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How Did The Homestead Act Affect The Lives Of The Native Americans

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In 1860-1890, there was war between the Natives and the U.S. government. The U.S. government wanted to take over the Native Americans land. To do that, the U.S. government started a treaty called the Homestead Act, there was differnet kinds of conflict between the two groups, and the U.S. government killed the Natives resources. This expansion affected the lives of Native Americans across the land. The Homestead Act was a one of the effects that affected the lives of the Native Americans. The Homestead Act was signed in May 1862. The Homestead Act allowed all Americans, including slaves, to claim 160 acres of land. About 1.6 million homesteads were granted and 270,000,000 acres of land was distributed. By 1934, most of the good land was claimed, but the law continued until 1976 on the continent, and 1986 in Alaska. Besides the Homestead Act, there was conflict between the Natives and the settlers. One cause of conflict was when the government tried a new policy called the Reservation Policy. In 1876, the federal government appointed the Indian Peace Commission. It recommended moving the Native Americans to a few large reservations. The government then increased its efforts in that direction. Another cause of conflict was the killing of the buffalo. In the 1850’s, minors, …show more content…

The buffalo was a great natural resource because the Natives would use the buffalo to survive. They would use the buffalo for food, clothes, utensils, shelter and many more. They would never let the buffalo go to waste. Another resource that the Natives used to survive were the trees. The Natives would use the trees for canoes, weapons/tools, shelter, fuel for fire and many more. During this time period, the settlers would kill the buffalos and cut down the trees. The settlers would kill the buffalos because while they were constructing the land, the settlers did not want the buffalos to get in the way, so they killed

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One of the action were Indian Intercourse Act of 1790. This basically said that no land is to be taken unless by their free consent or by the right of conquest in case of just war. Next was the fur trade regulation. The trade brought handsome profits to private companies such as John Jacob Astor’s American Fur Company (1808).Both Native Americans and white particpated in this. Indians in return for thier fur secured blankets, guns, rum and ironwear.

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The Homestead Act brought many people to Western areas and was a major role in U.S. development. As a result of all of this, many miners moved to the West with ambition to earn more money; also settlers migrated west for new land and this helped with United States

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The book highlights the impact of the Homestead Act, emphasizing how it attracted thousands of Americans to venture West in pursuit of land ownership and economic prosperity. The American Dream and the Homestead Act Furthermore, the Homestead Act symbolized the American spirit of independence and self-reliance, as described in “Exploring American Histories, Vol. 2: Since 1865, 1st edition” (Hewitt and Lawson, Chapter 15). It embodied the deeply ingrained belief in the American Dream, where individuals sought to create a better life through hard work and perseverance. The book provides accounts of families and individuals who saw the Homestead Act as a beacon of hope, a chance to escape crowded cities and seek a new beginning in the vast expanse of the West.

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In the late 1800s, America began to grow and government decided to explore and expand to new lands. After sending explorers to see the new land, they began to move into the western territory where Natives were already settled.  Western expansion affected the lives of Native Americans during the period 1860- 1890 because Americans forcefully took their land, lives and traditions away. The government pushed for the removal of Natives in any way possible or get them to convert to American ways.

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Post Civil War and the Gilded Age Chonda Simon Columbia Southern University American History II Professor Anthony Gole June 28, 2017 The Dawes Act was the law passed by the Congress in 1887 aimed at dividing reservations and allotted pieces of land owned by individual Indians to foreign settlers. The government would confiscate private land and sell it to another person forcing the original owner of the land to look for alternative settlement area. Large groups of white settlers and US cavalry migrate towards the West in the 1800s. The groups fought Indian tribes forcing them to vacate their lands where they had lived for many years.

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First of all, Native Americans were settled on a hotbed of natural resources which included oil and precious metals such as silver and gold. There was also much fertile land that would entice farmers and frontiersmen to move out west. On this land there was so much potential economic opportunity for farmers, cattle drivers, miners and many other occupations. The government developed the popular public misconception that the indians were misusing the land and that Americans had the right to take advantage of the opportunities that lie in the west. These ideas led to the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 which authorized encroachment of Indian lands by the US government in order to divide up reservations and control Indian activity.

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