Did the federal government accomplish its goal of assimilating Indians into white society
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Did the federal government accomplish its goal of assimilating Indians into white society? Why or why not? How did the federal government and reformers try to erase the American Indian culture?
For over 100 years the federal government tried to assimilate Indians into American society. Their intent was to destroy the Indian way of life and replace it with American Culture. Initially, Europeans wanted to convert the Natives into Christians. This was a common movement of the time and was supported by the government. The Indians did not view converting as an acceptance of a religious ideology, but as a mechanism to abandon their ways and adopt the language, method of dress, and culture of the white man. Different tribes had different experiences based on their location with the colonists. The tribes of the eastern United States were forced west on to reservations. The nomadic hunters of the plains were forced into reservations and expected to become farmers. Western tribes were moved shoddy plots of land with the intent of hoping they would want to leave and assimilate. In the late 1800s, the federal government started to invest in establishing boarding schools with the aim of assimilating Native youth. Children were taken from their families and forced to live in white households while they attended school. The living conditions of the boarding schools were cruel and abnormal to the Indian children. The students were stripped of their culture and heritage, being forced to wear western clothes, change their hairstyles, and even
assume new names. In Native American communities, the approach to learning was more flexible than the western ways. Students were not accustomed to their daily life being determined
by the hands of the clock.
The children were punished for speaking their native tongues and instructors used corporal punishment, a concept not used by Natives, as a method to control behavior. The schools were often overcrowded and unsanitary. Children would often get ill and die. Administrators responded by sending sick children back to their families where they would spread disease to their people. Across the country, the mortality for Native Americans rose to extreme levels.
The federal government initially failed in trying to assimilate the Natives. Indians were very proud of their culture and clung to it for as long as possible. The Natives resisted the government at every turn. If anything, the government was successful in uniting the tribes across the country into one undivided group. Relationships among former enemies improved and tribes could unify to fight against the government peacefully. While some tribes have lost many of their
old ways, a number continue to combine their culture with American culture.
Reyhner, J. A. (2021). Native People and Assimilation.
The American Mosaic: The American Indian Experience
. Retrieved March 11, 2021, from https://americanindian2-abc-clio-
com.ezproxy1.apus.edu/Search/Display/1385326
Hale, L. (2021). Impact of the Boarding School Movement.
The American Mosaic: The American Indian Experience
. Retrieved March 11, 2021, from https://americanindian2-abc-clio-
com.ezproxy1.apus.edu/Search/Display/1661966
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