GOV 120 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Indian Removal Act, Northwest Ordinance, Dawes Act
Document Summary
Native americans and the denial of treaty rights. Yes, because they are a numerical minority population in a country that has a huge history of denying people rights. This question is often asked because some people may believe that since the natives were the first people of the land, they shouldn"t be considered in terms of minority politics. However, they have a brutal history of exclusion. Treaties between the us and indian nations. The 1st major land expansion of the us. Asserted the native populations would be respected as whites moved west (today"s mid-west) Increasing demand for land in the west by white settlers. Population/resource pressures overturn juridical notion of indians as nations. General allotment act [the dawes act] (1887) Consequence: 1887-1934 native lands decreased from 138 million acres to 90 million acres. Goal of civil rights struggles for immigrant-descent minorities. A legislative grant can always be reversed for subsequent.
