LAD #25

   

LAD #25 - Dawes Severalty Act

         The Dawes Act of 1877 (passed in 1887)was put in place to turn the tribal lands of Native Americans into individual properties. The act basically allowed the president to take the land away from natives and re-divide it. Pieces of land were split into sections. Head of families got 1/4 a section, single persons over 18 and orphan children received 1/8 a section. Patents were to be delivered to verify ownership of land, and the land would be theirs forever after five years (whereas before government had partial ownership). Natives also had to option of applying to work for the US government and becoming an official citizen. It was clear that the government was still trying to assimilate the natives and this proved an opportunity to do so. There became a excess of lands which would be purchased by non-Native American settlers and by railroads.