Dawes Severalty Act (1887) Commentary by G. Mehera Gerardo, Youngstown State University

Impact

Few American Indians converted to American styles of farming or adopted American cultural norms as a result of the Dawes Act. The act assigned plots of land to individual Indians but did not include a provision to train them in farming practices. Few American Indians had experience farming. They did not have the required equipment and goods to begin farming, and most encountered difficulty if they tried to buy things on credit. Although in the 1880s and 1890s Congress approved small grants for American Indians to purchase seeds and farming equipment, the grants were far too small and inconsistent to aid American Indians significantly in converting to sedentary living and farming. Those American Indians who tried to mimic American homesteaders therefore usually reaped small, unprofitable harvests and quickly abandoned their efforts.

American Indians did not immediately feel the effects of the Dawes Act. Although speculators began making agreements for the trade or sale...