4.1 Removal and Reservation Eras (1830s-1887)

The Removal and Reservation Eras marked a dark period in Native American history. From 1830 to 1887, the U.S. government forcibly relocated tribes from their ancestral lands to designated territories, often under harsh conditions. This era saw the implementation of the Indian Removal Act and the establishment of the reservation system.

These policies aimed to clear land for white settlers and assimilate Native Americans into mainstream society. The government ended treaty-making in 1871 and imposed assimilation through boarding schools and cultural suppression. This era's effects on Native communities were devastating and long-lasting.

Indian Removal and Relocation

Indian Removal Act of 1830 and Consequences

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• Indian Removal Act of 1830 authorized the president to negotiate removal treaties with Native American tribes living east of the Mississippi River
• Forcibly relocated Native American tribes from their ancestral lands to designated "Indian Territory" west of the Mississippi River (present-day Oklahoma)
• Trail of Tears was the forced relocation of approximately 60,000 Native Americans, including the Cherokee, Muscogee (Creek), Seminole, Chickasaw, and Choctaw nations
  • Resulted in the deaths of thousands due to harsh conditions, disease, and starvation during the journey

Legal Challenges and Supreme Court Decisions

• Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) was a case in which the Cherokee Nation sought to sue the state of Georgia in the Supreme Court for passing laws that deprived them of their rights
  • The Court ruled that the Cherokee Nation was not a foreign nation and therefore could not sue Georgia under the Constitution
• Worcester v. Georgia (1832) was a case in which the Supreme Court held that the Cherokee Nation was a sovereign nation and that the laws of Georgia had no force within Cherokee territory
  • President Andrew Jackson refused to enforce the Court's decision, leading to the Trail of Tears

Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion

• Manifest Destiny was the belief that the United States was destined to expand across the North American continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean
• Fueled by nationalism, economic ambition, and a belief in the racial and cultural superiority of white Americans
• Led to the displacement and forced relocation of Native American tribes as settlers and the U.S. government sought to acquire more land for westward expansion

Treaties and Reservations

Treaty-Making Period and Significant Treaties

• Treaty-making period lasted from the early years of the United States until 1871
• Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 was an agreement between the U.S. government and various Native American tribes of the Great Plains (Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Crow, Assiniboine, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara)
  • Established territorial boundaries for the tribes and allowed for the construction of roads and military posts in the region
• Medicine Lodge Treaty of 1867 was a series of three treaties signed between the U.S. government and the Southern Plains tribes (Kiowa, Comanche, Plains Apache, Southern Cheyenne, and Southern Arapaho)
  • Required the tribes to relocate to reservations in present-day Oklahoma and relinquish their traditional lands

End of Treaty-Making and the Reservation System

• Indian Appropriations Act of 1871 ended the practice of treaty-making with Native American tribes
  • Declared that no Native American tribe would be recognized as an independent nation, tribe, or power with whom the United States could contract by treaty
• Reservation system was established to confine Native American tribes to specific areas of land, often far from their traditional territories
  • Reservations were typically smaller and less fertile than the tribes' original lands, making it difficult for them to maintain their traditional way of life
  • U.S. government often failed to provide adequate resources, leading to poverty, disease, and cultural disruption on reservations

Federal Government and Assimilation

Bureau of Indian Affairs and its Role

• Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) was established in 1824 as a division of the U.S. Department of War, later transferred to the Department of the Interior in 1849
• Responsible for managing relations between the U.S. government and Native American tribes, including the implementation of policies and the administration of reservations
• Played a central role in the U.S. government's efforts to assimilate Native Americans into mainstream American society

Assimilation Policies and their Impact

• Assimilation policies aimed to "civilize" Native Americans by forcing them to adopt European-American culture, religion, and ways of life
• Included the suppression of traditional languages, religions, and cultural practices, as well as the forced education of Native American children in boarding schools
• Carlisle Indian Industrial School, founded in 1879, was the first off-reservation boarding school and served as a model for other such schools
  • Children were separated from their families, forbidden to speak their native languages, and forced to adopt European-American names, clothing, and customs
• Assimilation policies had devastating effects on Native American communities, leading to the erosion of cultural identity, the breakdown of family structures, and lasting intergenerational trauma