Dawes Act
Americans believed in 1840, that they had to move westward; although the land was taken by the Native Americans. The Dawes Act, was a way to end the conflict between white settlers and the Indians; by giving the Indians and settlers their own plots of land. After the American Revolution white settlers continued to come to the New World, taking more from the natives for ranches, railroads, mining interest, as well as their own needs, causing the natives to have to move farther west. The government sought out to resolve the issue by giving the Indians large pieces of lands called reservations. Whites weren’t allowed to trespass on the land. Indian wars broke out between the natives and the …show more content…
By providing the groups with the amount of land they needed, to prevent settlers for trespassing and taking the Indians’ land. Although Texas Senator Richard Coke insisted that whites would still try to take the Indians land no matter the amount of land they were given. Also he stated it was impossible to have peace between the two, because the amount of land the Indians were given on the reservations. The settlers outnumbered the natives and greedily wanted more land; without the bill the Indians would have no chance against the settlers, who were determined to take the land for themselves. The allotment bill ensured that the Indians would be provided enough land to survive on. Supporters of the allotment pointed out how the natives didn’t use all the land they were given, but only a small portion. Although Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz said that “the Indians, with their possessions, will cease to stand in the way of the development of the …show more content…
One day life is absolutely normal, the next these strange intruders come onto the land that your grandfather’s grandfather was raised on, the land your family had hunted and lived on since anyone could possibly remember. The strange people are telling you, that you and your family have to move to another area, to make room for more strange faces to take your land. To raise their children, were your children were going to raise theirs. What right did the settlers have coming onto land that was already taken, homes were already built. The American’s came to the New World to escape from a government that was taking what was rightfully theirs, but began to take what was rightfully someone else’s. Settlers left their home, because their previous government was taxing them, giving them acts and laws to follow that were unfair, but it was okay for them to travel somewhere new and do the same to the people who lived on the land. Indians survived on their ways of life for centuries before the settlers came to the new land, why would they need to change their ways because of the ideas of the settlers. The settlers wanted the Indians to be, live and act like them. Abandoning their ways and beliefs. The settlers and government should have left the Native Americans to themselves, they were educated as well as civilized in their own way, without the help of the Americans. Natives were communal people, living together,