What is the Dawes Act (1887)? What were its intentional and unintentional consequences?

The Dawes Act of 1887 was designed to remove the Native Americans from reservations and to give each family an allotment of land. The act's supposed intent was to try to have Native Americans assimilate into white society and follow white ways of living. People believed if the Native Americans were responsible for their own farms and were removed from the reservation ways of living, the Native Americans would be more likely to adopt the...

The Dawes Act of 1887 was designed to remove the Native Americans from reservations and to give each family an allotment of land. The act's supposed intent was to try to have Native Americans assimilate into white society and follow white ways of living. People believed if the Native Americans were responsible for their own farms and were removed from the reservation ways of living, the Native Americans would be more likely to adopt the white culture.

Another of the law's stated purposes was to protect the property rights of the Native Americans as Americans moved westward in search of land in the 1890s. However, the Native Americans were often given land of poor quality. Also, individual farming was very different from the farming done on the reservations. Many Native Americans also could not afford the supplies needed to run their own farms. Some Native Americans had no interest in becoming farmers. As a result, the Native Americans struggled when they were given their individual allotment of land. This law hurt many of the Native Americans instead of helping them.