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Native Americans In The Late 1800s

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Before the Civil War, Congress reserved the Great Plains for Indians. However, in the era of steel plows, building up the continent and the speedy geographic and economic development in the United States enabled by the growth of railroads, policy makers took over power of the whole region. Indians living in reservations were forced to flee as they faced violence and confused federal policies. In the late 1800s Americans developed various laws and procedures in order to outline the relationship between the Indians and the Federal Government. Nevertheless those laws and promises were broken with lies and deceit time after time. Racism and violence against the Indians persisted. In 1869 Ulysses Grant entered the White House, authors of Reconstruction …show more content…

Indians were driven to poverty and vulnerability to infectious disease. Traders continued to steal from people they were supposed to be protecting. It was the opinion of the Indians that Reformers were just sending despairingly mixed messages. Finally in 1881 Helen Hunt Jackson, through her book “A Century of Dishonor” opened the eyes of some Americans to their dishonorable treatment of the Indians. Some Americans incorporated several Indian support organizations such as the National Indian Defense Association, and the Indian Rights Association. The representatives of these associations got together on an annual basis to discuss Indian dealings and encourage reform efforts. In 1887 Congress adopted the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887. This was the dream of Massachusetts Senator, Henry L. Dawes. The Act proposed that reservations would be partitioned into homesteads to give Indians the chance to ownership. The Act was a disaster and the results were shattering for the Indians. The lands they were assigned were poor and over the next decades they failed to provide the necessary resources to support their businesses and families The Indians lost more land than they initially had. They suffered massive loss of their cultures and languages. In the end the whites persuaded the government into selling them more land than

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