Cherokee leaders directly challenged Americans’ claimed helplessness against encroaching squatters.

Evidence

Corn Tassel responded with more than a hint of sarcasm. “Are Congress, who conquered the King of Great Britain, unable to remove the people?” he asked. — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 454

Categorization

• SEED: Corn Tassel’s sarcastic question is a sharp instrument for an essay on how the powerful use claimed incapacity as a shield — the ‘helpless bureaucracy’ move.
• SHARE: This one-line rhetorical jab would land well with a friend who teaches rhetoric or early American diplomatic history.