If only the Internet had been around in 1887 so we could look up all the comments about this bill that would be floating around in perpetuity. It would be so much easier to discern how people felt about it in 280 characters.

Nonetheless, we do know a little bit about how most Americans felt about the Dawes Act when it came to be. Particularly in places that were desirable to white settlers, the Act was announced gladly and with fanfare. Newspapers assured their readers that new, quality land would soon be opening up thanks to the American Indians who were eager to sell their excess lands off for profit. In one Dakota publication, a short article declared:

These Indians are the most civilized of the Sioux nation; they have acquired commendable habits of industry and are anxious to dispose of their surplus of land to their white neighbors (source).

Uh-huh.

We also know that there were some vocal opponents to the Dawes Act. Senator Henry Teller saw right through the paternalistic language of the act and declared it shameful regardless of the writers' intent. And the Native Americans received the Act with varying degrees of acceptance, but there weren't many outlets through which they could voice their concerns. Like any marginalized group, their opinion didn't carry any weight on the matter.

But now? Now we can see that while Dawes might've drafted this legislation with good intentions, thousands of lives and the millions of acres of land were lost, and the Act had a decimating effect on Native American culture. The Dawes Act is seen by contemporary historians as misguided and short-sighted, and it's only in the 2010s that legislation attempted to correct the fractionation of American Indian lands that was the eventual consequence of Dawes.