Question

What was the US civilization policy? What did the Five Civilized Tribes think was possible to attain by becoming civilized?

Answer 1

Us civilization policy:-

The Civilization Fund Act was an Act passed by the United States Congress on March 3, 1819. The Act encouraged activities of benevolent societies in providing education for Native Americans and authorized an annuity to stimulate the "civilization process".Thomas L. McKenney lobbied the Congress in support of the legislation. The Civilization Fund Act led to the formation of numerous Native American boarding schools towards the end of the 19th century.The benevolent societies were a combination of Christian missions and the federal government.

Federal funds were allocated to schools designed to educate Native Americans in the ways of the white man. The goal was to "civilize" Native Americans by getting rid of their traditions and customs and teaching them reading and writing in the missionary schools.The passage of the Act helped define a class structure within Native American society. While traditional Native Americans opposed the schools, "progressive" ones accepted the schools. Their education and command of the English language propelled them to leadership positions within tribes and ultimately led to policy shifts and treaties that ceded land to the United States government.That for the purpose of guarding against the further decline and final extinction of the Indian tribes, adjoining the frontier settlements of the United States, are for introducing among them the habits and arts of civilization" annual sum/annuity is ten thousand dollars "and an account of the expenditure of the money, and proceedings in execution of the foregoing provisions, shall be laid annually before Congress.

Twentieth century there were approximately 250,000 Native Americans in the USA – just 0.3 per cent of the population – most living on reservations where they exercised a limited degree of self-government. During the course of the nineteenth century they had been deprived of much of their land by forced removal westwards, by a succession of treaties (which were often not honoured by the white authorities) and by military defeat by the USA as it expanded its control over the American West.In 1831 the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Marshall, had attempted to define their status. He declared that Indian tribes were ‘domestic dependent nations’ whose ‘relation to the United States resembles that of a ward to his guardian’. Marshall was, in effect, recognising that America’s Indians are unique in that, unlike any other minority, they are both separate nations and part of the United States. This helps to explain why relations between the federal government and the Native Americans have been so troubled. A guardian prepares his ward for adult independence, and so Marshall’s judgement implies that US policy should aim to assimilate Native Americans into mainstream US culture. But a guardian also protects and nurtures a ward until adulthood is achieved, and therefore Marshall also suggests that the federal government has a special obligation to care for its Native American population. As a result, federal policy towards Native Americans has lurched back and forth, sometimes aiming for assimilation and, at other times, recognising its responsibility for assisting Indian development.

Five Civilized Tribes, term that has been used officially and unofficially since at least 1866 to designate the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole Indians in Oklahoma (former Indian Territory). Beginning in 1874, they were dealt with as a single body by the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the U.S. Department of Interior, but there has never been any unification or overall organization of these tribes under that name.The word civilized was applied to the five tribes because, broadly speaking, they had developed extensive economic ties with whites or had assimilated into American settler culture. Some members of these southeastern tribes had adopted European clothing, spoke English, practiced Christianity, and even owned slaves. In 1821 the Cherokee developed a written language, and by 1828 the Cherokee Phoenix, the first Native American newspaper, began publication. The Cherokee also established a strong central government with a constitution based on the U.S. constitution.When transcontinental railroads were built through Indian Territory and the settlement of adjoining states increased, the Five Civilized Tribes lost their independence. Between 1893 and 1907 (when Oklahoma became a state) the U.S. government forced the allotment of the tribal lands to individual, enrolled tribal members (including freedmen, former slaves of the Indians) and abrogated the national governments. Former tribal land was opened to white settlement, and many Indian allottees lost their land through unscrupulous practices. The tribal governments have continued in modified form to the present, but with significantly less sovereignty; all tribal members are full citizens of Oklahoma and the United States. The Bureau of Indian Affairs provides some services for enrolled tribal members, but no reservation system is in effect.