Dawes Act

(noun)

A law, adopted by Congress in 1887, that authorized the president of the United States to survey Indian tribal land and divide it into allotments for individual Indians.

Related Terms

Examples of Dawes Act in the following topics:

  • The Dawes Act and Indian Land Allotment

    • The Dawes Act, also called General Allotment Act, or Dawes Severalty Act of 1887, adopted by Congress in 1887, authorized the President of the United States to survey Indian tribal land and divide it into allotments for individual Indians.
    • The Dawes Act was amended in 1891 and again in 1906 by the Burke Act.
    • The Dawes Act was named for its sponsor, Senator Henry L.
    • The Dawes Commission, set up under an Indian Office appropriation bill in 1893, was created, not to administer the Dawes Act, but to attempt to get the Five Civilized Tribes, which were excluded under the Dawes Act, to agree to an allotment plan.
    • Summarize the effects of the Dawes Act on Native American society

  • American Indian Policy

    • The Dawes Act (also called the "General Allotment Act" or "Dawes Severalty Act of 1887") was adopted by Congress in 1887 and authorized the president of the United States to survey Indian tribal land and divide it into allotments for individual Indians.
    • The Dawes Act was amended in 1891 and again in 1906 by the Burke Act.
    • The Dawes Act was named for its sponsor, Senator Henry L.
    • The stated objective of the Dawes Act was to stimulate assimilation of Indians into American society.
    • The Dawes Commission, set up under an Indian Office appropriation bill in 1893, was created not to administer the Dawes Act, but to attempt to get the Five Civilized Tribes, which were excluded under the Dawes Act, to agree to an allotment plan.

  • Harding's Policies

    • Harding signed the Revenue Act of 1921, which gave large deductions in the amount of taxes the wealthiest Americans had to pay.
    • Considered to be one of his greatest domestic achievements, Harding also signed the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, which established the framework for the modern federal budget.
    • Harding appointed Charlie Dawes, known for being an effective financier, as the first director of the Bureau of the Budget.
    • On September 21, 1922, Harding enthusiastically signed the Fordney-McCumber Tariff Act, which increased the tariff rates contained in the previous Underwood-Simmons Tariff Act of 1913 to the highest level in the nation's history.
    • In what he proclaimed to be the age of the "motor car," Harding signed the Federal Highway Act of 1921, which defined the Federal Aid Road program to develop an immense national highway system.

  • The Republican Era

    • Praising the achievement of widespread prosperity in 1928, he said: "The requirements of existence have passed beyond the standard of necessity into the region of luxury. " Coolidge echoed many of Harding's Republican themes, including immigration restriction and the need for the government to arbitrate the coal strikes then ongoing in Pennsylvania; later that year Coolidge signed the Immigration Act of 1924.
    • In 1924, Congress passed the Revenue Act of 1924, which reduced income tax rates and eliminated all income taxation for some two million people.
    • They reduced taxes again by passing the Revenue Acts of 1926 and 1928, all the while continuing to keep spending down so as to reduce the overall federal debt.

  • War Debts and Reparations

    • In response to the crisis, the Dawes Committee, chaired by Charles G.
    • Dawes,   proposed a plan in 1924.
    • The Dawes Plan ended the occupation of the Ruhr region and reorganized German payments, which contributed to some level of stabilization of the German economy.  
    • The Dawes Plan managed to end a major international crisis and Germany was able to meet its payment requirements.
    • Describe Germany's reparations following World War I, including the Dawes and Young Plans, and their effect on the German economy.

  • The Election of 1924

    • Dawes of Ohio, topped the polls in 35 states, leaving the electoral vote for Davis in only 12 states.

  • Higher Education

    • President Johnson's Great Society made improvements to elementary, secondary, and higher education through a series of acts.
    • The Act also began a transition from federally-funded institutional assistance to individual student aid.
    • The Higher Education Act of 1965 was reauthorized in 1968, 1971, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1986, 1992, 1998, and 2008.
    • This signing plaque rests on campus grounds of Texas State University commemorating the Higher Education Act.
    • Distinguish the key features - as well as the effects - of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Higher Education Facilities Act, and the Higher Education Act.

  • The Coercive Acts

    • Four of the acts were issued in direct response to the Boston Tea Party of December 1773.
    • Many colonists, however, viewed the acts as an arbitrary violation of their rights.
    • The first of the acts passed in response to the Boston Tea Party was the Boston Port Act.
    • The Massachusetts Government Act provoked even more outrage than the Port Act because it unilaterally altered the government of Massachusetts to bring it under control of the British government.
    • Although many colonists found the Quartering Act objectionable, it generated the least amount of protest of the Coercive Acts.

  • Enforcing the Navigation Acts

    • These Acts formed the basis for British overseas trade for nearly 200 years.
    • Later revisions of the Act added new regulations.
    • The Acts were in full force for a short time only.
    • On the whole, the Navigation Acts were more or less obeyed by colonists, despite their dissatisfaction, until the Molasses and Sugar Acts.
    • Describe the central stipulations of the Navigation Acts and the Acts' effects on the political and economic situation in the colonies

  • The Alien and Sedition Acts

    • The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 were a series of laws that aimed to outlaw speech that was critical of the government.
    • The Naturalization Act repealed and replaced the Naturalization Act of 1795 and extended the duration of residence required for aliens to become citizens of the United States from five years to fourteen years.
    • Enacted July 6, 1798, and providing no expiration provision, the act remains intact today as Title 50 of U.S.
    • The most controversial arrest made under the Alien and Sedition Acts was of a member of Congress.
    • While the Alien and Sedition Acts were left largely unenforced after 1800, the Alien Act was later used to justify the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, and the Supreme Court was grappling with the constitutionality of the Sedition Acts as late as the 1960s.