Allotment Act Of 1887 Dbq Essay

“I always see America as really belonging to the Native Americans. Even though I’m American, I still feel like a visitor in my country” (Nicolas Cage). Throughout US history, Native Americans who have lived longer in America than many Americans do not truly adhere the same rights as Americans. During the 19th century, for example, a group known as the Plains Indians inhabited the Great Plains but were soon deprived of it by US settlers. When the government agreed on the Treaty of Fort Laramie, which was the first treaty between the government and the Plains Indians to recognize that the Indians owned the Great Plains, it was ignored when gold was discovered in 1858. Afterwards, the government gave the Plains Indians in compensation, federal

Such fair regulations are stated in the Act: “ ... in all cases where any tribe or band of Indians has been, or shall hereafter be located upon any reservation created for their own use…( Document B).” This section of the Act is a clear example that the government granted the Plains Indians land in order to dwell freely on. Because of being deprived of their land due to the popularity after the discovery of gold, being granted land was a fair action. More specifically on how allotment was fair, the Act states “ … to allot the lands in said reservation in severalty to any INdian located thereon in quantities as follows…(Document B).” This whole regulation of land distribution was also a positive aspect of the Allotment Act because before, the the Plains Indians would live as tribes, so by living as individuals, the people of the Indians weakened the strict tribal council rules and be more “civilized.” One thing must also be considered in the Allotment Act: The act looked to make Native Americans into US citizens. Reformers believed that Native Americans should adopt to the ways of white people so as a result looked to generally improve the lives of these Plains

According to Document K it states,” Having wronged them for centuries we had better in order to protect our civilization, follow it up by one more wrong and wipe these untamed and untamable creatures form the face of the earth.”This shows how angered society was after the creation of reservations for all Native Americans. After General George Armstrong Custer during the Battle of the Little Bighorn majorly lost when underestimating the Native Americans. After great deaths, many people wanted to the government to be much more stricter towards them. Adding on, it states,” An eastern contemporary, with a grain of wisdom in its wit, says that when the whites win a fight, it is a victory, and when the Indians win it, it is a massacre (Document K). This is an example of how biased and prejudiced people were against the Plains Indians since they only believed that the Americans should truly have victory. This is also an example of hatred caused by the Indian Wars. The Massacre at Wounded Knee for example was another bloody battle which resulted in many deaths of both sides but mostly Americans. In all, the Americans wanted to show revenge towards the Native Americans since the government was not dealing with them more strictly, which is why the government has negatively affected the Plains Indians due to the creation of