LAD/Blog #25: The Dawes Act

General Allotment Act/Dawes Severalty Act (1887)

• passed under President Grover Cleveland's first term
• allowed Cleveland to survey and divide up lands in reservations in "severalty" to any Indian on the land
• Cleveland was allowed to do this whenever he felt the land could be useful for agricultural purposes
• also gave him the power to redistribute land, so nothing was set in stone
• in some cases, the head of an Indian family could choose the land
• granted US citizen rights to some Indian tribes
• the amount of land a family gets is based on the head of the family's gender, age, and family status
• act of assimilation, excluded the 5 Civilized Tribes
• further allowed the government to purchase any excess Indian land and sell it to American settlers
• the act failed due to the poor quality of the land, and lack of Indian's experience with a farming lifestyle

The Morrill Act/Land-Grant College Act of 1862 was very similar to the Dawes Act of 1887.  The Land-Grant provided grants of land to states so that they could finance the establishment of colleges that would specialize in "agriculture and the mechanical arts."  Both acts allotted specific pieces of land, but to different groups of people, for different reasons.  This promoted education within the country, and also elevated the quality of education.  The act provided each state with 30,000 acres of Federal land for each member in their Congressional delegation.