2/8 【歷史上的今天】表面上是要幫助印第安人，實際上卻掠奪了他們的土地

每天一篇《美國歷史上的今天》，提煉和總結歷史在今天發生的重要事件：誰，在哪裡，什麼時候，做了什麼，這件事為什麼重要、以及在寫關於什麼主題的論文的時候可以作為潛在論據引用。每天半分鐘，輕鬆積累史實，為AP歷史拿5分打下堅實基礎！

When: Feb 8, 1887

What: President Grover Cleveland signed the Dawes Severalty Act into law.

Why significant: The act ended tribal control of reservations, by dividing up reservations held communally by Native American tribes into smaller units, and distributing these units to individuals native americans. It changed the legal status of Native Americans from tribal members to individuals subject to federal laws and dissolved many tribal affiliations. It later proved to be a well-meaning but ultimately flawed attempt to assimilate Native Americans, and became a huge blow to tribal sovereignty.

The major motivation for the Dawes Act was Anglo-American hunger for Indian lands. Under the Dawes Act, the head of each Native American family received 160 acres in an effort to encourage Native Americans to take up farming, live in smaller family units, and renounce tribal loyalties. The government held such lands in trust for 25 years, until the recipients could prove themselves self-sufficient farmers. Before the family could sell their allotment, they were required to get a certificate of competency. If the family did not succeed at farming, the land reverted back to the federal government for sale, usually to white settlers. The Dawes Act reduced Native American landholdings from 138 million acres in 1887 to 78 million in 1900, and continued the trend of white settlement on previously Native American-held land.

To be fair, the Dawes Act was not solely a product of greed. Many religious and humanitarian 「friends of the Indian」 supported the act as a necessary step toward fully assimilating the Indians into white American culture. Reformers believed that Indians would never bridge the chasm between 「barbarism and civilization」 if they maintained their tribal cohesion and traditional ways. So the act also created federally funded boarding schools designed to assimilate Native American children into white society. However, those boarding schools became notorious as they practically destroyed family and cultural ties, for children were punished for speaking their native language or performing native rituals.

The Dawes Severalty Act proved a very effective tool for taking lands from Indians and giving it to Anglos, but the promised benefits to the Indians never materialized. Racism, bureaucratic bungling, and inherent weaknesses in the law deprived the Indians of the strengths of tribal ownership, while severely limiting the economic viability of individual ownership. Many tribes also deeply resented and resisted the government』s heavy-handed attempt to destroy their traditional cultures.

Despite the flaws, the Dawes Severalty Act remained in force for more than four decades. It was repudiated in 1934, during President Franklin Roosevelt』s first term.

Tags: native Americans, President Grover Cleveland, Dawes Severalty Act

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