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A Nation Divided
(1840-1861)

Osceola

Osceola
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 4 to 6
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   5.31

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    specific, alliance, fasted, malaria, undergrowth, wanderers, rank, newly, refused, reclaim, truce, runaway, hatred, sacred, prison, member
     content words:    Native American, When Tecumseh, Many White Sticks, Red Sticks, General Andrew Jackson, White Sticks, Horseshoe Bend, Tallapoosa River, Thomas Jefferson, Native Americans

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Osceola
By Jane Runyon 		  
1     I am a Native American. To be more specific, I am a member of the Tallasee tribe of the Creek nation. I grew up in the area that is now called Mississippi. I remember when I was a small child of six or seven that we had a visitor to our camp. He was a Shawnee of great strength and daring. His name was Tecumseh. I learned later that Tecumseh had come to my home to try to convince the leaders of my tribe to join with other tribes in forming an alliance. He explained to our chiefs that the only way we would be able to survive with the white man was to unite in one strong force. We must forget our differences and work together. Our chiefs did not listen.
 
2     Within our people there were two groups. One of the groups wanted to be friends with the white man. They adopted the white man's ways of farming and living. We gave this group the name "White Sticks." The other group, to which my family belonged, wished to retain the way of the Indian. We wanted to drive the white man out of our land. These differences caused bitter fighting among our own people. When Tecumseh died, there was no Native American leader to hold the tribes together, and the fight became even more bitter.
 
3     The Americans fought a war against the British from 1812 to 1814. Many White Sticks fought on the side of the white man. They believed that by doing so, the Americans would look at them kindly and leave their land alone. The Red Sticks fought with the British. It was our hope that the British would defeat the Americans, and we would reclaim the land the white man had stolen. We were defeated by General Andrew Jackson and the White Sticks at Horseshoe Bend on the Tallapoosa River. The Red Sticks would no longer have any power, and the White Sticks were forced to give all of their land to the Americans. Neither of us won.

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