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Native Americans In The Late 1800s

510 Words3 Pages

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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The Dawes Act, was introduced by Henry Dawes, a Senator from Massachusetts. Simply put, the Act broke up previous land settlements given to Native Americans in the form of reservations and separated them into smaller, separate parcels of land to live on. More importantly, the Act required Natives to live apart from their nations and assimilate into European culture. Dawes felt that the law, once fully realized, would save Native Americans from the alternative, which was their total slaughtering.

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To What Extent Was The Indian Inter Partners Act Of 1790

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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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This act was brought up to force Native Americans to assimilate white Americans. It was passed during the presidency of Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th President of the United States. It was an act to provide for the allotment of lands in severalty to Indians on the various reservations.

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The lives of the Plains Indians were heavily influenced by governmental action and technological innovations in the second half of the 19th century. As settlers moved to the Plains, conflict between the settlers and the Plains Indians arose. This, in turn, led to a lost of culture of the Plains Indians. Although new technology came to the West and the government enforced treaties, in the Plains Indians best interest, however, it actually was the very force that caused dissimulation within the Plains Indians’ community. Governmental actions such as setting up reservations and the Dawes Act worked in the new settlers best interest.

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1258 Words | 6 Pages

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Native Americans In The 19th Century Essay

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