If you're seeing this message, it means we're having trouble loading external resources on our website. Show If you're behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains *.kastatic.org and *.kasandbox.org are unblocked. The Removal Era (1820 -1850)As the United States grew in population, the federal government sought to displace Native Americans to increase room for western expansion. The policy goals of the era focused on removing Native Americans from Indian Country and moving them west beyond the Mississippi River. Congress codified this policy officially in 1830 with the passage of the Indian Removal Act. Application of the act displaced thousands of Native Americans from their homes. The most infamous displacement was that of the Cherokee whose march west resulted in the death of over four thousand tribal members. This death march is commonly referred to as the Trail of Tears. Congress' actions would not have been possible without the assistance of the judiciary. Between 1823 and 1832, the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice John Marshall, established several legal doctrines that have impacted federal Indian law well into the Twenty-First Century. The three main cases decided by the Marshall Court ultimately came to be known as the Marshall Trilogy. The cases decided by the court over this nine year period ultimately divested Indians from land ownership and made them mere occupiers of the land in which they inhabited; confirmed the federal government to be the sole body capable of legislating over Indians; and established the Indian canons of construction to help courts interpret treaty rights and other legislative instruments pertaining to Native Americans. Notable Supreme Court Cases:
Selected Library Resources:
What is the US Native American policy?Some scholars divide the federal policy toward Indians in six phases: coexistence (1789–1828), removal and reservations (1829–1886), assimilation (1887–1932), reorganization (1932–1945), termination (1946–1960), and self-determination (1961–1985).
What was the U.S. government policy toward Native Americans up to about 1880?During the early 1800s the U.S. government adopted policies aimed at acculturating and assimilating Indians into European-American society. The policy of assimilation was an attempt to destroy traditional Indian cultural identities.
What American policy was used to try to assimilate the Native Americans?The Dawes Act, approved by Congress in 1887, granted small plots of land to individual tribal members. The aim was to encourage Native Americans to become farmers or ranchers, thus helping them to assimilate.
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