Dawes Act

Ever wondered why the western part of USA is mostly agrarian? Well the roots (pun unintended) of this mode of economic development were laid way back in 1880's. Since then, or in fact agriculture was being done before that in the USA. But there was one thing particularly which led to a dramatic change in the agriculture scene in the USA. The person responsible for that was US Senator Henry L Dawes, from Massachusetts. This incident I am talking about in American history is the Dawes Act. This act was enacted in connection with the Native Americans. If this blast from the past interests you, then read on!

What Was the Dawes Act

Simply put, the act was enacted in relation to the native Americans and distribution of land to them, the ones especially in Oklahoma. Signed into law on February 8, 1887, the name is given after its sponsor, Henry Dawes, as mentioned before. Primarily, the act, passed by the Congress facilitated the division of lands held by tribal in individually-owned parcels. This opened 'surplus lands' to non-Indian settlements and rail road development. The Dawes Act of 1887 brought into focus 4 primary concepts and which were believed to be the objectives of this act.

Allotment of Land
Allotment of land in severalty to individual Indians was basic premise of this act. Under this, the remaining land was made available to settlers and orphans under the age of 18 and other single people under eighteen received 40 acres. Moreover, under this act, heads of families and single people over eighteen years were given allotments of 160 acres. The reasons for doing all this was to protect the native Indians from getting swindled.

Vocational Training
Another answer to what was the purpose of the Dawes Act is that this act aimed at a gendered training, involving farming and agriculture for men and homemaking for Indian women. All this was also an apparent attempt to civilize the native Americans.

Education
The Dawes Act provided for 'civilized' channel of education for native American children in government schools. This was so stringent that the troops took children away if there was resistance from parents. Moreover, boarding was preferred to ensure that the children get away from the tribal influence.

The Divine Intervention
According to Dawes Act, the churches were to intervene in policy making and missionary work related to the native Americans and near the tribes. Consequently a code of religious offense was established. In addition to this, the agents had the power and authority to convict red Indians if they practiced their religion.

So primarily these were the implications of the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887. Although some of these provisions seemed to be beneficial, some of the provisions clearly seemed to be atrocious and inflicting injustice on the tribals.

Aftermath of the Dawes Act

Just above I said that the American tribal experienced a lot of negativity as a result of this act, even if it emphasized on individual or private land ownership. The negativity marred the unity, culture and self government of the tribal community. The catch was that the land granted to the people was not adequate to provide financial security and it was not economically viable. Rather, the division of land amongst the heirs upon the death of the person being allotted the land, led to fractionalization. The allotment land, which for most part could be sold after 25 years was ultimately sold to non-native buyers at bargain prices. In addition to this, land marked as surplus, beyond what was left after allotment was opened to white settlers. However, the profits from the sales of these lands were many a times invested in programs meant to aid the American Indians.

The act, eventually was amended in 1891 and then once more again in 1906 by the Burke Act. That was all about the Dawes Act. This was just the Dawes Act summary. There were many repercussions and effects of this act, which have now been deeply buried in the pages of history. I close my treatise here!