Document 12: The Dawes Act and Americanization
Starting in about 1870, most U.S. government officials and reformers
began to believe that Native Americans would be better off if they
abandoned their culture and adopted the culture of white America. The
new thinking was that instead of removal, treaties, reservations, or war,
the government should focus on a policy of Americanization, which
entailed a complete attack on Native American traditions.
Congress took a huge
step in the
Americanization
process when it passed
the Dawes Act in 1887.
The new law broke up
most Indian
reservations and made
Native Americans individual property owners. (Keep in mind that many
Native American cultures, especially those of the Great Plains, did not
believe land could be owned and used the land as a community, not
individually). Each head of family received 160 acres, each single
person over 18 received 80, and each child received 40. Any left over
land was sold. Many government officials, some with the best
intentions, believed this shift would change the Indians’ relationship with
the land. However, the government gave less productive land to the
Native Americans and sold off the best land. Many Native Americans
received near­desert lands that were impossible to farm and even when
they did receive farmable land, they could rarely afford the cost of
starting a farm.
To be civilized was “to wear civilized clothes...cultivate the
ground [farm], live in houses, ride in Studebaker wagons,
send children to school, drink whiskey and own property.”
­Congressman Henry Dawes
Pictured, above: Author of the Dawes Act,
Congressman Henry Dawes. He believed
that owning private property would “civilize”
Native Americans.
In Your Answer Packet...
Document 12: The Dawes Act and Americanization
● On page 5 of your answer packet, answer Document 12 Questions:
○ Define Americanization:
■ Define in your own words (however you’ll remember the term best!)
○ What was the Dawes Act and what did it do?
■ Define and describe
○ Do you agree with Congressman Henry Dawes’ beliefs about what it took to be
“civilized”? Explain.
■ Read the quote in Doc 12
■ Discuss with your group what Dawes thought it meant to be “civilized”
■ Do you think that’s what being “civilized” means?
■ Explain! (If you said yes, explain why, if you said no, what do you think it
really takes to be “civilized”?)