Native Americans The Indian General Allotment Act example essay topic

The post Civil War era of 1865 to 1900 brought amazing changes to the United States that were all influenced, for better or worse, by all branches of the United State government. Immigrants, African Americans and Native Americans all faced discrimination at the hands of American citizens and government. Labor unions became organized prompting regulation of working conditions, and the railroads burst into transcontinental transportation, which was part of the cause for the surge in industrial growth during this era. The Native Americans were undoubtedly the most discriminated against race in the United States. The black man was freed from slavery while the Native Americans continued to be removed from their land and forced to assimilate to the white man ways. The Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 was important tool in the civilizing effort.

It's objective was to make the Indians into self-sufficient, property conscious, profit-oriented, individual farmers... (Berkin et all, 2003, p. 591). After the Civil War the federal government forcibly restricted to the Indians to reservations, finding it difficult to make the tribes productive, the Indians came to depend on the government for the necessities of life. Many whites, regarding ownership of land as the basis of success, hoped that by owning their own farms the Indians would become independent farmers. Other whites, hungry for land, thought that too much land had already been reserved to the Indians. (Berkin, C., Miller, C., Cherney, R., and Gormly, J, 2003, p. 590) After 1871 federal policy shifted from thinking of Indian Tribes as sovereign dependant nations, with whom federal officials negotiated treaties, to viewing the as wards of the federal government.

(Berkin et. all, 2003, p. 590) Again in an attempt to assimilate the Native Americans the Indian General Allotment Act resulted in the loss of tens of millions of acres of Indian land. Many Indians were not used to the idea of individual ownership of land and had little understanding of money values. They sold their allotments at absurdly low prices, spent the money, and became destitute. Where land was retained, the amount possessed by each Indian became smaller as the land was divided through inheritance. Although the solidarity of the Indian tribes was thereby endangered, the traditional tribal values and customs persisted. (American Indians or Native American, para.

261) During the reconstruction period of 1865 to 1877, which began with the Thirteenth Amendment that abolished slavery, the freed slaves had many decisions to make on where and how they wanted to live their lives. Attempts were made to assist the freed slaves with the Freedman's Bureau that aided former slaves among others with the transition to freedom. It was a federal program that handled everything from land redistribution to finding work and other necessities. The program was well intended but it hit a huge obstacle in 1865 when President Johnson ordered the halt of land redistribution and also ordered any land already given out to be reclaim leaving thousands homeless.

Although the slaves were free, they were still greatly suppressed. Many could only find work as sharecroppers that bound them financially to the landowners. Some state legislatures passed the black codes in 1865 and 1866 placing restriction on blacks such as limiting them to agricultural work, restriction on them moving around the country without permission, and restrictions on land ownership. The black codes were simply and attempt to place the black race as subordinates to the white race. The Civil Rights act of 1866 was the first attempt of the federal government to define the rights of a United States citizen. This was a great boost for African American people, but fearing the Supreme Court would declare the act unconstitutional Congress protected it by passing the Fourteenth Amendment.

(Berkin et. all, 2003, p. 472) The next largest improvement for the African Americans was the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment that secured voting rights for African American males. The final Congressional act during the Reconstruction period is probably the only act of that era that is still a concern in modern times. The Civil Rights Bill of 1875 prohibited racial discrimination in jury selection, public transportation and public accommodations. (Berkin et. all, 2003, p. 476) The United States attracted many immigrants throughout history, but none such as the flood of immigrants like the one after the Civil War. The industrial boom after the war needed laborers and the immigrants were ready, willing and able to fill the need for workers in the very harsh conditions of very long workdays for very little pay. These conditions were still better than what they had in their homelands.

The immigrants, mostly from Europe, tended to stay in their own cultural groups, keeping their own traditions and in many cases continuing to speak their native language rather that learn English. Many American citizens resented the slow assimilation to the American way of life. In 1882 Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act prohibiting entry into the country to all Chinese people excluding teacher, students, merchants, tourists, and officials. The act also specified that no Asian could become a naturalized citizen. (Berkin et. all, 2003, p. 590) During the 1890's parts of the Midwest passed laws requiring that all schools be taught in English only. The citizens fear that the immigrants posed a threat to their jobs and wage levels helped lead to demands on the federal government to restrict immigration by insisting the immigrants pass a literacy test before being admitted into the country.

(Berkin et all, 2003, p. 607) The industrial progress after the Civil War was truly at breakneck speed. A wealth of natural resources, a capable work force, an agricultural base that produced enough food for a large urban population, and favorable government policies laid the foundation. (Berkin et. all, 2003, p. 493) Increased production in agriculture as well as industry was due to the development of new technology that allowed mass production of goods and machinery making it possible for machines to replace artisans or turn the work of one farmer into that of eight farmers. The agriculture industry was also encouraged to grow by the Homestead Act passed by Congress in 1862 that gave up to 160 acres to any person who live on and farm the land for five years.

The Homestead Act was responsible for doubling the total number of acres in farmland between 1866 and 1900. (Berkin et. all, 2003, p. 497) After the war, the completion of the transcontinental railroad in May of 1869 opened commerce across the country, helped bring people to sparsely populated areas, and further stimulated economic growth. Built jointly by the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific, the railroad linked the continent from Atlantic Ocean to Pacific Ocean. The transcontinental was started with the Pacific Railway Act that provided Federal governmental loans and also acreage for every mile of track that was laid. This tremendous feat required millions of dollars, thousands of workers, tremendous hardship and 7 years to complete and changed the face of our nation. (History of the Railroad, para.

5) The federal government's support of the developing railroads continued until 1871 when the railroads had to turn to private funding and support from local and state governments. The railroads faced high fixed costs and the competition between railroads sometimes became so intense that not line could show a profit. In attempts to defuse the situation many lines chose to form pools dividing the existing business among themselves as not to compete on rates but few pools lasted long. (Berkin et. all, 2003, p. p. 503) During the depression that began in 1873, railroad companies reduced operating costs by repeatedly cutting wages resulting in huge labor strikes. In the 1880's the trend was for larger rail companies to combine with the smaller competition creating regional railroads like the Santa Fe or Great Northern lines. As ineffective as these first efforts to organize workers through unions may have been, they reflected the need of working people for economic and legal protection from exploiting employers.

With workers recognizing the power of their employers, the number of local union organizations increased steadily during the mid-19th century. In a number of cities, unions in various trades joined together in citywide federations. The Nation Labor Union (NL) formed in 1866 and eventually persuaded Congress to pass an eight-hour day for Federal workers. Never very strong, it was a casualty of the sweeping economic depression of 1873. Five years later, the Knights of Labor captured the public imagination.

Membership was open to all workers, whether they were skilled or unskilled, black or white, male or female. The Knights, an effective labor force, declined after the Haymarket Square riots. In the riot members of the Knights where accused of throwing a bomb which killed police officers. The Knights, already fragmented, where faced with enormous negative publicity, and eventually disbanded.

(History of Unions, para. 6) The Pullman Strike in 1894 struck the company's manufacturing plant and called for a boycott of the handling of Pullman's sleeping and parlor cars on the nation's railroads. Within a week, 125,000 railroad workers were engaged in a sympathy protest strike. The government swore in 3,400 special deputies; later, at the request of the railroad association, President Cleveland moved in federal troops to break. Finally a sweeping federal court injunction forced an end to the sympathy strike, and many railroad workers were blacklisted. The Pullman strikers were essentially starved into submissive defeat.

The strike illustrated the increasing tendency of the government to offer moral support and military force to break strikes. The injunction, issued usually and almost automatically by compliant judges on the request of government officials or corporations, became a prime legal weapon against union organizing and action. 10) The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was founded in 1886. The AFL expressed their belief in the need for more effective union organization.

Thus the AFL organized only unions of skilled workers and remained a successful union because it sought limited gains and abandoned the idea that unions would control the workplace rather than the employers. There is likely no other era that saw so much rapid change in every aspect of life than the post-Civil War era. Although discrimination still existed, the African American people saw great improvements in their quality of life while the Native Americans and immigrants continued to suffer hardships at the hand of the American citizens and all levels of government. The changes in industry, railroads and unions all tied in together and all fueled great growth in the American economy. Berkin, C., Miller, C., Cherney, R., and Gormly, J. (2003) Making America A History of the United Stated Volume II: Since 1865. Houghton Mifflin.

American Indian or Native American, (n. d. ). Retrieved September 11, 2003 from web History of the Railroad, (n. d. ).

Retrieved September 12, 2003 from web The Labor Union Movement in America, (n. d. ). Retrieve September 12, 2003 from web.