Last
of the
Mohicans
Originally this was a book written
by James Fenimore Cooper in 1826. To learn something about the
area written about in this story visit the American
Literary Classics Library.
To
get a quick overview of the movie visit THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.
ABOUT
THE BOOK:
The Last of the Mohicans takes place
in the midst of the French-Indian war. Specifically, it focuses on one
battle in a war that lasted for many years. This
was the last
and most important conflict over French and British possessions in
North America. Unlike the earlier wars, which began in Europe and
spread to America, this struggle broke out solely in
America in 1754, and was not settled until 1763. For this reason,
Indian involvement in the conflict
was incredibly high.
Territorial
rivalries became more intense as the settlements of both countries
expanded. The British and French could not agree on the boundaries of
Acadia.
Disputes also arose over the Great Lakes region and the land around
lakes George and Champlain. Most important, both countries claimed
the vast area between the Allegheny
Mountains and the Mississippi River. In 1749, the French explorer de
Bienville traveled through the Ohio River
Valley to reinforce
France's claim there. The first Ohio Company sent Christopher Gist to
survey the same area in 1750. In 1753 the French built a
chain of forts along the Allegheny River in
Pennsylvania. Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie of Virginia sent
George Washington to the commander
of the new forts, protesting
against French occupation of the area. But the French refused to leave.
In 1754, Washington led a small force of colonial
troops to force the French to withdraw. They were
attacked and defeated near Fort Duquesne, now Pittsburgh, in the war's
first battle. Meanwhile,
representatives of seven colonies met
in Albany, New York, to plan military action.
The Marquis de
Montclam took over the leadership of the French forces in 1756. He led
attacks on Fort Oswego and Fort William Henry. The
French troops outfought the British and
seized both these forts. William Pitt became the political leader of
Great Britain in the same year. His
leadership gave new life to the British cause, which
had been waning. In
1759, the British took the city of Quebec after a short but decisive
battle.
This marked the real end of the war,
although the struggle held out until Montreal was taken a year later.
By the terms of the Treaty of Paris, signed in
1763, Great Britain
received Canada and most French
possessions east of the Mississippi River. The Spanish territory of
Florida also went to Great
Britain. Spain received all French land west of the
Mississippi. France's great
American empire was reduced to two islands south of Newfoundland
and
two islands in the Caribbean. Spain was the only
real rival of the British.
Created In:
1992 Morgan
Creek Productions, 20th Century-Fox
Producers: Michael Mann and Hunt Lowry
Screenplay: Christopher Crowe, Michael Mann based
on the novel by James Fenimore Cooper
Cinematographer: Dante Spinotti
Music: Trevor Jones and Randy Edelman
Cast:
Daniel Day-Lewis Hawkeye
(Natty Bumppo),
a skilled white scout and frontiersman
Russel Means Chingachgook,
Hawkeye's lifelong Mohican (Delaware) friend
Eric Schweig Uncas,
Chingachgook's son and last heir to the title of chief of the Mohican
tribe
Steven
Waddington Major Duncan Heyward,
Hawkeye's Scottish soldier-friend
David Gainut,
a psalm singer, and comical, naive, self-proclaimed missionary
Wes Studi Magua
(Le Renard Subtil--- "The Sly Fox"), a
dis placed and bloodthirsty Canadian Huron Indian
Maurice Roëves Colonel Munro,
defender of British Fort Henry
Jodhi
May Alice
Munro,
fair and innocent daughter of Colonel Munro
Madeleine
Stowe Cora
Munro, her
darker, elder half-sister, and the story's real heroine
Plot Summary:
An epic adventure and
passionate romance unfold against the
panorama of a frontier wilderness ravaged by war. The story is
about a dying
tribe
called the Mohicans in which only
two are left as well as one adopted
white man. These three men refuse to enter the militia for English in
1757
for they want freedom. Daniel Day-Lewis
stars as Hawkeye, a frontiersman and
adopted son of the Mohicans during the French-Indian war and
the battles each
face. On their way to Kentucky, they intercept
Indians attacking a small regiment of
British including the two daughters of an
English Colonel and help them on
their way to a fort. The three men lead the survivors to the fort while
Cora
and her sister Alice unwittingly
walk into trouble but are continuously
saved
by Hawkeye.
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