Here are portions of a speech made by the Shawnee chief Tecumseh (17681813), who tried to

persuade other tribes to unite against the Americans in 1811. Read the speech. Then answer the
questions
Tecumsehs Speech to the Choctaws and Chickasaws[1]
1
We have met together in solemn council tonight to consider questions of vast importance.
2
We should not here debate whether we have been wronged and injured, but only the means by
which we may avenge ourselvesfor our merciless oppressors have long made attacks upon us.
Again and again, we have seen how they break in upon our neighbors. They are too strong for any
one tribe alone to resist; unless we support one another with our collective and united forces, they
will soon conquer us all; we will be driven from our native country and scattered as autumn leaves
before the wind.
3
Have we not courage enough to defend our country and maintain our liberty? Will we calmly
suffer the intruders and tyrants to enslave us? Shall it be said of us that we perished through folly,
inactivity, and cowardice?
4
The past speaks for itself. Where today are the Pequots, the Narragansetts, the Mohawks,
Pokanokets,[2] and many other powerful tribes? They have vanished as snow before a summer sun.
In the vain hope of defending their ancient possessions alone, they fell in the wars with the white
men. Look abroad over their once beautiful country; what do you see now? Naught but the ravages
of the destroyers meets your eyes.
5
So it will be with you, Choctaws and Chickasaws! Soon your mighty forest trees, under the shade
of whose wide-spreading branches you played in infancy, sported in boyhood, and now rest your
weary limbs after the fatigue of the chase, will be cut down to fence in the land the intruders dare to
call their own. Soon broad roads will pass over the graves of your fathers, blotting out the place of
their rest forever. Your people, too, will soon be driven away from your native land and ancient
domains as leaves driven before the wintry storms.
6
Sleep no longer, O Choctaws and Chickasaws, in false security and delusive hopes. Our
domains are fast escaping from our grasp. Every year the intruders become more greedy, exacting,
oppressive, and overbearing. Every year contentions spring up between them and our people, and
when blood is shed we have to make atonement, whether right or wrong, at the cost of the yielding
up of large tracts of our lands. Want and oppression is our lot; day by day we are stripped of the little
that remains of our ancient liberty.
7
Shall we calmly wait until the intruders become so numerous that we will no longer be able to
resist? Shall we wait to be destroyed without making an effort worthy of our race? Shall we give up
our homes, our country bequeathed to us by the Great Spirit, the graves of our dead, and everything
that is dear and sacred to us, without a struggle?
8
I know you will cry with me, Never! Never!
9
Let us unite and drive them back whence they came. War or extermination is now our only
choice. Which do you choose? I know your answer.
10
I am now at the head of many warriors backed by the strong arm of English soldiers. [3]
Choctaws and Chickasaws, you have too long borne with grievous usurpation. If there be one here
tonight who believes that his rights will not sooner or later be taken from him by the avaricious
Americans, his ignorance ought to excite our pity, for he knows little of the character of our common

foe. And if there be one among you foolish enough to undervalue the growing power of the white race
among us, let him tremble in considering the fearful woes he will bring down upon us, if by his
indifference he assist the designs of our common enemy against our common cause.
11
Listen instead to the voice of duty, of honor, of nature, and of your endangered country. Let us
form one body, one heart, and defend to the last warrior our country, our homes, our liberty, and the
graves of our fathers.
12
Let no one in this council imagine that I speak more from malice than just grounds of
complaint. Surely, if any people ever had, we have good reasons to accuse the Americans of
injustice.
13
O Choctaws and Chickasaws, do you imagine that people will not continue longest in the
enjoyment of peace, who timely prepare to vindicate themselves, and manifest a determined
resolution to do themselves right when they have been wronged? Far otherwise. Then haste to the
relief of our common cause, as by blood you are bound, lest the day be not far distant when you will
be left single-handed and alone to the cruel mercy of our common foe.
[1] related tribes residing in Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana
[2] Eastern tribes
[3] The Ohio Valley Shawnees had allied with the British during the Revolutionary War. Hostilities between the
United States and Britain ultimately led to the War of 1812.

1. Which description best conveys the purpose of Tecumsehs speech?

A. a call to war
B. a cry of triumph
C. a plea for justice
D. a howl of defiance
2. Tecumseh seeks an alliance with the Choctaws and Chickasaws because
A. he wishes to become the sole leader of all American Indian tribes.
B. his own tribe, the Shawnees, have deserted him and have allied with the British.
C. he knows that the Choctaws and Chickasaws have been wronged by the Americans.
D. he believes that no American Indian tribe is strong enough to confront the Americans alone.

3. The two main points that Tecumseh returns to throughout the speech are:
A. urgent unification and justified anger
B. forgetting of differences and patient practicality
C. solemn acceptance of circumstances and denial of defeat
D. deep grief and subtle rebellion

4. Which tactic does Tecumseh use repeatedly to develop his argument?

A. He challenges listeners to find flaws in his argument.
B. He asks rhetorical questions, which allow for only one answer.
C. He metaphorically identifies himself with the all-knowing supernatural.
D. He heaps praise on the tribes because they have long resisted the enemy.

5. Read this sentence from paragraph 6.

Every year the intruders become more greedy, exacting, oppressive, and overbearing.
Tecumseh uses these words in order to:
A. list specific crimes.
B. demonize his enemy.
C. present legal evidence.
D. challenge his listeners.
Read this excerpt to answer questions 6 and 7:
If there be one here tonight who believes that his rights will not sooner or later be taken
from him by the avaricious Americans, his ignorance ought to excite our pity, for he knows
little of the character of our common foe.

6. Given Tecumsehs other descriptions in this passage, what is the best definition for the word
avaricious?

A. casually unaware
B. destructively grasping
C. frightening but harmless
D. quietly deceitful
7. In the above passage, which word does Tecumseh repeat throughout the speech to develop one
of his persuasive goals?

A. rights
B. ignorance

C. pity
D. common

8. Which example of Tecumsehs rhetoric could have been perceived as an unintended irony?
A. He claims that he wants peace, but he proposes war as the only means to achieve it.
B. He proposes unification because of the tribes shared suffering, but claims the Shawnees will
not not need to join.
C. He proposes unification based on shared suffering, then proposes to join with the English,
who have not suffered the same fate as the tribes.
D. He chastises the Americans for their attacks on neighboring tribes, but he is also proposing
an attack.

9. Which choice shows Tecumseh effectively using his listeners sentimental attachment to the past
as a persuasive technique?

A. We should not here debate whether we have been wronged and injured, but only the means
by which we may avenge ourselves.
B. Soon your mighty forest trees, under the shade of whose wide-spreading branches you
played in infancy . . . will be cut down.
C. Sleep no longer, O Choctaws and Chickasaws, in false security and delusive hopes.
D. Every year contentions spring up between them and our people, and . . . we have to make
atonement, whether right or wrong.
10. Read these three sentences used in Tecumsehs speech.

(paragraph 1) We will be driven from our native country and scattered as autumn leaves
before the wind.
(paragraph 4) They have vanished as snow before a summer sun.
(paragraph 5) Your people, too, will soon be driven away from your native land and ancient
domains as leaves driven before the wintry storms.

Which statement best describes these elements of his speech

A. factual assessments that describe the state of the environment

B. poetic language used to make his listeners forget their troubles
C. metaphoric language used to call upon a shared experience of nature
D. detached warnings of a coming destruction