IB Historiography: American Indians

I got a 24/25 for this historiography for my IB History of the Americas class.

The American Indian and United States Government:

What led to the change in American policies toward Native Americans from the relocation policy of the 1800s to the termination policy of the 1950s?

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Oscar Zarate

3/5/2013

(Word Count: 1848)

A. Plan of the Investigation

This investigation focuses on the metamorphosis that took place within the American policies toward Native Americans, from the relocation policy of the 1800s to the termination policy of the mid 1950s. The study will first look at the initial attempt of the white people to deal with the newly conquered Native Americans; their primary paternalistic approach of the Indian population, and the later result of dependency will also be explored. I will look at the reorganization act the precedes the termination act, and identify connection between the two.

I will also use a book written by Francis Paul Prucha, The Indians In American Society: From The Revolutionary War To The Present, to a give a general outline of American policies toward American Indians.

B. Summary of Evidence

For two centuries since its existence the United States and its people have faced the problem of finding a place for the American Indian in American Society.  In the beginning there was a basic consistency in the white man’s attitude toward Indian affairs, which boils down to a simple concept; savagery, representing the state the white man saw the Indians, will recede, as civilization spreads. This promoted an illustration of a young America eating up land to grow, this led up to the conclusion that savagery will inevitably be swallowed by civilization. However the eradication of the Indian’s primitive culture could, to the opinion of the white man, be done humanely. This generated feelings of moral obligation in him to save the tribesmen, if he adopted his ideas of civilization. This philanthropic outlook would influence various pieces of legislation set forth in the 1800s.

One such ideology that derives from this philanthropic outlook is called paternalism. In which the U.S. provides necessities for American Indians in an attempt to civilize them. This view on Indian relations was mostly supported by Christian people and missionaries, who were highly influenced by the generous and charitable teachings of their religions. This is why most Indian policies of that time rested on the fundamental principle that all human beings are created equal by God. This mentality led to the white man’s obsession to see the Indians civilized because according to them they were capable of it.

Eventually this desire bred paternalism, which led to a slow progression towards dependency for the Indians.  This dependency was catalyzed by trade, and  initially trade with the white man greatly improved the Indian’s lives. However eventually these simple accommodations became great necessities to Indian survival, leading to the Indians becoming dependent on the white man’s product. This lead to the U.S. using their newfound power over the Indians to encourage them to move out of particular lands, and eventually forcing the Indians into reservation. However the U.S. government realized that the Indians could not stay in their dependents states. Therefore the U.S government tried to instill programs that would free the Native Americans from U.S. dependency and assimilate into American society. However these were not the results that materialized, and the Indians became dispirited for they were losing their culture, and became even more dependent on the government.

This deterioration of Indian roots catalyzed the next stage of Indian policy: reorganization and self-government. This era expanded from 1928 to 1945, and was begun by the Meriam report, which highlighted the social and economic status of the Indians. This report brought with it new Education systems for the Indians. The Indian school systems were used to prepare Indian boys and girls for lives as average American citizens. As young Indians were Americanized, the next pressing issue was how to get the Indian to be more independent, and to the white man the key was land.  To do this the continuation of allotment was put into practice. Allotment is to distribute land, and by 1920 allotments in reservations had advanced to only 217,572 and the acres allotted to 35,897,0697. This wave of reform and change grew and carried on to the 1930s, leading up to the Indian Reorganization Act introduced in February 1934 and passed on June of the same year. This Act gave the indians new powers of self-government

However throughout these changes there were still some people that held tight the beliefs of assimilation, and not allowing the return to tribalism. These people would create an Indian New Deal that was all tied together by terminationist philosophy, thus creating the final part of Indian policies in America: the termination policy. This policy advocated freedom and emancipation for the Indians into American society. This ultimately lead to the disbandment of  several tribes.   

C. Evaluation Of Sources

The book The Indians in American Society: From the Revolutionary War to the Present by Francis Paul Prucha gives a detailed account of the Indian-White relations and policies over the history of the Unites States. This book’s purpose is to analyze the origins, successes, and goals of Indian policies in America, and to see the ideologies behind the different stages in Indian policies. Francis Paul Prucha is a religious man, thus adopting the philanthropic and charitable ideologies set forth in his religion. This could lead to bias in the book, for Prucha could, due to the ideologies he is accustomed to, feel sympathetic towards the situation of the Indians. This could  lead to subtle distortion on how the information is presented in the book. The book’s value lies in the year the book is written (i.e. 1985) because of this Prucha has the advantage of tackling the issue of Indians with a retrospective mindset. The value of the book also extends to the in-depth look at the Indian-White relations from the very beginning to the present, which gives the reader a natural sequence to see any pattern noticeable in policies.     

The second the source I used is Bernard Sheehan’s The Seeds of Extinction: Jeffersonian Philanthropy and the American Indian. This is useful because it gives me the thoughts on American Indians of a key politician in Indian issues which is Thomas Jefferson, and gives me an image of the sympathetic demeanor that populated much of the decision-making regarding Indian affairs heading into the twentieth century. The purpose of this book is to analyze an ideology that heavily influences early Indian legislature, as well as how it leads to future policies. The limitation with this source is that it gives me the views of only one person and their sole interpretation of how to solve the “Indian Question”. The source can only provide me with the proposed solution of one man under the umbrella of the ubiquitous sympathy felt by the white man.   

   

D. Analysis

Paternalism was the initial predominant theology used in Indian policies. In a sense the American government took up guardianship of the American Indian population, and just like a parent, the government provided essentials for the Indians. This mentality is best expressed by the words of Thomas L. McKenney, who served as superintendent of Indian trade from 1816 to 1822 as well as the first head of the Indian Office 1824- 1830, who said, “ I would , were I empowered, take them firmly but kindly by the hand, and tell them they must go; and I would do this, on the same principle that I would take my children.”

From this paternalism dependency was formed between the white man and Indians. The ultimate sign of dependency was shown when most of the Indian’s economies started to deteriorate due to trade with the white man. This dependency came to be because the Indians, pre-european invasion, were relatively living in the stone age. Therefore when the Europeans came with their guns, sheep, horses, steel knives, and cotton cloths. These elements of European culture were adopted by Indians, but later became necessities in Indian lives, leading to a dependency on the white man’s trade. The dependence of the Indians on trade did not go unnoticed by government officials, and at first they felt morally obliged to provide the Indians with their annual gifts. However later on this dependency made treating the Indians as individual sovereign nations absurd to the white man. As Ely S. Parker, Seneca Indian who served as President Grant’s commissioner of Indian affairs, said, “ It is time that this idea should be dispelled, and the government cease the cruel farce of thus dealing with its helpless and ignorant wards.”

This sets up the next stage of politics involving Indian affairs: reservation and relocation. In 1871 Congress made Indian dependency complete by declaring that, “ hereafter no Indian nation or tribe within the territory of the United States shall be acknowledged or recognized as an independent nation, tribe, or power with whom the United States may contract by treaty”. In the beginning the reservations were considered to be “hot-houses”, in which the Indians could flourish under the white man’s civilizations. In these reservations schools and churches were constructed. Schoolmasters, supplied by missionaries, instilled patriotic American citizenship, and doctors sought out to cure diseases present in Indian societies. In these conditions the environmentalist officials and reformers envisioned the creation of a new Indian generation that would throw away the old ways and accept modern civilization as their own. However once the programs were instituted, results did not materialize. In the contrary, these programs demoralized Indian communities, and left them with no motivation to succeed or move forward.

After 1920, some reformers noticed this disgruntlement in the Indians, and recognized the failures of the old policies. Reform took place shortly after spearheaded by the Meriam Report, a report that brought more money to the process Indians to assimilate into American society This report lead to the Indian Reorganization Act, which did contain strong paternalistic elements.Which did not sit right with some Indian politicians, that called for freedom and emancipation for the American Indians. This shows how one policy led to the another policy (i.e. reorganization act to termination act). This final transition of policy can be best expressed by the depiction of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, “ As Federal policy has changed from notions of subjugating and assimilating American Indians and Alaska Natives, so the BIA’s mission has changed as well. Its role now is as a partner with tribes to help them achieve their goals for self-determination”.

 

E. Conclusion

When looking upon the Indian situation in America throughout time, one can not help notice the different ideologies inflicting the policy-making. At first we see philanthropy, and the belief that all men are equal. This inspires paternalism, which then breeds dependency in the American Indians. This was unforeseen side-effect of the United States’s aid to the independent Indian tribes. To try to fix this the U.S. used policies aimed at assimilation and self-dependence. However these completely backfired, and led to even more dependency. This catalyzes a reform and change of Indian policies, which accumulates into at first a self-government act. Then later as a termination act.

Looking at this flow of legislation, one conclusion that can be made is that different ideologies influenced Indian Policy, and the misunderstanding of the Indians by the white man led to policies that ultimately hurt the Indians more, than help.