Ustawa Dawesa

Mimo że brutalne konflikty miały bardzo negatywny wpływ na relacje między osadnikami i rdzennymi Amerykanami już od samych początków europejskiej kolonizacji Nowego Świata, w połowie XIX wieku ta przemoc wciąż rosła, gdy europejscy osadnicy przemieszczali się przez kontynent amerykański coraz dalej na zachód. Większość białych Amerykanów wierzyło, że życie w pokoju i harmonii ze rdzennymi Amerykanami było niemożliwe. Uważali ich za “zacofanych” i “prymitywnych.”

As a result of this widespread belief, the federal government created the reservation system in 1851 to provide land to Native Americans and thereby keep them off of the lands that European-Americans wished to settle. Many tribes resisted their confinement to the reservations, resulting in a series of conflicts between various Indian tribes and the US Army known as the Indian Wars. Ultimately, the Army subdued the Indians and forced them onto reservations, where they were allowed to govern themselves and maintain some of their traditions and culture.$^1$start superscript, 1, end superscript

But as white Americans pushed ever westward, they came into conflict with Native Americans on their tribal lands. Many of these white settlers viewed the continued practice of native traditions as barbaric and intolerable. They believed that assimilation (being completely absorbed) into mainstream white American society was the only acceptable fate for Native Americans. This belief was often couched in religious terms; many white Christians argued that only by abandoning their spiritual traditions and accepting Christian dogma could the Indians be “saved” from the fires of hell. The forced assimilation of Native Americans was thus justified as being better for the Indians themselves.

Pod koniec XIX wieku politykom udało się osiągnąć porozumienie w sprawie tych koncepcji. Rezultatem było uchwalenie ustawy Dawesa.

The Dawes Act of 1887, sometimes referred to as the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 or the General Allotment Act, was signed into law on January 8, 1887, by US President Grover Cleveland. The act authorized the president to confiscate and redistribute tribal lands in the American West. It explicitly sought to destroy the social cohesion of Indian tribes and to thereby eliminate the remaining vestiges of Indian culture and society. Only by disavowing their own traditions, it was believed, could the Indians ever become truly “American.”$^2$squared

Zgodnie z ustawą Dawesa ziemie plemienne zostały rozparcelowane na osobne działki. Tylko ci rdzenni Amerykanie, którzy zaakceptowali ten podział mogli zostać obywatelami USA. Pozostałe ziemie zostały sprzedane białym osadnikom.

Initially, the Dawes Act did not apply to the so-called “Five Civilized Tribes” (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole). These tribes had already adopted many elements of white European society and culture, which is why they were characterized as “civilized.” Moreover, they were protected by treaties that had guaranteed that their tribal lands would remain free of white settlers. However, after these tribes had proven unwilling to voluntarily accept individual allotments of land, the Curtis Act of 1898 amended the Dawes Act to apply to the Five Civilized Tribes. Their tribal governments were obliterated, their tribal courts were destroyed, and over ninety million acres of their tribal lands were sold off to white Americans.$^3$cubed

Podczas wielkiego kryzysu, rząd, na którego czele stał prezydent Franklin D. Roosevelt, poparł uchwalenie ustawy o reorganizacji Indian, wprowadzającej “Nowy Ład”, który pozwolił rdzennym Amerykanom na utworzenie plemiennych władz samorządowych i zatrzymał parcelację ich ziem wprowadzoną przez ustawę Dawesa.$^4$start superscript, 4, end superscript

Why do you think white Americans viewed Native American Indians as such a threat?

Jak uważasz, czy ustawa Dawesa pomogła czy zaszkodziła rdzennym Amerykanom?

Jaki efekt ustawa Dawesa miała na wierzenia i tradycje kulturowe rdzennych Amerykanów?

Jak, w twojej opinii, rdzenni Amerykanie i Amerykanie europejskiego pochodzenia różnili się w pojmowaniu takich koncepcji jak ziemia i własność?