Cochise, Charlot, & Booker T. Washington

3 Pages 867 Words

These three speeches, “I am alone”, “He has filled our graves with bones”, and “The Atlanta Exposition”, each speak of struggles from the same time period but they have many differences in the way the speech is presented and the people they address. “I am alone” and “He has filled graves with our bones”, are both written by Indians speaking their struggle with the white man, but there past experience with the white man and attitude differ somewhat. On the other hand, “The Atlanta Exposition” speaks of the black mans struggle with the white man, the speaker is wanting the blacks to rise up and prosper with the white man rather than the Indians admitting defeat.
First, is “I am alone”, a speech given by Cochise, a Chiricahua Apache Leader. Cochise gave this speech to the Americans coming to them as a conquered chief. He is very passive, without any rage or intense anger in giving his speech He explained how his tribe had grew from a few into a thriving tribe and all the people they had encountered along the way. First they encountered the Spanish, which his tribe fought and were successful. Then the Mexicans came and the Indians fought them as well, but they were not afraid of the Mexicans because their tribe was substantial and strong. Finally the white man came as his grandfather was chief and the Indians accepted the white man and even exchanged favors. They did not fight the white man off like the others until the Indians were being killed and pushed off their land. Then Cochise went to war killing many soldiers, but for every white man killed there were many to come in his place. Soon the Indian tribe was few in numbers and not as much game left to hunt for food.
Second, is “He has filled graves with our bones”, a speech given by Charlot, a chief of the Kalispel band of Flathead Indians. Charlot gives this speech in regard to the government wanting to tax the Indians, with much anger and hatred tow...