Should the Past Be Judged free essay sample

We can learn a lot from consulting the past. We learn more about our world, more about our history, and even more about ourselves. Spanish aphorist George Santayana once said: â€Å"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it† (qtd. in Moncur 1). In general terms, this famous aphorism means that it is important for us to study and learn from history in order to avoid repeating the same mistakes. However, the standards and values that we use today to judge the present are much different than they were in the past. What may have seemed like the right thing to do one hundred years ago might not be viewed the same way today. In her essay â€Å"At the Buffalo Bill Museum, June 1988,† Jane Tompkins questions whether or not we should judge the past by the standards and values of today. While visiting the Buffalo Bill Museum, Tompkins mentions that she is disturbed by the scenery of the museum and the statement made by William Frederick Cody, or Buffalo Bill, in the museum’s introductory video. Cody mentions that he wants to be remembered as â€Å"[the] man who opened Wyoming to the best of civilization† (Tompkins 588). However, Tompkins isn’t sure if he can be viewed as that man because of his controversial actions in the past. Although today’s standards and values are much different from those of the past, that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t use them to judge the past. If anything, it is beneficial to judge the past by today’s standards, because we can use it as a learning experience. Society benefits when it judges the past from the current standards and values because as George Santayana mentioned, we must learn from history in order to avoid making the same mistakes. To some people, Buffalo Bill is one of the greatest heroes in American history. Buffalo Bill spent most of his early years working for the army. Cody served as a Union scout in the campaigns against the Kiowa and Comanche during the Civil War. He later enlisted with the Seventh Kansas Cavalry. After taking a few years off to settle down with his wife, Cody returned to the Army as chief of scouts for the Fifth Cavalry. He fought in 16 battles, including the defeat of the Cheyenne at Summit Springs. After his many years of service, Cody was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1872. Cody’s service to the Army was called â€Å"above and beyond the call of duty. † In between his services to the Army, Cody took part in the buffalo trade that earned him his nickname. He became a buffalo hunter to feed the construction crews of the Kansas Pacific Railroad. Although these actions made him a big-game hunter, Jane Tompkins still considers him in part to be a conservationist. â€Å"If it were not for the buffalo in his Wild West shows the species would probably have become extinct† (Tompkins 592). However, the main reason for Cody being a conservationist is because he simply wanted to continue living as a hunter. â€Å"The combination big-game hunter and conservationist suggests that these men had no interest in preserving the animals for the animals’ sake but simply wanted to ensure the chance to exercise their sporting pleasure† (Tompkins 592-93). In this sense, it is difficult to determine whether Cody really cared for the animals or if he only wanted them preserved so he could continue hunting them. It was actions like these that make Cody a controversial figure in American history. According to N. Scott Momaday, Cody’s actions towards the Indians were what created so much opposition towards him. That’s not to say he wasn’t an authentic western hero. â€Å"As a scout, a guide, a marksman, and a buffalo hunter, he was second to none. At a time when horsemanship was at its highest level in America, he was a horseman nearly without peer. He defined the Plainsman† (Momaday 631). Like Tompkins, Momaday describes Cody has an American hero. They both praise him for his heroic deeds to the Army and for his preservation of the buffalo. But unlike Tompkins, Momaday believes Cody’s actions in his Wild West shows are what make him questionable as a hero. Cody’s Wild West shows weren’t just used to preserve the buffalo species; they were used to depict his actions as an Indian fighter. â€Å"Buffalo Bill was a plainsman, but the place he might have held on the picture plane of the West was severely compromised and ultimately lost to the theatrical pretentions of the Wild West Show† (Momaday 638). For Cody, these shows were just a transformation into an imitation of himself. The great fascination and peril of Cody’s life was the riddle of who he really was. The thing that opposed him, and perhaps betrayed him, was above all else the mirage of his own identity† (Momaday 631). In this essence, it is important for us to judge the past. Despite his treatment of the Indians, Cody is still an authentic American hero. Buffalo Bill isn’t the only figure in American history to be v iewed in this controversial manner. Consider the actions of Christopher Columbus after discovering America. In 1492, Columbus set out on a voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in an effort to prove that the world was round. After spending two months at sea, Columbus finally reached what he thought was India but was actually Central America. Columbus is credited for being the first to generate European awareness of the American continents in the Western Hemisphere. His voyages eventually led to the colonization of the Americas and the development of a modern world. After Columbus, more and more explorers set out to the Americas, in search of land, natural resources, and knowledge of the environment. Columbus’ voyages were what ultimately led to the country we live in today. Because of this, a national holiday was created, known as Columbus Day, which is celebrated to honor his contributions to the development of the American continents. Columbus however isn’t viewed as a hero in the eyes of everyone today. Gerald Kevitt degrades Columbus for his treatment of the indigenous people who were already living in America prior to his arrival. â€Å"Universally lauded as a hero in the nineteenth century, the famous explorer is today often denounced as an ignoble precursor of imperial exploitation, environmental degradation, and genocide† (Kevitt 3). Columbus’ discovery is what ultimately led to the colonization of the Americas, but also to the destruction of an entire race. As more and more Europeans arrived, the native peoples’ land slowly diminished. Prior to European arrival, the inhabitants of the American continents were primarily made up of natives. Although it is unknown how long they inhabited the land, historians suggest that it was thousands of years before the Europeans even knew of its existence. N. Scott Momaday considers the Europeans to be thieves of the native peoples. Those Europeans who ventured into the West must have seen themselves in some way as latecomers and intruders. In spite of their narcissism, some aspect of their intrusion must have occurred to them as a sacrilege, for they were in the unfortunate position of robbing the native peoples of their homeland and the land of its spiritual resources (Momaday 628). The Europeans robbed the natives of their homeland. As more and more settlers a rrived, the natives were forced to move westward and further away from their villages. Their land slowly reduced in size until it was completely diminished and reduced to nothing. Many natives died along the way, not only because of the hardships they encountered but because of the diseases they caught from the Europeans. When the Europeans arrived, they brought with them many diseases from the east. The natives, who had never come in contact with Europeans before, were subjected to these diseases that killed many of them instantly. Their population slowly diminished as more and more Europeans moved west and took up even more of their land. The biggest problem with this tragedy is it is unknown by so many Americans today. Many Americans look at the time of European colonization as a time of expansion and renewal. They see it in the same way as Frederick Jackson Turner. In his essay â€Å"The Significance of the Frontier in American History†, Turner describes the period of European colonization as positive in the eyes of everyone. â€Å"The frontier promoted the formation of a composite nationality for the American people†¦In the crucible of the frontier the immigrants were Americanized, liberated, and fused into a mixed race, English in neither nationality nor characteristics† (Turner 541). Turner fails to mention the Indians anywhere in his essay, as if they had no part in the event. To the colonists, they didn’t and that is why they were sent west. Turner sees the formation of the frontier in an entirely different perspective than Momaday. While it may have been a significant time for the colonists, it led to the destruction of the native tribes that were living in America centuries before the Europeans. We need to look to the past and learn from the mistakes of the Europeans. If we do not judge the past through the eyes of the present, how can we move on and prevent similar situations? There are some critics to this idea who believe that we should not judge the past based on today’s standards. They believe this causes us to see the past from a negative perspective because of how different society was run. Throughout her essay â€Å"At the Buffalo Bill Museum, June 1988†, Jane Tompkins continuously brings up her struggle in determining who Buffalo Bill really was. As mentioned before, Buffalo Bill is considered to be an authentic hero of the west. However, his treatment of the Indians makes his heroic title questionable. It is not so much that we cannot learn from history as that we cannot teach history how things should have been† (Tompkins 602). Jane Tompkins believes it is sometimes impossible to look at the past through the eyes of the present. Because of the different lifestyles led by the people of that time, it is difficult to see some of them as heroes from today’s perspective. After learning about Cody’s heroic deeds as a w ar fighter and his mistreatment of the Indians, Tompkins isn’t sure what her true vision of Cody really is. Must we throw out all the wonderful qualities that Cody had, the spirit of hope and emulation that he aroused in millions of people, because of the terrible judgment history has passed on the epoch of which he was part? The kinds of things he stands for – courage, daring, strength, endurance, generosity, openness to other people, love of drama, love of life, the possibility of living a life that does not deny the body and the desires of the body – are these to be declared dangerous and delusional although he manifested some of them while fighting Indians while representing his victories to the world? And the feelings he aroused in his audiences, the idealism, the enthusiasm, the excitement, the belief that dreams could become real – must these be declared misguided or a sham because they are associated with the imperialistic conquest of a continent, with the wholesale extermination of animals and men? (Tompkins 602) This question explains why we must judge the past based on today’s standards and values. Cody was an American hero, but his treatment of the Indians contrasts with that title. We need to look past that mistreatment and learn from the mistakes he made. This allows for us to move forward in life and define the true qualities that determine a hero today. In a contemporary world, it is important for us to study and learn from history in order to avoid repeating past mistakes. This general idea comes from George Santayana. It is true that a lot of the actions taken by individuals in the past are today viewed as controversial. The actions taken by William Frederick Cody make it difficult to determine who he really was.