How effective were attempts to assimilate Native Americans prior to 1900? Flashcards
In order to assimilate they had to destroy NA culture, lifestyle and bonds by:
-Education
-Conversion to Christianity
-Turning the NA into farmers
-The establishment of government reservations
What were reservations?
-designated land for NA to occupy
What was the process of Reservations?
-given worst land possible to live on and forced to move there->each tribe had to sight a treaty (which they most likely didn’t understand) to go to a reservation
When did Reservations begin? Why?
-began in the 1850s
-to reduce conflict between NA and settlers -> treaties to agree boundaries
When did Reservations accelerate? Why?
-accelerated in the 1860s+
-reservations used to assimilate as Plains were needed for increased settlement->boundaries forced upon them
What was the main way to bring about assimilation?
Reservations
What was a result of Reservations?
-reservations made NAs dependant on the US government for resources and food
Who were in charge of Reservations?
Indian Agents
What did Reservation Policy do?
-size of reservations gradually reduced->after 1871 NA lost the right to determine what happened to their land and congress was given the power to decide on setting up reservations, relocating tribes and drawing up reservation boundaries-> self determination removed
What was the impact of Reservation Policy?
-removed nomadic lifestyle by making NA stay in one place eg no longer hunt the buffalo
-made NA dependent on US government for food/ supplies
What was the aim of Reservation Policy?
-aimed to prevent conflict between NA and settlers/US army
How effective was Reservation Policy? What were the negatives? (5)
-NA still left reservations - Battle of Little Bighorn 1876 - Sioux Nation defeated the US army. Custer defeated, over 200 army men killed/scalped - white opinion turned against NA
-Exceptions to the trend->Navajo tribe: adapted to the new farming practices and increased the size of their reservation and growth in numbers from 8000 ->22,000 by 1900
-Indian Agents were corrupt and sold food destined for reservations.
-Reduced land/poor quality land given to reservations - unsuitable for farming ->starvation
-many died from infectious diseases eg measles
-alcohol addiction->by 1900 only 100,000 of the original 240,000 NA inhabiting the Plains in 1860 remained
What did Education do?
-two off-reservation boarding schools were set up because the quality of education provided on the reservations was poor
Where were the two schools?
-Virginia
-Pennsylvania
What did the schools provide? (education wise)
-they provided boys with vocational training and girls with the skills for domestic service
What were the schools like?
-parents were forced to send their children to school where the children were forbidden from speaking in their own language and were made to completely renounce their traditional tribal beliefs
How effective was the education?
-the education provided gave some NAs the opportunity to find better jobs, with some working in the India Agency Offices and others working as interpreters or scouts to army units
-but parents were forced to send their children to school where the children were forbidden from speaking in their own language and were made to completely renounce their traditional tribal beliefs
When was the Dawes Act?
1887
What was the reason the Dawes Act was passed?
-reservations still allowed the NAs tribal life to continue and retain some of their culture and customs->not was the government intention->introduced the Dares Severalty Act in 1887
What did the Dawes Act do?
-turned NAs into landowners and gave them full rights of citizenship-> although they now payed tax which further undermined their position as it ignored their belief that land couldn’t be owned
Why did White Settlers buy NA land? What was a result?
-resulted in a decline in land held by NAs as much of it was bought by white settlers when the NAs were unable to farm it->they received money from the sale but they were often unable to manage such sums and therefore slipped further into poverty and debt
What was the act worsened by?
-worsened by the position and status of many NA women->particularly true of tribes that were matriarchal where property belonged to the women->under the Dawes Act property was given to the men
How effective was it?
-although they had been given civil rights through the Dawes Act, this meant little in practice as they were often discriminated against regardless
-the development of the allotment process meant that they lost their identity which had at least been preserved through the reservation system
-they had lost their pride and self respect as they were often dependent on the government
-by 1914 many NAs had seen their lives deteriorate even further
