How did the IRA of 1934 help tribes, and/or how did it harm them?

The IRA of 1934’s intent was to reverse the harmful points established in the Dawes Act that encouraged the Natives to abandon their cultural identity and instead conform to the whites’ standards. In the process of passing this, Collier (the New Deal’s commissioner of Indian Affairs) made the comment that “the most interesting and important fact about Indians was that they do not expect much, often they expect nothing at all; yet they are happy”. This was not necessarily true, rather an observation made in the eyes of someone who was seeing what they wanted to see (more or less). Undoubtedly, Collier’s statement stemmed off his “ignorance is bliss” views, him and the others who established this Act also clung to this ignorance. In turn, this was evident in the Act which ended up giving the Natives very little economic aid (because they expected nothing at all, anyways!). Their resistance to awareness of Native issues and the current poverty crisis among the tribes was harmful to say the least, as the IRA had potential to make a real difference economically. Unsurprisingly though, this potential was unharnessed and no one stepped up to advocate effectively at the time, leading to this lack of funds which led to continuation of the poverty crisis for decades.

That being said, the IRA did give the Natives back their right to own land and have more control over their affairs. This “independence” was faux to some extent though, as tribes would continue to be under the Bureau of Affairs and not completely in control still. Overall the tribes were divided on this and many did not end up signing off on the deal. Its effects were not immediate, but rather perceived clearly a generation later.

How did American Indians contribute to/participate in the Progressive Era, and how did the reforms of that era affect them?

Progressivism dominated the late 1800s/early 1900s. Its main focus was “social purity”, as well as action and experimentation. Equal rights, lowered railroad rates, improved education, new factory regulation and better compensation for workers were just a few of the many things fought for in the name of progressivism. During this era “Pan-Indianism” emerged, the social movement that’s main focus was advocating for Native Americans as a whole. “The Society” was made up mostly of Natives advocating for their people. They fought for racist stereotypes to be destroyed, spread awareness on the worsening health and housing conditions among the Natives, promoted education and citizenship and a federal department to handle the Native court cases. These movements though were not widespread and overall did not put more than a dent in the large injustices that existed. That being said, the Society was the first lobby of Native Americans and did open the door to discussion about problems in the Natives’ societies.

Reforms that affected them included the Indian Citizenship Act as well as the boarding schools, that were no doubt pushed forward in the name of “progressivism”. The whites claimed these institutions to be a reformation opportunity for the “savages”, and that the Natives needed the boarding schools to become socially pure. In reality, “purity” in this circumstance was code for “white”. Native Americans were already civilized, just not in the way the whites wanted them to be. Thus, these cruel boarding schools were the whites’ solution to purify the Natives. Cruelty and racism thrived in these institutions and created generational trauma that still lasts today among Native communities. Progressivism was an umbrella that was wide and while many positive things came from it, there were also cruel agendas (such as the boarding schools) that were established and excused merely because as they were named as “progressive” movements.   

How did colonialism and imperialism (both in the US and abroad) contribute to immigration and industrialization?

Colonialism as a concept was generally considered to be a “great” opportunity for people who were unable to better themselves in their homeland. The widespread myth was that immigrating to America was the golden ticket to wealth and wellbeing. (While this did happen, it was few and far between among the millions of colonists and was certainly not the norm by any means.). Drawn in by the image of happiness and wealthiness, these immigrants soon realized that was an illusion. The only wealthy part of their picture was their bosses who did not care whether their health suffered working endless hours for a very minute wage. Instead of wealth and wellbeing, these immigrants soon found themselves overworked and underpaid; chained to the command of industrialist titans who cared only about profit.

Another harsh reality was that instead of being the picture of flourishing health, at the time New York (the most popular place for entry for most immigrants, generally speaking) was overcome by disease, poverty, crowding, and dirt. Immigrants upon entry were most often met not with the bright and warm welcome they’d envisioned, but instead with hostility and cruelty. Racism thrived and to find acceptance, newcomers were basically forced to their own kin/countryfolk, if only to be able to exist peacefully as they went about their day-to-day.  

The colonialism/imperialism myth of America, “the Great American Dream”, contributed to immigration and industrialization by drawing millions into the U.S.. Industrialism could not have thrived without the excess of immigration at the time. Immigrants were poor and had no other choice most often but to succumb to the factory/sweatshop job which in turn led to the success of the industrialists.

Why do Native Americans “disappear” after the 1890s?

It seems that American Indians disappear from textbooks after the 1890s because the way they were being treated was not aligned with the “American Dream” that textbooks like to promote.  Another reason is that by the 1890s, the United States controlled 97.5 percent of the territory formerly occupied by Natives. In this sense, the Natives had been suppressed to a point that they had essentially “disappeared” in the eyes of the government. As the government had killed off almost the entirety of the Indigenous peoples and stolen all but a miniscule portion of their land, it is not surprising that at this point they felt no need to mention them. Textbook writers like to glorify the history of the United States as pure and unproblematic. This is why when writing about the Native Wars in the U.S., the textbooks present Native Americans so they seem less than human and “savage”, so any massacres against them do not seem out of place. This is another reason they do not show up often post-1800s, because they were considered “done away with” and “tamed” by the early 1900s (given the boarding schools and popularity of assimilation.).  

Reconstruction Eras

Presidential Reconstruction and Radical Reconstruction were the two phases of Reconstruction. They differed drastically, the Presidential phase allowing almost no rights be given to freedmen and the Radical phase allowing several rights be given to freedmen. Neither Lincoln nor Johnson were in favor of complete equality between whites and freedmen, which was evident in both of their proposals. Lincoln’s was met with a counter-proposal from Congress, the Wade-Davis Bill, which differed by being harsher on Confederates and restricting their rights. Another differing aspect was the WD Bill gave freedmen equality with whites under the law. This bill was not in line with Lincoln’s views and did not pass. In short, while Lincoln was alive, the rights that were given to slaves were only given because of Congress’ efforts, not Lincoln’s. When Lincoln passed and Johnson was in charge, there was little change in the approach. Johnson was not any better in creating lasting solutions for providing freedmen with land, access to education, and opportunities to finally create their own lives apart from enslavement. Share-cropping was a sort of scam that he pushed forward during this era, which gave freed men basically no way to go anywhere with the little opportunity they had to save any money.

Only when the Presidential Reconstruction collapsed into the Radical Reconstruction did there finally seem to change in sight for the freed slaves. The Radical Era began as the Bill of Rights was passed, which allowed any person regardless of race to be a citizen upon being born in the U.S. The era also saw freedmen allowed to actively participate in the government and have education be allowed for them. This era was not by any means smooth though, constant issues arising between whites and freedmen and incredibly violent attacks led by angry, racist white men. Hundreds of African Americans were murdered in these attacks, all for just existing as citizens.

 The main failure of the Presidential era was the lack of effort in creating opportunities and equality for the freedmen due to both of the presidents in that time being racists. The failures of the Radical era was that in the beginning of the era, there was change but nearing the end the racist Democrats “redeemed” the South and it turned the South to be basically identical to Pre-Civil War status. With white Democrats in control again, freedmen were once again restricted and treated as less than American citizens. Another failure was the lack of confiscation of land for freedmen which gave them little chance at actually being “freedmen” from whites and their land.

The government should have been harder on the South in the sense that they never should have been able to regain control of the South as they did at the end of Reconstruction. This made it so that every step towards equality was null and void basically once they did. I feel there should have been more of an effort to keep the equality and rights of African Americans so it hadn’t been so quickly taken back.