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Progressive Era Policies: The Dawes Act And Indian Boarding Schools

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The Effects of American Policies on Native Americans. The Progressive Era policies, such as the Dawes Act and Indian Boarding Schools, aimed to integrate Native Americans into mainstream American society.The Dawes Act, passed in 1887, sought to convert tribal land into individual parcels and force Native Americans to assimilate into American culture. The Indian Boarding Schools, established in the late 19th century, aimed to take Native American children away from their families and assimilate them into American culture by forbidding them from speaking their native language and practicing their culture.

During the Progressive Era, the U.S. government's policies towards Native Americans were motivated by a belief that they were "primitive" and in need of "civilizing." This perspective was shaped by a prevailing narrative of the time, which portrayed Native Americans as a "vanishing race" that needed to be assimilated into mainstream American society. Unfortunately, the policies that were implemented with this belief led to significant harm to Native American communities.
The Dawes Act, for example, was passed in 1887 with the aim of converting tribal land into individual parcels and forcing Native Americans to assimilate into American culture. This policy had disastrous consequences for Native American communities, leading to the loss of their …show more content…

government towards Native Americans during the Progressive Era were not implemented in the best interests of Native Americans, but rather in the interests of the U.S. government and white settlers. These policies were motivated by a belief that Native Americans were "primitive" and in need of "civilizing," which led to the loss of Native American land and resources, as well as cultural genocide and trauma for generations of Native Americans. It is important to acknowledge and address the harm caused by these policies in order to move towards a more just and equitable

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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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The depth of hostility felt by many white Americans toward the Indians was very aggressive in my opinion. I personally do not understand why they were so cruel to the Native Americans when the Indians were there first. I understand the concept that they needed to have sustainability and needs, but I think the white Americans did it the wrong way. Next, I think the main goal of the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 was to compromise and share the land equally with the Indians.

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Congress passed the Dawes Allotment Act in 1887, its purpose was to teach the Natives the farming methods and the American values of individualism as well as private property rather than collectively owned land in order to assimilate the Natives. This act is seen as the most assimilative and ruined tribal functions culturally and economically with the entire allotment process (O’Brien 77). The act divided reservation lands amongst individual people and families in order for them to farm and raise livestock. Each head of a household would obtain about 160 acres and individuals who were over the age of eighteen would get 80 acres, while all others would receive 40 acres of land, but any surplus land would go to settlers.

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