Historical Context
Soon after the United States was founded, politicians strategized to get Indian land.
The Indian tribes residing within the limits of the US. have for a considerable time been growing more & more uneasy at the constant diminution of the territory they occupy, altho’ effected by their own voluntary sales: and the policy has long been gaining strength with them of refusing absolutely all further sale on any conditions....In order peaceably to counteract this policy of theirs, and to provide an extension of territory which the rapid increase of our numbers will call for, two measures are deemed expedient. First, to encourage them to abandon hunting, to apply to the raising stock, to agriculture and domestic manufacture, and thereby prove to themselves that less land & labour will maintain them in this, better than in their former mode of living. The extensive forests necessary in the hunting life, will then become useless, & they will see advantage in exchanging them for the means of improving their farms, & of increasing their domestic comforts. Secondly to multiply trading houses among them, & place within their reach those things which will contribute more to their domestic comfort than the possession of extensive, but uncultivated wilds. experience & reflection will develope to them the wisdom of exchanging what they can spare & we want, for what we can spare and they want. in leading them thus to agriculture, to manufactures & civilization, in bringing together their & our settlements, & in preparing them ultimately to participate in the benefits of our government, I trust and believe we are acting for their greatest good.
-Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Congress (1803)
The Indian tribes residing within the limits of the US. have for a considerable time been growing more & more uneasy at the constant diminution of the territory they occupy, altho’ effected by their own voluntary sales: and the policy has long been gaining strength with them of refusing absolutely all further sale on any conditions....In order peaceably to counteract this policy of theirs, and to provide an extension of territory which the rapid increase of our numbers will call for, two measures are deemed expedient. First, to encourage them to abandon hunting, to apply to the raising stock, to agriculture and domestic manufacture, and thereby prove to themselves that less land & labour will maintain them in this, better than in their former mode of living. The extensive forests necessary in the hunting life, will then become useless, & they will see advantage in exchanging them for the means of improving their farms, & of increasing their domestic comforts. Secondly to multiply trading houses among them, & place within their reach those things which will contribute more to their domestic comfort than the possession of extensive, but uncultivated wilds. experience & reflection will develope to them the wisdom of exchanging what they can spare & we want, for what we can spare and they want. in leading them thus to agriculture, to manufactures & civilization, in bringing together their & our settlements, & in preparing them ultimately to participate in the benefits of our government, I trust and believe we are acting for their greatest good.
-Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Congress (1803)
The late 19th and early 20th century was full of change in the US. Many citizens, subscribing to the idea of Manifest Destiny, moved westward. The Civil War ended in emancipation and civil rights amendments granting rights to former slaves. With increased confrontation between non-Indian settlers and Indian inhabitants, the government could no longer avoid the "Indian Problem." A series of court cases and laws during this period mapped a changing legal landscape regarding Indians.
Legal timeline
1831 Cherokee Nation v. Georgia; Justice Marshall deems Indian nations "domestic dependent nations"
1856 US Attorney General calls Indians "subjects" not "citizens"
1857 Minnesota Constitution convention: Should Indians have suffrage?
1861 MN law establishes criteria for Indians to be considered civilized (and eligible for citizenship)
1866 Civil Rights Act excludes "Indians not taxed" from citizenship
1868 Congressional committee on the 14th Amendment reports no change for Indian status
1871 Congress declares no tribes will be recognized, but treaties still in effect
1875 Homestead Act extended to Indians
1884 Elk v. Wilkins - although John Elk severed ties to the Winnebago tribe, he is not a citizen
1887 Dawes Act - Indians with allotments are citizens
1888 Citizenship granted to Indian women married to white citizens
1906 Burke Amendment to Dawes Act: citizenship postponed until after 25 years and proof of competency
1907 Oklahoma Enabling Act - Indian Territory abolished, all Indian residents became citizens
1912-1913 500 applications for citizenship filed after passage of law granting citizenship to Indians who manage their own affairs
1919 Indian WWI vets eligible for citizenship
April 12, 1924 HR4803 grants all Indian land "not needed" to the US government
May 26, 1924 Johnson-Reed Act restricted entrance to the US to people eligible for citizenship (whites)
June 2, 1924 Indian Citizenship Act decreed all Indians not already citizens to be US citizens
1925 Immigration service stops Iroquois from entering the US
1928 Johnson-Reed Act amended to exempt indigenous people
1856 US Attorney General calls Indians "subjects" not "citizens"
1857 Minnesota Constitution convention: Should Indians have suffrage?
1861 MN law establishes criteria for Indians to be considered civilized (and eligible for citizenship)
1866 Civil Rights Act excludes "Indians not taxed" from citizenship
1868 Congressional committee on the 14th Amendment reports no change for Indian status
1871 Congress declares no tribes will be recognized, but treaties still in effect
1875 Homestead Act extended to Indians
1884 Elk v. Wilkins - although John Elk severed ties to the Winnebago tribe, he is not a citizen
1887 Dawes Act - Indians with allotments are citizens
1888 Citizenship granted to Indian women married to white citizens
1906 Burke Amendment to Dawes Act: citizenship postponed until after 25 years and proof of competency
1907 Oklahoma Enabling Act - Indian Territory abolished, all Indian residents became citizens
1912-1913 500 applications for citizenship filed after passage of law granting citizenship to Indians who manage their own affairs
1919 Indian WWI vets eligible for citizenship
April 12, 1924 HR4803 grants all Indian land "not needed" to the US government
May 26, 1924 Johnson-Reed Act restricted entrance to the US to people eligible for citizenship (whites)
June 2, 1924 Indian Citizenship Act decreed all Indians not already citizens to be US citizens
1925 Immigration service stops Iroquois from entering the US
1928 Johnson-Reed Act amended to exempt indigenous people