The Era Of The Late Nineteenth Century Reformers

The two main actions that the United States government issued towards the Plains Indians were the Homestead Act and the Dawes Act. The Homestead Act correlated with the trend of Manifest Destiny and encouraged settlers to migrate west. The Homestead Act encouraged western migration by providing 160 acres of public land. In exchange, homesteaders paid a small filing fee and were required to complete five years of continuous residence before receiving ownership of the land. After six months of residency, homesteaders also had the option of purchasing the land from the government for roughly $1.25 per acre. (Primary Documents in American History) The land that the government was distributing belonged to various tribes of the Plains Indians. By having the Homestead Act in effect and encouraging settlers to migrate west, Plains Indians were forced into reservations. The real impact of Manifest Destiny was that it sent many settlers west, without realizing that the settlers were taking land from the Indians. The Indians that lived in the reservations had just enough food to keep their population alive, as well as living in unsanitary conditions with bacteria and diseases everywhere. The two options that the Indians had was to either live in the reservations with little to no food or to face genocide. Some Indian tribes tried to make amends with American troops who ushered the natives to reservations, but some American troops turned on the Indians. One incident of the American troops killing Indians was the Nez Perce war. This war was over a conflict of land and how some US troops did not agree on the settlement of the land. The war resulted in over 100 casualties towards the Indians and was stated as a genocide of and Indian tribe. The second act that was passed by the United States government was the Dawes Act. The Dawes Act authorized the President to survey American

Steven Adams Dr. Alexander Mendoza United Sates History II Journal Entries 1-10 Entry 1 What was the Dawes Act? It was named for Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts, chair of the Senate’s Indian Affairs Committee. It divided land into small sections, however this allowed the tribe to retain only a minor portion of land. The remaining land was purchased by whites. Did the Dawes act benefit the Plains Indians?

The Dawes Act of 1887 began the process of allotment. By trying to force Native Americans to become farmers, the federal government cast many groups into poverty. The land which the United States held in trust for Indians was usually not choice farmland. Those trying to make a living off the inhospitable lands of the West found little success. During the interwar period of the early twentieth century, the government made new efforts to alleviate Indians’ position as a marginalized group. Over 10,000 Native Americans volunteered and served with distinction in the armed forces during World War I. In recognition of their efforts, Congress passed the Indian Citizenship Act in 1924, making all American Indians United States citizens.

During westward expansion, the Native Americans got kicked to the side. The settlers coming west often saw the Indians as a threat to them and their families. However, this was not the main reason the Indians were pushed aside. The settlers saw the Indians had fertile land and wanted it for themselves. The Indians were the opposite of what the settlers thought they were. The Indians often helped the people moving west across the plains; giving them food, supplies, and acting as guides. However, the U.S. Government did not see this side of the Indians, instead they forced the Indians onto reservations. During the time of the expansion of the United States to the present, the Native Americans went through many things so that the United States could expand; they were pushed onto reservations, and forced to give up their culture through the Ideas of Manifest Destiny and Social Darwinism.

There has been much documentation on the plight of Native Americans throughout the beginnings of this nation. In spite of the attempts by the early government of the United States, the culture of many Native American tribes has survived and even flourished. The Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 is just one of many examples of how our government attempted to wipe out Native American culture. This paper will discuss the Dawes Act, particularly the time leading up to the act, the act itself, and finally its failure. By understanding the past failures in the treatment of a particular race of people, the government can learn how to protect the rights of all people, especially in a day and age of cultural diversity.

After the Dawes Act was passed, the Government stripped the tribes of their authority and made it very difficult for each of them to maintain their traditional ways of life. The tribes finally decided that they needed some type of authority. This authority came with land ownership and the allotment of land was the closest to land ownership they were going to get. They all agreed to the Dawes Act by 1902 and forfeited their

28) Dawes Act: This law gave each Indian head of house property to farm eliminating most of the reservations. Indian children were taken east and Americanized.

Minorities were necessary in order to take up unwanted work in production and in creating monumental advancements that Americans were unwilling to do. For example, the Transcontinental railroad was built primarily by Chinese workers. African Americans especially, were kept in the lower class and viewed upon as mainly common laborers, because they were argued to have had little intelligence and if taught well could develop needed skills in production jobs (Doc D). They were subjugated in the south and not allowed to integrate into society, forcing them to live under similar circumstances as they would if they were enslaved. However, they are now largely credited for building up the nation through their largely uncompensated labor. The Indians were destined to be destroyed as a culture. The land that was made available through the Homestead Act, Morrill Grant and utilized by large corporations, such as the railroads, was largely stolen Native American land (Doc E). The Dawes Act, for example, was adopted by Congress in 1887 and it authorized the President to survey American Indian tribal land and divide it into allotments for individual Indians in order to turn a profit and divide the

As Document I shows Native Americans were being cheated out of their land, actually most of their land was being sold. In 1887, the Dawes Severalty Act was passed by congress. The Dawes act divided small plots for each family. But the farmers got their fill as well. On the reservation there were another 90 million acres which were fertile and was often sold to white settlers. As Native American lands went down White settlers land increased. As shown in Document B. Land trades and began to pop up all around the country.

This overwhelming feeling of superiority by the white settlers brought them to see the Native Americans as an obstacle they needed to overcome. Some of the things that they wanted to change about the Indians were their work habits, views on sexuality, family organization, and women’s power. All of these things directly contrasted to the puritan beliefs of a male dominated authoritarian modest culture. Early education of the Native Americans was completely unsuccessful with many of the teachings being simply laughed at by the Natives and forgotten.

Effect of Dawes Act: more opportunities for white plundering of Indian lands, further undermining of traditional Indian cultures

It was wrong for the government to reduce the Indian’s land by 90 million acres. Was it not enough forcing them onto reservations? They were taken from their native lands, placed in reservations, and then had their land reduced. How could this possible be considered okay? In the course book on page 546, it talks about how in order to protect the Indians from land speculators, the government held the allotted land in trust. The Indians could not sell the land for 25 years. I did some research on the Dawes Allotment Act and found an article titled, “Cleveland signs devastating Dawes Act into law”, written by the History.com Staff. In this article, it talks more about the trust the lands were put in. As you can see the American ideals of “freedom”

Passed in 1887, the General Allotment Act, or the Dawes Act, allotted, or parceled, portions of Native American reservations into individual and family hands. The authority of allotment was granted to the President of the United States.

The Allotment Act of 1887 also known as the Dawes Act would bypass the tribal leaders and proposed making individual land owners of tribal member the only problem with this is they could not sale their land for 25 years (Schaefer, 2014).

            The Native Americans were forced to change their religion, culture, and ways of living to live as a white man. They had no say they either had to accept and if they did not there would be repercussions. According to Dr. Gayle, he states