Native Americans In The Late 1800s

Before reading Joel Spring’s text, Deculturalization and the Struggle for Equality, I assumed by the late 1800s that Native Americans would be allowed to be citizens in the United States. So I was shocked to discover that the first Native Americans were not granted citizenship until 1901. Unfortunately, the only Native Americans to receive citizenship at the time were ones were considered civilized because they adopted European culture (Spring, 2016). It is astonishing to me that our government forced Native Americans to give up their culture and adopt ours if they

The federal government's cylical policy towards native Americans evidences the fact that the melting pot did not apply to them. Fort he majority of the period from 1871 to 1969 the federal government attempted to, and failed to, assimilate native Americans. This can be seen in the 1871 reservation policy and the stepping up of policy in the 1887 Dawes Act, more exteme because it continued the policies of post 1871 reservation policy, but also

One tribe, the Shoshone, were promised “everything necessary to comfortable living” in exchange for fulfilling their side of the Indian Removal act [Document 8]. They remained civil even when adjusting from originally thriving in “every foot of what you proudly call America” to being “content with the little patch allowed”. They were originally promised seed, farming tools, food, and cattle during the arrangement, but the United States did not carry out their side of the bargain; killing their game, stealing their furs, and using the Shoshone meadows to feed their

When most people hear of Native Americans, they cannot help but think of elaborate headdresses, red skinned warriors, and lively dancing. Although these aspects of Native American culture are fascinating, more important is where they fare in our society 's past and present. Restrictive laws and acts such as the Indian Removal Act, the Indian Reorganization Act, Fort Laramie treaties, and the Trail of Tears forced Native Americans from their lands. When settlers and the American government saw the resistance of Native Americans to forced assimilation, they resorted to racial discrimination and relocation to reservations. This history of discrimination has fueled calls for the United States government to pay reparations and the return of Native Americans to their indigenous lands.

Knowing some of the issues that Native Americans and the U.S. Government faced back in the 1800’s, believe it or not, there is still some that arise today, along with a lot of other issues that Native Americans have within themselves.

In early 19th century America, there was a shared feeling of exceptionalism, often leading to egocentrism and prejudice towards foreigners. This egocentrism and prejudice belief system has been passed down, and ignorance towards reforming these beliefs is evident throughout history. Many Americans believe that the colonies of Jamestown and Plymouth were the first settlements in America, thus that the Europeans who traveled across the Atlantic were the first to inhabit the New World. In fact, St. Augustine was a Spanish settlement in Florida established in 1565, 42 years prior to the Jamestown settlement and 55 years prior to the Plymouth settlement. Historical accounts of the American nation tend to neglect this information, resulting in American citizens believing that people of Spanish and Mexican descent do not belong, when in reality, they settled America first. Furthermore, American history tends to neglect mentioning the resistance which Anglo-Americans met as they expanded westward into lands which Native Americans and Mexicans lived in. Accordingly, people of Mexican descent occupied present-day Texas when Anglo-Americans first arrived. Through brutal, immoral, and unjust conquering, Texas became a state separate from Mexico, disregarding the Tejanos of Mexican descent and forcing them to migrate elsewhere.

Native Americans were once the only inhabitants of America, but today, while still technically around, they are really only a minority. Despite this, their influence is still evident in many of the values and overall culture that modern Americans have held, and continue to hold, close. In fact, a lot of the United States’ government systems are heavily inspired by, if not entirely based upon, the Iroquois in particular.

From its birth, America was a place of inequality and privilege. Since Columbus 's arrival and up until present day, Native American tribes have been victim of white men 's persecution and tyranny. This was first expressed in the 1800’s, when Native Americans were driven off their land and forced to embark on the Trail of Tears, and again during the Western American- Indian War where white Americans massacred millions of Native Americans in hatred. Today, much of the Indian Territory that was once a refuge for Native Americans has since been taken over by white men, and the major tribes that once called these reservations home are all but gone. These events show the discrimination and oppression the Native Americans faced. They were, and continue to be, pushed onto reservations,

This corruption fueled anger and resentment causing conflicts between the two parties. The U.S showed the effort by creating acts and polices forces to reform the conditions of the reservation, but ultimately failed to better the living conditions of the reservation, But Most reforms were usually violated by the settlers as they kept encroaching the lands given to the Indians as they were not strictly enforced by the government. One of the major Failures was the Dawn Severalty Act of 1887 where each Native American family was offered 160 acres of tribal land to own outright. Congress hoped that this system would end the dependency of the tribes on the federal government. Many natives resist such laws, believing it was an end of their ancient Folkways and a further loss of communal land.

In the 19th century, U.S. citizens wanted Native Americans to be a part of mainstream culture, creating a dramatic, dark, and sad part of this proud nation’s past. Many methods were used to assimilate Native Americans; while some were more intense than others, they were all immoral. For example, the ways in which they were assimilated were fatal at times. Also, when the Native American population of the 19th century is compared to the population today, there is a large difference in numbers. Indeed, this is a dark part of history, and it is sad to look back on. Over all, the forced assimilation of the Native Americans into European culture caused disadvantages to their well-being, cultural diversity, and American reputation.

It was the year 1620 when People from England boarded ships to America to find religious freedom. Bad weather blew their ship off course and they found themselves on Cape Cod, in what is now called Massachusetts. They declared their intention to create fair and equal laws that would be the basis for a democratic government. They emphasized that the laws would be made for the greater good of all.

Native Americans thrived from nature and their way of life depended on the land of the grassy Great Plains. Their life changed due to horses, and then afterward guns, being introduced to them by the Spanish; which made it easier for them to move and hunt. As settlers moved in, the Native nations were treated poorly and had little to no ability to stand up for what they believed in and how they wanted to live with all the restrictions laid upon them. The federal government made policies towards them when settling in the west such as The Concentration Policy, “relocation”, and The Dawes Severalty Act, which lead to many warfares.

Native Americans have been historically oppressed in America and continue to struggle today; from the poverty rampant in their community, to the deterioration and appropriation of their traditional values, culture, and way of life. While times are changing, many of Native Americans’ rights still face ill-treatment by the local and federal governments. In the early 1800s, the U.S. government created policies to assimilate Natives into European-American society. Despite many tribes based in nomadic culture, the 1851 Indian Appropriations Act authorized the creation of the first reservations, forcing the Natives onto reserved pieces of land. Under the act, the tribes were considered independent, sovereign nations at the time. However, the poor quality of life on the reservations led to a policy of forced assimilation. In 1887, the Dawes Severalty Act, otherwise known as the General Allotment Act, broke apart reservations that held communal Native tribes, into smaller subdivisions. These divisions of land were then assigned to individuals within the tribe. The effort was done in order to pressure the Natives into becoming farmers or ranchers. Yet because the pieces of land provided to the Natives were so arid and and unsuitable for cultivating crops, they were unable to grow and profit. Native Americans continue to suffer beyond the nineteenth-century well into the mid twentieth-century. From 1956 to 1969, the Indian Relocation Act was enforced in order to terminate

government has unspecified and unorganized policies, which were unprotected for Native Americans who lived in the west because of all the new coming Americans. During westward expansion, a majority of who moved were whites, who didn’t know the Native Americans who already lived in the west. The Natives felt their land was being conquered, because of the U.S government policies(Louisana Purchase & Homestead Act) and the whites not wanting them to be there, which lead to fighting between the Natives and the whites. These acts and policies such as the Indian Removal Act often resulted in violated treaties and violence. The Indian Removal Act was the removal of Native American homes and tribes. “This also confines the Indians to still narrower limits, destroys that game which in their normal state, and constitutes their principal means of subsistence.” Resulting in westward expansion, Native Americans began rapidly decreasing in the area by wars and new diseases caught by new coming

In the very beginning of the 1830s, nearly 125,000 Native Americans lived on millions of acres of the land in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, and Florida.