Today in History - 1887
President Grover Cleveland signs the Dawes Severalty Act into law. The act split up reservations held communally by Native American tribes into smaller units and distributed these units to individuals within the tribe. Also called the “General Allotment Act,” the law changed the legal status of Native Americans from tribal members to “individuals” subject to federal laws and dissolved many tribal affiliations
Cleveland signed the act in a sincere but misguided attempt to improve the Native Americans’ lives by incorporating them into white culture, rejecting earlier policies toward Native Americans that forced them to live on desolate reservations where it was difficult to make a living.
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. In addition, the law created federally funded boarding schools designed to assimilate Native American children into white society. Family and cultural ties were practically destroyed by the now-notorious boarding schools, in which children were punished for speaking their native language or performing native rituals.
The Dawes Severalty Act was abolished in 1934, during President Franklin Roosevelt’s first term.
Cleveland signed the act in a sincere but misguided attempt to improve the Native Americans’ lives by incorporating them into white culture, rejecting earlier policies toward Native Americans that forced them to live on desolate reservations where it was difficult to make a living.
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. In addition, the law created federally funded boarding schools designed to assimilate Native American children into white society. Family and cultural ties were practically destroyed by the now-notorious boarding schools, in which children were punished for speaking their native language or performing native rituals.
The Dawes Severalty Act was abolished in 1934, during President Franklin Roosevelt’s first term.
