family, with the older members continuing to run the show and protecting their advantages. I tell them that someday, I want one of my students to become a great filmmaker who utilizes his or her skill in making the true American Western. Even though american entertainment will always have an influence on people's depiction of the west, the myth versus the reality drastically differs. Personally I used to hate western movies. John Clay, an old rancher who actually lived and worked among these men described them as a "devil may care, immoral, revolver-heeled, brazen, light fingered lot who usually came to no good end" (Carlson 3). On the frontier, you were forced to take care of yourself. Arguably the most idealized image in America is that of the cowboy. Few actually took this drastic step, but it was nice to think that you still could. The American Old West: Myth versus Reality Western, a genre of short stories that are set in the American west, primarily in the late of the 19th century (“Western” 598), and still being told until today by … Thanks for teaching your students some real history. Thanks again for another interesting, and thoughtful article. Paul Swendson (author) on April 22, 2011: Since there is such a mass of information out there describing and depicting life today, it will be interesting to see the degree to which our current age is romanticized in the future. Hollywood renditions of cowboys, Indians, gunfights, and outlaws paint a romanticized version of what people believe Old West life was like because the idea of a gritty frontiersman who maintained law and order with his peacemaker was the stuff of box office gold. The movies portray the west as an action packed, good vs evil utopia of sorts. When I finish discussing the Old West, I leave students with one, final half-serious task. Or then again, maybe future filmmakers should stick with the John Wayne formula. As the reader can see the Bermuda has had many disappearances occur without any explanation of what caused the disappearances. At Hospice of the Northwest we have a dedicated team of healthcare providers, social workers, and spiritual counselors who are supported in patient care by our volunteers, music and massage therapists, and grief counselors. I have reaced my ancestry way back to the Vikings But mt DNA test noted me to be 90%Northen European and 10% Native North American. And after years of trampling, farting, grass-eating cattle; large scale industrial mining; and primitive farming practices on land ill-suited for agriculture in the first place; the untamed wilderness began to lose its pristine quality. The conceived image of the cowboy embodie… The Myth: Old Westerns … The idea that bank robberies happened all to often back in the old west is a completely false assumption that people have today because of the stories and legends passed down from past generations. Known under different names in different countries, it is now popularly known by its Latin appellation deriving from unus=one and cornus=horn. People today seem generally too cynical to accept romantic nations about our own time. They had many struggles with the Native Americans, the French trying to take their land by way of war, and Great Britain, the motherland, taxing them harshly for war debt but the American colonists eventually made their way to what is today commonly called the West. The enthusiasm many people felt when embarking on their adventures out west, whether mining, farming, or working as a cowboy, soon faded when the reality of life on the frontier set in. In one the reality was grubby outlaws slitting the throats of travellers, and the other probably was some dark ages tribe living in a smokey hovel. So why was the Old West an important myth? These powerful images of the West can be summed up with three basic ideas. But people love to romanticise. This myth is just one example of how folklore can shape a group of people. i. Indians of the Great Plains The major of moving to the west was because of the Homestead Act, 1862 (“U.S. Now while I am stereotyping just a little, there is no doubt that the term cowboy has taken on a meaning very different from its original connection to cattle ranching. These classes all are heroic men, symbols of their own countries in a specific time of history, and are romanticized in literature. The iconic figure of the American cowboy, more than anything else, demonstrates the degree to which the realities of the Old West evolved into myth and legend. Every place has its own culture. And when people were shot, they did not necessarily die instantly with a single bullet wound to the chest. Here, Robert Walsh debunks the myths and shares what really happened. No matter your political leanings and cultural sensitivity, the dominant images most people see are feathers, war paint, bows and arrows, buffalos, … It is not difficult to understand why. First, there is the belief that this was the “Wild West,” a crazy place filled with crime, duels, drunks, gamblers, bar fights, and dancing girls/prostitutes. Apostle Jack from Atlanta Ga on April 21, 2011: © 2021 Maven Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. Great article. In the world there are only few places where people go missing for no logical explanation. I just got so sick of them. The Old West was not the only myth in American history, we also learned about the City on the Hill myth written by John Winthrop. Chapter 16: The American West reality All hospices that participate with Medicare are required to meet the same guidelines, however the support services may differ between them. The myth of the the West differs from the reality of the west in several ways. When people pictured the Old West, certain images popped up in their head. They chose to Strangely, modern people who might identify themselves as cowboys are unlikely to work with cattle. In the beginning there was absolutely gun violence in the early settlement of the American West but as settlements started to grow the need and tolerance for guns started to fall and the west didn’t stay wild forever. Hillis declares that there are “few cultural images as widespread and enduring as the image of the American cowboy” (17). Discuss the American cowboy in terms of myth vs. reality. It's not right that kids should grow up believing that such simplistic myths are true and just never know what their real heritage is. The different varieties of Unicorn have specific variations in appearance, but all have the head and body of a horse, the legs of an antelope, the tail of a horse or lion and the beard of a goat. In reality it was always a lot dirtier, smellier and more mundane than we would like to think it was. The idea that there was still a place with wide-open spaces where the independent pioneers could still thrive was very appealing. The same problem affects our perception of "The Old West", as it does that of Robin Hood, or The Arthurian legends. Myths usually try to tie into the morality of the time period, and group of people they were designed for. United Kingdom on April 22, 2011: The reality of any society rarely matches the myth. Reality -by Devon Matthews Today I’m revisiting one of my favorite topics—the myth versus the reality of the Old West. The reality of any society rarely matches the myth. The reality of any society rarely matches the myth. The American Old West: Myth versus Reality Myth vs Reality of the West • Romanticized view of the American west in literature, paintings, and dime novels. Without a sheriff that was fast on the draw and a decent deputy or two, you would basically have anarchy. How and why did this less than glamorous historical figure become transformed into our romantic “All-American” national hero? The Myth of the West in a Modern Mass Consumption Society 2. We are one of the first generations that does not spend every day simply surviving, so it is hard for us to understand. How did Buffalo Bill and Turner’s frontier thesis help to perpetuate these myths? So a lot of history was often though of as myth and a lot myths were often thought of as actual history. The Native Americans were then hurt greatly by the small pox and measles introduced by the Europeans. The Wild West of nineteenth century America was at times a chaotic and unruly place, not helped by the lack of law enforcement officials. 3. But people love to romanticise. When people wanted to go westward, they took their wagons; the wagons hurt the land... ...American West CMHypno from Other Side of the Sun on April 22, 2011: History generally does get romanticised, especially once Hollywood gets hold of it. Often movies, comics and American literature neglect to show realities of the journey west, and the life on the frontier. The “American West” is not what many people think of when they hear those words. The Wild West was the home of many colorful (often disreputable) characters. Unlike other hooved animals it does not pasture in herds but walks alone, and after a male and female come together for mating, the male resumes its solitary habit. ...The Unicorn is a particularly beautiful creature once widespread throughout the northern hemisphere. Someday, people dreamed, they would flip the boss off, buy a cowboy hat, and head off to the frontier. The cowboy is typically pictured as a lone English-speaking, self made man riding majestically on a horse. Even so, many myths have arisen about the period. This was also the case with Europeans who also devoured the western dime novels. Legends like Wild Bill, Calamity Jane, Jesse James' gang, Buffalo Bill, are products of this myth, and still present in popular culture, as well as in the books of Theodore Roosevelt, Frederic Remington and Owen Wister, or in comics like Lucky Luke and westernfilms. During Albany Congress the Iroquois Indians were bribed with supplies and weapons to... ...The author begins with famous quote lines as a clear example of “American exceptionalism” and the idealistic descriptions of the United States, especially over the last two centuries. The hardship opening up The Old West as we regard it today, to commit ones wife and children to deprivation and trauma would have been above my ability. When Western dime novels began appearing in the late 19th century, Americans ate this stuff up for one basic reason: these Western stories seemed to be the polar opposite of their lives in the east. Myth: Indians were bloodthirsty savages. The meeting had two focal points. The Wild West, this amazingly dangerous and mysterious land that people of today’s society grew up hearing about. Rather than being a person doing a specific job, the cowboy has become a person who follows a certain lifestyle: cowboy hat, leather, boots, a truck (complete with a gun rack), country music, rodeos, and NASCAR races. HubPages® is a registered trademark of Maven Coalition, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. Most myths about the American West originated on the silver screen. 2. Christopher Antony Meade from Gillingham Kent. Due to all the cultural influences, there was this idea that the West was the destination of the American Dream and opportunity. The myths of the 19th-century American West—cowboys versus Indians, black-hatted outlaws versus white-hatted lawmen—became stubbornly entrenched in popular culture with the pulp novels of the day, called “blood and thunders,” and spread worldwide (especially in Europe) through the works of best-selling German author Karl May and, later, Hollywood. Compare the myths of the American and the Canadian west: the one is a myth of a Hobbesian state of nature mitigated only by individual and … This was until the 1740s. The Great Plains MYTH: Iranians are isolated from the world and have limited access to Western products and culture.What they know about the West they don’t like, as evidenced by their chants of “Death to America.” FACT: Despite years of sanctions from abroad and a government that censors much of the media and internet, Iranians actually have broad understanding … So if you wanted to see the last of America’s natural landscapes, and if you were tough enough to survive, it was time to “go west, young man.”. Students will display work and present orally on it addressing this myth vs. reality question. This meeting was called the Albany Congress because they all met in Albany in the spring of 1754. This lead to a huge wave of immigrants moved to the West, and they had to face to many hardships and conflicts such as Indian attacks, tornadoes, blizzards, and illnesses. When we cover the late 19th century American West in my History classes, I have students start with a simple exercise. Old West - Myth vs. Webster’s Dictionary defines a myth as: “a story that was told in an ancient culture to explain a practice, belief, or natural occurrence”. Over the years, it has been amazing to see how consistent these lists are: cowboys & Indians, gunfights, gold prospectors, ghost towns, saloons, outlaws, desert landscapes, wagon trains, etc. FACT Most of the families who homesteaded in the west were happy and healthy, enjoyed the work, and were rewarded with bountiful harvests.
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