Native Americans In The 19th Century Essay

From colonial times until the end of the Indian Wars in 1890, the people in America went through a series of unfair and unfortunate events. Mainly for the Indians which are also called the first peoples. These events could have been handled with much more consideration for the Indians. There are many times when the Americans went too far including the Removal Act of 1830, the Reservation System, and the Act for the Government and Protection of Indians. The Indian Removal Act was passed during Andrew Jackson’s presidency on May 28, 1830. This authorized the president to grant land that was west of the Mississippi River to Indians that agreed to give up their homeland. They believed that the land could be more profitably farmed by non-Indians.

In 1850, California's first legislature passed the Act for the Government and Protection of Indians. This wrote even more unreasonable laws into place. Indians could not testify against white men and white men were able to take control over the Indian children. It was also illegal to see or give alcohol to any Indians. If an indian was convicted of a crime or stealing anything valuable, he or she would receive a violent punishment and a fine. A few years later, California passed a law making it a crime to come in contact or remove the body of a deceased person. Indians were exempted from this law and this lead to Indian grave robbing. Then, In 1860 an amendment was passed to the Act for the Government and Protection of Indians which stated that if Indians were not already captured or enslaved they could be kidnapped. Some of the goals of California’s legislation were to promote Indian slavery and deny Indians equal protection under the law. They also would fund and empower militias who would attack the California Indians. Studies find it impossible to know how many Indians were killed by these militias during the period of 1850 to