In 1887, the Dawes Severalty Act was passed. This act stated that the President of America could divide land that belonged to Native Americans and divide it up among individual Native Americans. Each head of the family got 1/4 of a section, each adult got 1/8, each orphan got 1/8, and people under 18 years of age got 1/16. To prevent conflict, there were distinct lines between everyone's tracts of land. Native Americans were also allowed to apply to get some land if they were not on a reservation. Unfortunately for the Native Americans, the United States government still had some extent of control over those lands and many transactions possible had to go through them first. This act also allowed Native Americans who cooperated to be granted citizenship in America. However, there were still some gray areas where some groups of Native Americans were not allowed to enjoy the benefits of this act.
No comments:
Post a Comment