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This image shows Wheatley deep in thought. It shows how important it was for her to convey her message in a meaningful way so she could touch the hearts of others and show the racial injustice.

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This is a picture of the colonists fighting for their rights early on. This declaration was motivated by the need to get away from the British control, and exercise the colonist's own freedoms.

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This is a photo of a Native American church. I believe this photo does a good job of representing the integration of Native American culture into the church that Samuel Occum experienced and carried out. The church, despite clearly having European influence on the Architecture, is in the heart of a myriad of teepees. This shows how important native culture was to Samson Occum and the influence it had on his faith.

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This photo is a depiction of a slave ship that shows the conditions of one. I chose this photo so that we could really get an idea of the struggles that Philis Wheatley went through on her way to America, and those struggles shaped her poetry and her reactions to what she experienced. She suffered so much on the trip, and the only thing that really got her through was the hope of a civil liberty that would be akin to the religious liberty that she believed she would experience. This hope being quelled impacts her so much more than if she didn't suffer on the way there to the extent that she did, and this picture of a slave ship just puts that into perspective.

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This is a depiction of the founding fathers writing the Declaration of Independence that I wanna touch on for a couple reasons. First, I think that it represents very well the sheer amount of people that put thought into this. This document shaped our nation, and an unimaginable amount of thought was put into it. That amount of people also shows the value of this document, that so many people felt the need to invest such a great amount of time into it.

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This photo is of the Bible and that is what Phyllis built her identity on. She was full committed to her relationship with God and didn't let her unfair life define her. America originally was based on faith in God. It has shifted to what it is today. An atheist culture with no obligation to any religion.

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The colonies, inhabited by so many people, were left to govern themselves by Britain. A country all the way across the sea were regulating people who they had no knowledge about. This instilled America with self-reliance. They developed their identity based on what they wanted for themselves rather than a government and federal success.

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Samuel Occom teaches language and has a passion for Christ. Education only grows in it's importance to American identity. There is no way to get jobs or be accepted by society if you do not have the tools school gives you. One way for the Indians to gain respect, is to prove that they are just as intelligent as anyone.

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This image depicts Phyllis Wheatley thinking through her words before she puts them to paper. This is significant because it captures her careful reflection which results in rich insight that we still study today.

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This image depicts the Tyrannical British army ready for battle. This is significant because this is the country that the Declaration of Independence was directed at and declaring freedom from.

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This is a picture of Samson Occom who looks to be studying a text. Occom was very intelligent and shared his knowledge with as many people as he could. Occom was gifted with a servants heart and helped as many people as he could and didn't expect anything in return. He did all he could to learn the Bible and spread his Gospel.

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This is an image of the American's shortly after defeating the British. They were fighting for their freedom from Britain and defending the Declaration of Independence which they viewed gave them the right to freedom. They were fighting to break off from the King of Britain who was an oppressive ruler who didn't allow the freedoms they viewed were God given to all men.

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This picture, representing the fireworks on the Fourth of July, really stands for America as a whole. Though not everyone may like the loud booming fireworks or obnoxious neighbors, they still recognize what this day means for our country. The signing of the declaration of independence nearly 248 years ago on this day was crucial. This day America was truly declared a free nation, which we hope to embody for years to come.

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This picture specifically encompasses what it means to be a missionary today. Without those brave souls who shared their faith with Samuel Occom, he may have never been able to accomplish the amazing wonders he has. He was then able to transform the knowledge he learned into real tangible things like: publishing his writings in English, founding several settlements, and being one of the first ordained Christian Indian ministers. All of which is possible due to God and his work through the missionaries.

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This is a picture of Phillis Wheatley talking to what looks like a reporter who is writing down what she is saying. This is important because Phillis Wheatley had many great ideas and had a great influence around her. She talked about many issues on racial and gender issues and people wanted to hear what she had to say.

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This was Samuel Occom's box, with which he kept his papers that he used to share with the Mohegan tribe and other children. I think this picture accurately displays how he was able to evangelize. He believed it was important to spend time with children and adults to preach.

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as we can see here there are some missionaries in fellowship and communication with some younger natives. This applies to Occom because he was converted to Christianity at a young age due to the influence of Christian colonists. His story shows us how Americas identity is at least partially formed by their interactions with others weather that be for good or for bad.

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This image depicts the declaration next to the American flag. The image represents the strong patriotism that Americans felt, and the boldness it took to step away from what they knew to pursue what they believed to be right. This is seen through the emphasis and focus of the flag in contrast to the declaration. The image is trying to evoke in you with the idea that this is the start of American patriotism.

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This video explains the impact that Samson Occom had on America. This man showed incredible determination and resolve after converting to Christianity at 17. He learned 4 languages, preached the gospel to his own Native people, went to England and raised a bunch of money to open a school, and he was even a teacher helping kids learn the English language. Despite all the success in his mission, Occom was treated unfairly getting paid minimally, getting his funds stripped to build a college for white people, and having physical challenges like eyestrain limiting his education. Occom demonstrated the resolve that many hardworking Americans today are known for: in light of difficulties they demonstrate a resilience to excel at their craft, even if they don't reap the rewards right away.

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Minorities in Christian History: Samson Occom

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In this image we can see a depiction of Phillis Wheatley. we can see that it is in a more modern art style. This is important because it shows just how much of an impact Wheatley had. She truly changed history and impacted the American's ideas around slavey, to a point that we still teach her story to the younger generations.

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This picture reminds me of all of the things Saumel Occom accomplished. He wrote, overcame a language barrier, became a Christian, taught the Natives school and about God, and many other things. He showed determination, a desire to grow, a willingness to learn, and a desire for equal rights. His life was a representation of how America was founded, demonstrating its ideals of growth, equality, and God...

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This is a painting of King George III. This man is the man who caused the Declaration of Independence to be written. In various ways he oppressed colonists living in America, causing them to want to break away from Great Britain and form their own government: one founded on the principles of liberty, equality, and freedom instead of having a tyrannical king that gave the people no say in anything.

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In this picture and in all the others I saw, Phillis Wheatley looked like she was pondering something. She used her skill in writing, to influence many. Since she was the second woman to publish anything in the US, and she was the first slave woman to do so, I think that was what made her highly influential, and her application of godly truths helped build America into what it is today.

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This is a geode. The rock on the left is the geode when it is closed, but if you break it open, you see the image on the right. It is just a dull rock that most people don't see as valuable on the outside, but on the inside, it is beautiful. I think this is a theme that Phillis Wheatley tries to convey, especially in her work "To S.M. A Young African Painter, On Seeing His Works." She says, "When first thy pencil did those beauties give." She is complimenting this African Painter for how beautiful his works are, and what he is able to accomplish in his paintings. Most people disregard his works though, because he is black and on the outside they see something that is not valuable. But on the inside, he is very capable of producing beautiful works of art. Phillis is trying to hammer home the fact that their people, the people who are of different color, are beautiful and capable of beautiful things, if they would just get past the color of their skin.

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Though this image is comical, it represents a large part of the Declaration of Independence, well. The picture depicts the Colonists tearing down a statue of King George, and using it for ammunition against the British themselves. Not only does this show the desire for independence, it also shows the determination and somewhat ironic aspects of their/our character.

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This painting show Wheatly in thought. It looks like she is writing a poem at her desk. This painting shows how much she cared about her writing and showing the world the racial injustices all around her.

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This is an interesting image of what America is built upon. There is a document in the center which in this case represents the Declaration of Independence. This photo has many physical representations of how American identity is rooted in unity. there are many American flags, which is the physical representation of American people as one country and one nation. There is the liberty bell, which celebrated the first time the Declaration of Independence was read out loud, declaring that all American people were finally independent from England. Lastly, the document in the center representing the Declaration of Independence. It says in the opening that "All men are created equal." I think that the key word is ALL. It creates a sense of unity as American Identity.

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In this painting. The artist is trying to depict a huge group of colonist coming together to write an article. This article will be the basis of America as it is today. It is incredible seeing that so many people came together to write about God in such texts. Looking at out world today if we were to rewrite a constitution i don't think we would have any Christian values in it.

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This image shows Phillis Wheatley as she writes, and it also shows her deep in thought as she does it. I think it is interesting how she is thinking deeply in the picture and it accurately displays the way she took great care to create a quality work in her writing and had deep beliefs about producing quality writings. This connects to the devlopment of American Identity because it shows the care and investment of the Americans in making the life they wanted. Instead of living secluded lives and keeping to themselves, a big part of early American Identity was the collective effort of many people thinking about what they wanted to be better in the world and then also having the desire to not just watch things happen passively, but to go make it happen.

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I think this image displays the defiance and determination that the colonists lived with and displayed in the Declaration of Independence. This connects to the development of American identity because the early people that founded America lived with a fiery spirit and attitude. They had an intense determination to support their unique values and see them shown in their country.

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This image depicts her almost arguing with the men for her rights. in her time it was totally against the norm for a woman and especially a woman of color to be doing things like this. This photo depicts the hardship women had to go through to gain their rights and people like her who fought developed what we know in America today of freedom for ALL.

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This image depicts the founding fathers drafting the Constitution. They are discussing the values that they want this nation to be built on. They came together with their differing opinions and agreed on the best way possible to advance this new nation. In the declaration, we see these ideas of their plan for the new country and the values of working together as the people and not being ruled by a king.

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This image depicts the white man teaching, while Samuel is sitting down. I think this artist chose to have the white man teaching to depict that they were better at it than the native teachers. America has always had this underlying favor towards white men because it was normally the white men making these depictions. this correlates to Samuel's document because Samuel talked about how he thought the whites felt superior to him.

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This picture is showing Occom sitting down. He is pointing to what looks to be the Bile in a way that makes you think he is sharing it with people. This idea of sharing the Gospel is very relevant back then as it still is today.

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This picture represents the American Identity and what the Declaration of Independence did for them. The shackles of Britian and their oppressive laws had been hated, and now with the declaration, they are free to govern themselves without the restriction of Britian's government.

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This image shows and Indian woman, perhaps a guide for the Europeans, arguing angrily with the early explorers. This is similar to the feeling that Samuel Occom must have had with his pay for doing ministry just as well as white men, but not being paid as fairly because he was Indian. Occom and the Indian guide are angry about the dismissiveness of the White folk and Colonists because of their skin color rather than their character.

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This song by Michael Jackson is titled, "Black or White". It's a song that speaks of unity between all races and that love, and blood transcends all boundaries of color. This song relates to Phillis Wheatley because, like Michael Jackson, she directly challenges the culture on the issue of racism and judgement of because of skin tone and rather pushes for people to look on each other equally and as brothers of America and Christ.

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This is a picture of what the ship (phillis) that Phillis Wheatley would had traveled on to America. She was named after this ship. This name was imposed on her by people that view her as inferior. Her name was a example of how African Americans were looked down on. It shows that America idenity wasnt that all people are created equal and have rights but they only think that white people have these rights. They showed racism and hyprocritism.

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This image shows the mad respect that Phillis gained from her many writings. Although she wasn't highly recognized when she started, her words meant something to the country of America. She wrote for a purpose she thought was worthy of people's time to dwell on. The results didn't come immediately, but when they did, it is shown that the people of America recognized her. Even though we don't know where she was buried, there is still a memorial of her so that the world remembers Phillis Wheatley

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Halle Lafler

This is the emblem of Phillis Wheatley High School in Houston, Texas. This school was named after Phillis Wheatley because of her immense impact on early America. They seek to provide in depth resources for their students as well as assisting in those learning the English language.

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This song is very patriotic. If you look at the lyrics, he talks about how he's proud to be an American, because here he is free. He loves this land, saying "God bless the USA". We are privileged to live in this land, and this song highlights the idea of that, relating to the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration is the foundation of the freedom of our nation. It states that we are free, equal, and unified; this song says why we should be happy about that.

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This image of Phillis Wheatley show her writing one of her poems. She was a genius woman of color that was optimistic through and through despite her not-so-warm welcome into the United States. She was passionate about her writings and, with the help of white folks, was able to publish her writings and become famous, which was very rare during that time period with people of color.

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phillis Wheatley is a woman of much courage, who felt it necessary to voice her opinion about racial superiority in America. she experienced the brutality of the American culture, and wanted to spark a change within the country. when she came, she had heard of this great faith. she wrote many poems talking about how there is still hope for america.

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This picture is used to represent the stamp act. This was one of the many acts that the British government put on the colonies. This act took away some of the colonies freedom and made them want liberity from Britian. You can see in the Declaration of Indpendence that they wanted freedom from Britians due to all of the abuses put on them. This creates the identity that American values freedom and liberaty.

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This painting illustrates Wheatley in deep thought. At this point in history, people of differing color weren't seen as humans, although she seems to have a mind of her own. From one idea, she produces poetry that will forever change the hearts of her readers. She speaks about the absence of equality in a country that believes most people are equal but not all a reoccurring issue throughout history.

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I think that this shows the Americans fighting for the their independence from the tyrannical leaders of the British crown. the Declaration of Independence is one of the biggest documents in American history becuase it is declaring our independence from Britain.

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This painting shows the "Committee of Five", or the founders of the Declaration of Independence. They are confident in their vision and hope to reach the people in order to prove how serious they are about the Independence from Britain and how important it was for our nation overall.

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This image is a page from her book which was published during a time when people of color and more specifically women, weren't able to make literature and have these rights. Yet she was able to create this book and somewhat change the way of others thinking.

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The painting above shows the vision of the Founding Fathers who came together in order to write the Constitution. In hopes of achieving the common goal - make the US an independent country from Britain and create a country dedicated to the principles of equality and justice.

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I think that this accurately demonstrates the motive of Samuel Occom, who was an Indian preacher converted to christianity at age 17. He felt there were certain people group that needed to hear the gospel. He spent his time with children and adults in prayer and preaching to them about Jesus.

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This document talks about Occum getting tricked by his friend, Wheelock. His character was ruined due to a rumor that Wheelock started. His funds were used for Dartmouth Collage, instead of Indian school Iccum hoped to support. He also was underpayed which led to his family living in poverty. He was also manipulated. This connects to American identity because it shows that not everyone was seen as equal. That the indians were veiwed as inferior, and that led to them getting taken advantage of.

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Dartmouth Alumni Magazine | The Complete Archive

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HE KINDLED AND FUNDED Eleazar Wheelock's "grand design." He never expected what he got in return...

SAMSON OCCOM'S LIFE UNFOLDED in the midst of a hundred-year imperial war, when suspicion and hatred dictated relationships between Euro-Americans and Indians. At the time of his birth in 1723, his Connecticut tribe, the once-powerful Mohegans, had dwindled to 350 people. Ravaged by disease and warfare, plagued by the usual side effects of colonialism-alcohol, factionalism, defection, and dilution the fragmented community was forced into a marginal existence on a fraction of its former land. The remaining Mohegans supplemented their meager harvests by peddling baskets and brooms or selling their labor as servants.

By his own account, Occom was brought up as a "heathen." At the age of 17 he converted to Christianity, then taught himself to read and write in order to learn Protestant philosophy. Finding his own people "perishing for lack of Vision," he undoubtedly saw in Christianity an alternative to the spiritual void he witnessed around him. Very likely, he also saw conversion as a means of escaping destitution. Two yearslater he took his place in the Mohegan community as an elected member of its 12 -person governing council.

At about this time Occom heard of Eleazar Wheelock's college preparatory school in Lebanon, Connecticut. Hoping to improve his education, he asked his mother, Sarah, who was probably employed there as a house servant, to arrange a meeting with the minister. It was Occom who found Wheelock, and not the other way around.

Occom entered Wheelock's school in 1743, aided by a generous stipend from the Boston commissioners for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG). Despite failing eyesight and his advanced age-he was now 20 Occom took just four years to advance from rudimentary literacy to fluency in English and relative proficiency in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, obvious testimony-by modern standards as well to his superior intellect. One of Wheelock's fellow missionaries, the Rev. Samuel Buell, maintained that had Occom been in better health, he undoubtedly would have entered Yale.

Occom's success as a scholar was the spark that kindled Wheelock's "grand design" a coeducational boarding school to train Indian missionaries for "errands into the wilderness." (His Moor's Indian Charity School would open, finally, in 1753.) Wheelock believed that his school would be the most effective way to keep Indians from roaming the land and causing disturbances along the frontier. Moreover, Indian missionaries, he thought, would be four times as serviceable as whites because they would be cheaper to maintain and would be willing to live under conditions unacceptable to Englishmen. Clarifying the place he had in mind for his charges in the missionary hierarchy, Wheelock wrote that they would be perfectly willing to accept their white colleagues as "elder brothers" and consequently would not "scorn to be advised or reproved, counseled, or conducted by them; especially so long as they shall be so much dependent upon the English for their support." Allaying concerns that Indians would compete professionally with whites, Wheelock added, "There is no likelihood at all that they will, though ever so well qualified, get into Business, either as School-Masters or Ministers, among the English; at least till the Credit of their Nations be raised many Degrees above what it is now, and consequently they can't be employed as will be honorable for them, or in any Business they will be fit for, but among their own Nation."

Abilities and ill-health aside, Occom clearly never stood a chance of advancing to Yale. Bitterly realizing this, Occom suddenly found himself looking for a job without any assistance from the SPG or Wheelock, as he may well have expected. It would not be Samson Occom's last disappointment.

Relief came from the Indian community. During a seasonal fishing trip Occom made to Montauk territory in Long Island, the Montauks invited him to remain among them as their schoolmaster. After conferring with Wheelock about the offer, Occom moved to Montauk in 1749 and remained there for the next dozen years. As destitute as the Mohegans, the Montauks welcomed Occom's wide knowledge. Tightening the bond with them by marrying a daughter of a leading Montauk family, Occom served the community as schoolmaster, minister, scribe, advisor, healer, and judge. He founded a school where he taught children the alphabet with painted cedar chips (in a way predating Friedrich Froebel's famous kindergarten experiment by many years) and had older children assist the younger ones (foreshadowing the Lancastrian system of instruction, which wouldn't be introduced to American schools until 1806). In addition he initiated a Christian revivalist movement among Montauks and the neighboring Shinnecocks.

Wheelock regarded Occom's achievements as solid proof of the success of his "grand design." As Wheelock had envisioned, however, the success gained little for Occom financially. For two years the SPG paid him nothing, then finally granted him £15 to £20, one-sixth what it normally paid its missionaries. With a family to support, Occom was forced to supplement his income by hunting and fishing the same activities missionary efforts were supposed to abolish and by binding books and producing brooms, wooden spoons, and pails. Even these efforts were insufficient to meet his family and missionary responsibilities, and he incurred £100 in debts. Insisting that Occom was leading an extravagant lifestyle, the SPG refused to raise his pay. Wheelock could have protested loudly on Occom's behalf, but he never did. Occom concluded, in an autobiographical sketch he wrote a few years later, that his treatment may just have had something to do with the fact that he was an Indian.

Recognition of Occom's success at Montauk was slow in coming. In 1756 the SPG finally recommended that Occom be ordained. The ordination stalled for three years while Occom was tossed back and forth between the Congregationalists of the SPG, who offered him £30 annually to remain among the Montauks, and the Presbyterians, who wanted to send him on a mission to the Cherokees. At last Occom was ordained by the Presbyterians, but a Cherokee rebellion thwarted plans for their mission. In 1760 the Scotch Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge stepped in, offering Occom a mission with the Oneidas in New York. There was no mistaking the importance of the offer. It came at the height of the French and Indian War, when alliance with the Iroquoian nations was vital to British colonial interests. Occom accepted the position and managed his second mission with great success.

Occom's prospects seemed to be improving. Early in 1764 the SPG repeated its earlier offer of £30 annually if Occom would return to work with the Montauks and Niantics, as well as serving the Mohegans and other neighboring communities. Occom readily agreed and moved back to Mohegan in the spring, where he began to construct a permanent home for his growing family.

But Wheelock had other plans for Occom. As Occom was re-establishing himself at Mohegan, Wheelock founded a commission under the Scotch Society in Connecticut to gain more freedom for his own plans. Wheelock suggested that Occom be incorporated in the new society if the SPG would agree to give him up. The SPG eventually agreed on condition that Occom be sent on mission to the "Western Indians" or somewhere far beyond its own New England turf. The newly constituted Connecticut board sent Occom off to New York with no means of funding other than the board's vague hope that Wheelock's friend George Whitefield, who was visiting there at the time, would provide the means for his support. Whitefield, outraged at the presumption, sent Occom packing. While the strained relations between Whitefield and Wheelock soon mended, Occom again found himself jobless. Wheelock's irrational decision had nearly cost Occom the paid ministry among his own people that he had been hoping for for so long.

Returning to the Mohegans, Occom became enmeshed in the Mason Controversy, a recently revived land dispute with the colony that dated back to 1640. The status of all land transactions between colonists and Indians was hanging on a final decision pending in England. Occom sided with the Mason faction, which argued that certain land being used by the colonists had been taken from the Indians illegally. Occom apparently helped formulate a petition to George III offering to cede Mohegan land claims to the king and pay him an annual rent in exchange for the use of the land. Enraged Connecticut officials and colonists denounced the petition as a "Notable Bribe" and impugned Occom's reputation as the "Pious Mohegan." On top of this, the Rev. David J ewett, frustrated that Occom was drawing in more and more of Jewett's congregants and who also had a vested interest in the contested lands the colony stood to lose-publicly charged Occom with ill conduct toward the overseers of the Connecticut board and with threatening to turn Episcopalian.

The Connecticut board met at Wheelock's house to settle the "dispute." Although Occom was acquitted of all charges except participation in the Mason Controversy, he was forced to sign a degrading confession:

"...it was very imprudent in me, and offensive to the Public that I should so far engage as of late I have done, in the Mason Controversy: which has injured my Ministerial Character, hurt my Usefulness, and brought Dishonor upon Mr. Wheelock's School and Correspondents. For this imprudent, rash and offensive Conduct of mine, I am heartily sorry, and beg Forgiveness of God of this honorable Board of Correspondents, of whom I ought to have asked farther Advice-and the Public..."

This sobering experience undoubtedly marked a turning point in Occom's personal views of Indian-white relations. When London finally handed down a negative decision on the Mohegan Land Case in 1771, he wrote:

"I am afraid the poor Indians will never stand a good chance with the English in their land controversies, because they are very poor, they have no money. Money is almighty now-a-days, and the Indians have no learning, no wit, no cunning: the English have all."

Occom's troubles at Mohegan, meanwhile, were temporarily alleviated when Wheelock, desperate for funds for Moor's Charity School, sent Occom on a fundraising mission to England with the Rev. Nathaniel Whitaker. Feeling threatened by Wheelock's independent action, the Boston board of SPG opposed the idea. The Connecticut administration also objected because it suspected Occom would agitate in London in favor of the Mason faction. Rumors spread locally and in England that Occom was notMohegan and had only recently been converted for the purposes of the trip.

Occom departed from Boston on December 23,1765, with mixed feelings about the prospects of his mission and worries about leaving his family again. He delivered more than 300 sermons in England and Scotland in one case before an overflow crowd of 3,000 people. He was lionized by numerous dignitaries, such as Lord Dartmouth and Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, who were impressed by his modesty and sincerity, and who would continue to support him long after his return to America. In perhaps the greatest tribute accorded a foreigner, Occom was parodied on the London stage, and had his portrait painted by the noted artist Mason Chamberlain.

Occom and Whitaker collected a total of about £12,000, an astronomical sum in private donations. John Thornton, level-headed businessman, philanthropist, and treasurer for the board of trustees for the English fund, had no doubts to whom credit was due. In a letter to Wheelock he wrote: "Mr. Occom was the instrument under God that was the means of collecting the money."

When Occom sailed home to Mohegan in the spring of 1768, he was a noted personality at the height of his career, a multilingual, widely-traveled, and well-connected minister with nearly 20 years of experience behind him. In the wake of his smashing success in England, he hoped he would finally obtain a ministry close to his native village and be paid modestly for his services out of the funds he had been so instrumental in collecting. He came home to find, however, that the Boston board of the SPG, which still controlled Mohegan territory, had neither forgotten nor forgiven his previous involvement in the Mason Controversy. And he found that his family, whom he had entrusted to Wheelock's care during his trip to England, was living in destitute conditions.

Still Wheelock had plans for Occom. He wanted to send him off again into what Occom called "the hideous Wilderness" on a mission to the Onondagas in New York. Now 45 years old, with permanent health problems, worried about the welfare of his family, Occom balked at the suggestion. But Wheelock was unable to comprehend the human needs behind the hesitancy. Wheelock concluded that the attention Occom had gotten in England had made him susceptible to "that Indian distemper, Pride," and accused him of aspiring after "Grandeur and ease." Refusing to go to New York, unemployed once again, Wheelock's star pupil and fundraiser reverted to a hand-to-mouth existence as an itinerant preacher, often depending upon the benevolence of friends for his very survival.

Relations between Occom and Wheelock farther deteriorated when Occom had a drink early in 1769. Given to abstinence at a time when a good vintage was universally appreciated in Connecticut, Occom immediately castigated himself by writing a fall confession to the Suffolk Presbytery, who eventually concluded that Occom's intoxication came not from intemperate drinking, "but from having Drank a small quantity of Spirituous Liquor after having been all day without food." Wheelock and his associates, however, chose to magnify the issue beyond all proportion, penning numerous letters to Occom's friends and informing them of his "fall" into that greatest of all Indian sins intemperance. The charge stigmatized Occom forever.

Wheelock was perhaps really looking for an excuse to legitimize his increasing disen-Chantment with the outcome of the "grand design." In 1770, one year after Dartmouth received its charter, he moved his charity school to Hanover. The school had already begun to decline; Oneida parents had withdrawn their children in 1769 and New England Indians were apparently no longer welcome there. By 1771 Wheelock had changed his mind altogether about training Indians as missionaries, lamenting "the bad conduct and behavior of such as have been educated here, after they have left the school, and been put into business abroad: and it is that from which, I think, I had the fullest evidence that a greater portion of English youths must be fitted for missionaries."

Occom himself had become increasingly suspicious of Wheelock's plans, a suspicion shared by both the English and Scotch trustees for the funds Occom had gathered. In July 1771, Occom penned the most vituperative letter he'd ever written, unleashing his feelings to Wheelock: "I am very jealous that instead of your Semenary Becoming alma Mater, she will be too alba mater to Suckle the Tawnees, for She is already aDorned up too much like the Popish Virgin Mary. She'll be Naturally ashamed to Suckle the Tawnees for she is already equal in Power, Honor and Authority to any College in Europe, I think your College has too much Worked by Grandeur for the Poor Indians, they'll never have much benefit of it, In so saying I speak the general Sentiment of Indians and English too in these parts."

Wheelock, offended by Occom's accusation, was, as late as February 1772, still writing of his intentions to stick to his original intent: "The Plan is such that all the Benefit done or proposed to be done to the English is Subservient in the Best Manner to the Indian Cause; and greatly adds to and increases my ability to help the Indians and that many ways in so much that I hope in God to be able to support a Hundred Indians and Youths designed for Indian Service on Charity in a little Time." Occom and Wheelock maintained a correspondence until 1774, when their 31-year relationship ended in mutual silence.

The rest is history: by 1775 Wheelock had used up the entire English fund, most likely for the construction of buildings for Dartmouth College. The Scotch Society kept a somewhat tighter hold on its money, releasing it only on occasion, until they finally rechanneled it in 1922, claiming that there were no appropriate candidates for the funding. Moor's Indian Charity School continued sporadically and separately from Dartmouth until 1850.

Even before parting permanently from Wheelock, Occom had been setting new sights on improving the lives of Indians. Tired of tribal squabbles and disillusioned with the English Protestants, Occom developed a plan for an independent New England Christian Indian community far away from the detrimental influence of whites. T apping into several communities of Christian Indians, he recruited volunteers to form a new settlement on Oneida lands in New York. The Connecticut administration supported this venture, probably seeing the "removal" of Christian Indians as a ready solution to the colony's persistent land problems. In 1774 the Oneidas told the New England Christian Indians "we receive you into our Body as it were, now we may say we have one head, one heart and one Blood" and deeded them a tract of land near the present-day town ofKirkland, New York. Their move interrupted by the Revolutionary War, the vanguard of New England Christian Indians took refuge among the Stockbridge Indians in Massachusetts. (Occom counseled all Christian Indians to maintain neutrality, or if necessary, take up the republican cause.)

Finally on November 7, 1785, Occom's dream for the Indian community became a reality. "We Named our Town...Brothertown, in Indian Eeyamquittoowauconnuck, "he wrote, and "Concluded to live in Peace, and in Friendship and to go in all their Public Concerns in Harmony both in their Religious and temporal concerns, and every one to bear his part of Public Charges in the Town.-They desired me to be a Teacher amongst them. I consented to spend some of my remaining days with them, and make this Town my Home and center."

Two years later the Brothertown and New Stockbridge community, calling on him as "God's Ambassador into this wilderness," requested that he serve also as their minister, with pay from their own funds as they accrued. This was the first Presbyterian church organized by Indians themselves, Occom noted with obvious satisfaction, "for we had no white man to assist us."

Occom traveled between Brothertown and Mohegan, serving as minister, doctor, councilor, spokesman, and lobbyist until his death in 1792. His harmonious, faction-free vision for Brothertown was never fully realized. Yet, despite numerous incursions into their lands and subsequent removals to Indiana in 1812 and Wisconsin in 1831, Occom's coalition of Christian Indians still constitutes a viable community that now considers itself to be a homogeneous tribe, the Brothertown Indian Nation, and is currently fighting for federal recognition.

Occom is remembered and revered today as a respected elder not only among the Brothertowns, but also among the Mohegan Nation, the Montauks, and the Shinnecocks, who celebrated "Samson Occom Day" in June of 1970. The "Father of American Indian Literature," he left behind an impressive body of writing, Sermon Preached at the Execution of Moses Paul, a bestseller which went through at least 19 editions and was translated into Welsh; A Choice Collection of Spiritual Hymns-, an autobiography; a tribal history of the Montauk; a booklet of Indian remedies; and volumes of original letters and manuscripts.

And the legacy of Occom's vision of Indian education remains. The founding of Dartmouth Collegelike Samson Occom's life was braided with strands of promise and betrayal. The College took 200 years to rededicate itself to Indian education. Introduced in 1972, Dartmouth's Native American Studies program has grown into a full-scale department and now offers a major. Some hundred Native Americans currently study at the College, among them Occom descendant Sarah Harris '00.

Occom's name still appears to be good for credit in the Dartmouth community, too. The Samson Occom Pooled Income Fund has netted five million dollars in donations from Dartmouth alumni. The College, though, owes more than a financial debt of gratitude to Samson Occom. For had Samson Occom not found Eleazar Wheelock, there would have been no Dartmouth.

"The Plan is such that all the Benefit done or proposed to he done to the English is Subservient in the Best Manner to the Indian Cause." Eleazar Wheelock

"I am very jealous... I think your College has too much Worked by Grandeur for the Poor Indians, they'll never have much benefit of it." Samson Occom

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The Betrayal Of Samson Occom | Dartmouth Alumni Magazine | NOVEMBER 1998

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HE KINDLED AND FUNDED Eleazar Wheelock's "grand design." He never expected what he got in return... SAMSON OCCOM'S LIFE UNFOLDED in the midst of a hundred-year imperial war, when suspicion and hatred dictated relationships between Euro-Americans and Indians. At the time of his birth in 1723, his Connecticut tribe, the once-powerful Mohegans, had dwindled to 350 people.

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This man, Samuel Occum, was very respected and involved in so much of his peoples culture and daily lives. He may not have gained the recognition or reward he deserved. Yet he was content and had a mindset allowed the nation flourish.

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Samuel Occom was a man who dedicated his life to teach the Native Americans, also used his knowledge to lead churches in hopes of growing Gods Kingdom. Since he was introduced to Christianity, his life goal transformed after learning of it through new coming Christian colonists spreading the gospel.

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I this this image has historical relevance because she's shown writing and thinking. From what we know of this time period, this would have been considered a great privilege for people of color.

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This is a painting of the gathering when creating and signing the Declaration of Independence. It shows the hope they have for this country and the determination. They also are doing meeting as a group, just giving the idea that our nation and the people involved in this new country should be unified. This meeting, and the people involved are displaying many traits they desire as the nation continues.

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people who wrote the declaration of independence

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This image shows the British trying to gain control of early American colonies. The main purpose of the declaration is to begin a country the independent from the controlling English.

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This is an image of Occum village in Connecticut which still stands today. Although he never got full recognition or pay from the Europeans, the Indians recognized him as the first native minister.

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This image is an illustration of how expectations let us down. Occum's ministry was very impactful to so many people, and he was able to find a sense of fulfillment in that, but when it came to his expectations that he would be excepted for who he was and what he was doing, he was let down and extremely disappointed. It says in his texts that he received 1 year's usual wages for 12 years of work because he was a "poor Indian." He had expectations of being welcomed and having equality in America, but he did not receive this, which led to his dissapointment

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Halle Lafler

This is a mind map that represents the connections of ideas found within the Declaration of Independence. It represents how the Founding Fathers put great time and effort into creating a document that encapsulated all of the values they wished America would be founded upon.

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This is a statue of Phillis located in Boston. This representation of her shows her in deep thought. Phillis had an incredible contribution in reshaping the supposed racial and gender boundaries in literature in America. As the first writer who was both African American and a woman, Phillis was incredibly gifted in writing about the injustices in America and longing for brotherhood and equality.

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Samuel Occom was a man who spent his life teaching Native Americans, leading a church for them, and taking the news of Jesus to them. Samuel Occom grew up as an Indian, and was witnessed to by a white man who converted him to Christianity. So this picture represents a white man sharing the Gospel with the Indian people. This connects to American identity because it shows how there were many unique people groups with different views, but they all were very firm in their values and were led to share their beliefs with others like the man in the picture.

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This picture encapsulates who Samuel Occom was. He was a Native American schoolmaster who was converted to Christianity at age 17 by Christian ministers. Ever since that moment, he strived to introduce children and his people about God with prayer and continual preaching.

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I find that this image is relates to the history of Samuel Occom, because it shows Christians sharing their faith with Native Americans. Samuel Occom discovered Christianity by the means of the evangelical colonists.

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In this picture, you can see that the pilgrims are taken aback by the arrival of the Indians. This applies to Samson Occum's American identity showing his relationship with the people around him--he doesn't look the same as them, therefore he is different, therefore he is inferior.

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Halle Lafler

This is a map of the locations of Samson Occum's ministry. He focussed mainly on areas where the Natives were still "un reached". He wanted to take the Gospel to those who had not yet been taught by means of Christianity.

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• Add one post to each section (Phillis Wheatley, Samuel Occom, and Declaration of Independence) by clicking the "+" under the section. Put your name at the top of your post. Feel free to take your picture with it!

• For each post, include a relevant image, video, or historical document that represents either the historical context or the figure's contribution to American identity.

• In the body of each post, explain how your chosen visual element connects to the development of American identity

• Review your classmates' posts and comment on at least two that offer unique perspectives. A "good" comment would focus on the specific ideas in classmates' post, and how that adds to your understanding.

• Your combined contributions will help us develop a working definition of early American identity.