Today's JG Rant in defense of Gen Wayne...again

War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it – Gen Sherman’s letter to the city of Atlanta

While we often hear demands for higher wages for school teachers on this page, given the content of some of the letters on this page, one has to wonder what’s being taught in public schools.  Take Bea Jonas’ letter, “Little Turtle more worthy of statue than Gen. Wayne,” of Feb 12, 2020.  Jonas contends that there was “wholesale theft of land from the native people who occupied it.” 

I would call Jonas’ attention to the Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War.  The Native American Indians’ ally in that conflict, that would be the British, ceded all territory between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River to the Americans.  It wasn’t the Americans who stole the land from the Indians, it was the Native American Indians own ally - the whiter than white British.  So, at least with regard to the Ft. Wayne area, the land wasn’t stolen from Native Americans, it was won in battle.

Any claims for reimbursement for lost land and/or reparations the Native American Indians want to make should be made against their ally – the overly white British Crown.  

I love it when self-loathing white liberals sit back sipping coffee and show where the strong man in the arena stumbled.  On their best day 99.9% of those taking pot shots at Wayne wouldn’t last 5 minutes on the frontier where Wayne thrived.

Jonas points out that Wayne should be rejected because he owned slaves.  Uncomfortable history lesson Ms. Jonas, so did the Native American Indians.

Ms. Jonas points out that America glosses over the theft of Native American land and our original sin of slavery.  Ha!  Far from it.  America is like a couple trying to save a marriage after the infidelity of one of the partners.  Far from glossing over the infidelity, the cheated on Partner throws it up in the other’s face every single time there is a disagreement.

Here’s the truth.  When the Indian Confederation defeated St. Clair at the Battle of the Wabash, brave Native American warriors were let loose on 200 women and children camp followers who they slaughtered without mercy. 

President Washington commissioned Gen. Wayne to restore order.  Gen. Wayne delivered a deceive victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers and for the second time won the disputed territory in battle while destroying the Indians’ Tribal Confederacy and ending the Northwest Indian War via the Treaty of Greenville. 

War is cruelty, Ms. Jonas, particularly when you fight on the defeated side – twice.        

 

  Little Turtle more worthy of salute than Gen. Wayne

Few would argue that two indelible stains on the history of the United States are the wholesale theft of land from the native people who occupied it and the importation of African slaves to work that land. It is not unpatriotic to acknowledge those hard truths; rather, it is unpatriotic to gloss over our nation's troubled beginnings

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I thought of this when considering CityCouncilman Jason Arp's creation of General “Mad” Anthony Wayne Day. In interviews, the councilman implied it is unreasonable to criticize the local celebration of the Revolutionary War hero, as he is the city's namesake.

But Fort Wayne was named long ago, in a time when the voices of marginalized peoples were never taken into consideration. We are now living in the 21st century when, thankfully, those voices are finally being heard.

History tells us that after his Revolutionary War service, Wayne owned slaves on a plantation in Georgia and later helped drive the native people from this area we now call home. These acts were not considered controversial in their time, but we know better now (or at least we should).

Naming cities, schools and libraries for those who oppressed non-whites was standard procedure in the past. We are now in a new era, however, one which demands we stop celebrating those whose legacy was created through the suffering of people of color. This is not burying history, but merely stopping the promotion of the fallacy of white supremacy.

To this end, I say why not a local celebration honoring Chief Little Turtle instead of his white, slave-owning oppressor?

Bea Jonas

Fort Wayne