Dawes Act Research Paper

For this essay, the question under investigation is: “To what extent did the Dawes General Allotment Act of 1887 impact Native American Tribes and their culture?” The number of tribes impacted by this act is too vast for us to investigate them all, so the focus of this research question will be on the Five Civilized Tribes to make the subject less broad. Lifestyles of the Native Americans in the Five Civilized Tribes before and after the Dawes Act will be investigated to get a better understanding of the life and cultural changes these people endured. The impacts include the splitting up of land and the redistribution of the land to individual tribe members, and the introduction of "white culture," such as farming, to the Native Americans.

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.

Native Americans who emigrated from Europe perceived the Indians as a friendly society with whom they dwelt with in harmony. While Native Americans were largely intensive agriculturalists and entrepreneurial in nature, the Indians were hunters and gatherers who earned a livelihood predominantly as nomads. By the 19th century, irrefutable territories i.e. the areas around River Mississippi were under exclusive occupation by the Indians. At the time, different Indian tribes such as the Chickasaws, Creeks, and Cherokees had adapted a sedentary lifestyle and practiced small-scale agriculture. According to the proponents of removal, the Indians were to move westwards into forested lands in order to generate additional space for development through agricultural production (Memorial of the Cherokee Indians).

The Dawes Act of 1887 started an era of forced assimilation which stripped Indian Children of their culture and heritage. Through boarding schools, the government “sought to give the Indian the schooling of the whites, teaching him to despise his old customs and habits as barbaric” (185). Leading up to the Great Depression, government policies reduced Indian-owned lands which meant many Indian families were unable to make a living or provide for themselves. The Wheeler-Howard Act of 1935 effectively ended these policies and introduced freedoms which has been previously denied to Indians. It “gave to the tribe the right to decide whether they would accept important privileges in education, self-determination and self-government” (184).

The Dawes act of 1887, which is also known as the General allotment act. Was that too provide land and protection for our native americans. Mostly in an act of courtesy I believe, because the United States basically just claimed the territory when our ancestors migrated here. Nonetheless, many of the indians were upset with the land they had for centuries, now all the sudden being taken from them, so in an act of “kindness” the United States decided to start giving the native americans some allotment of land. The Dawes act was named after its creator Henry Laurens Dawes, and was also used as an attempt to lift the indians out of poverty, but by doing that the United States started trying to educate them and dressed the children as American children.

American Indians resisted European attempts to change their beliefs and world views through the use of violence. For example, in 1680, an Indian religious leader named Pope led a revolt against European settlers who suppressed Native American beliefs. As a result, hundreds of European settlers were killed.

These tribes adopted Anglo-American practices, like farming, western education , and even slavery in an effort to acquire with the settlers in a peaceful manner. This did not work, the settlers became averse and resentful.

Americans also encouraged the to become educated in the “American style” or “white ways” (Westward Expansion & Manifest Destiny”). Many Americans believed that Native Americans were “considered heathens”. The only solution to make them “pure” again, was to Christianize the tribes to save their souls. Again, in the state of Georgia, prevented whites working with Native Americans.

After the battles in 1887, the Dawes Act was passed which broke up the reservations and instead gave the each Native American their own plot of land and ended the recognition of Native American tribes. The plots of land were given to them because the United States congress wanted them to become farmers, and losing their recognition as a tribe eliminated

Voting Crisis 3 ~ Passage of the Dawes Act and the End of the Indian Wars As Western Homesteaders, who happen to be farmers, we strongly stood behind the passage of the Dawes Act and an end to the indian wars. Our reasoning for supporting the Dawes Act was that if the land held by the native Americans was no longer affiliated by tribe, it could be privatized, which would offer us the opportunity of acquiring more land. Furthermore, a reduction of conflict between ourselves and the indians would greatly increase our quality of life, as the constant threat of raids had become a great nuisance.

The Europeans came mostly in peace; however, the Native Americans saw the newcomers as a threat to their livelihood. Amoroleck, an Indian captured by the Europeans after a clash between the two, explained that the Native Americans attacked the settlers because they believed the settlers “were a people come from under the world, to take their world from them.” (Merrell 45) With early conflicts, neither party was coming out victorious with their losses out numbering their winnings between the Indians and Europeans. Eventually, the Native Americans would accept the Europeans and even live jointly, aiding one another whether it was determining the best hunting grounds, planting the right crops in the right area, or incorporating lifestyles by helping round up escaped slaves. The two parties learned to make the most out and how to benefit from each other.

Many assume that the Whites gave the Indians many freedom when conquering their land. The standard way of thinking about how Whites treating Indians has it by biased history. It is often said by the Native Americans that they are forced to do actions without their actual opinion on them. The standard way of thinking about religion is allowing people to express themselves in the beliefs and get worship on their own. Chief Red Jacket’s 1805

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.

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries the Cherokees were going through a time of rebirth and regeneration. After the American Revolution the Cherokees confronted with economic depression. They gave up their homes, villages, towns and hunting grounds to white Americans. Many Cherokees adopted customs, beliefs and lifestyles of white Americans; they profoundly assimilated White culture because in this way they hoped could survive as a nation in their homeland.

The Native Americans were a group of people who have faced injustice and intolerance throughout their history. Chief Joseph’s “An Indian Views of Indian Affairs” and James Welch’s “The Man From Washington” showcase how life was like for the Native Americans and how their situation was dealt with by the settlers. In Chief Joseph’s “An Indian Views of Indian Affairs” and James Welch’s “The Man From Washington”, the authors suggest that it is unfair that the outsiders were allowed to make decisions for particular groups and things would not be set right with time. Chief Joseph believed that the settlers always made promises to help them with their situation, however, nothing was done. Instead the Native Americans were deprived from having the