Dawes Severalty Act (1887)
About the Author
Crafted by the U.S. Congress, the Dawes Act was based on the contribution of many individuals, although it is primarily credited to Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts, who chaired the Senate's Indian Affairs Committee. Dawes was initially skeptical about attempts to acculturate American Indians through land allotment but was persuaded by advocates to promote the act. Dawes made an exceptional candidate because he both chaired the Indian Affairs Committee and represented the state with the largest contingent of participants in the Indian reform movement.
Henry Laurens Dawes was born in Cummington, Massachusetts, on October 30, 1816. Trained as a lawyer, Dawes entered politics at a young age. As the Republican candidate, he was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives at age thirty-two and continued his political career in the Massachusetts state senate followed by the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. During the 1850s, 1860s,...
