The Dawes Act of 1887 Themes

While land seems to be the primary focus of the Dawes Act, the real objective was to erase the Native American identity and assimilate them into American society. Most were already on reservations,...

One of the reasons the "Indian Problem" was such a big deal was because the American people saw Native Americans as a serious threat to their ability to control the new continent. The tribes' resis...

In order for the Dawes Act to have legitimacy and a sense of magnanimity, it needed to adopt a paternalistic approach towards the domination of Native Americans. Everything, you see, was for their...