Final answer:
The policy of turning land in the Great Plains into a large Native American reservation changed during the Gilded Age due to growing American expansionism, the Americanization movement, economic interests such as farming, mining and cattle ranching, and the notion of Manifest Destiny. Settler pressure, railroad construction, and government initiatives like the Dawes Act diminished tribal lands and promoted assimilation into American society.
Step-by-step explanation:
Why Did the Policy of Turning Land in the Great Plains Change?During the Gilded Age, the policy regarding the Great Plains underwent a significant shift from maintaining it as a large Native American reservation to assimilating Native Americans into American society. This change was influenced by a variety of factors, including the desire for American expansion, the belief in Americanization of indigenous peoples, and increasing land pressure due to westward settlement. Economic interests, such as farming, mining, cattle ranching, and the eager push of land speculators and corrupt officials, resulted in the reduction of reservation lands and increase in white settlements. The construction of railroads and overgrazing also played pivotal roles, as they disrupted established Native American ways of life, making reservation lands more valuable to white settlers.
The ideological shift towards assimilation involved encouraging individual land ownership among Native Americans, Christian worship, and education for children. Despite these intentions, the approach led to the exploitation of Native Americans, as they were often swindled out of their lands, and their children severed from their tribal identities through boarding schools. Helen Hunt Jackson's book, A Century of Dishonor, highlighted the plight of Native Americans and contributed to a change in national conscience, which further propelled the move towards assimilation policies.Legislation such as the Dawes Act facilitated this shift by allotting individual ownership to Native Americans, further fragmenting tribal lands and paving the way for more white settlement as a result of America's quickly expanding population. This transformation was marked by the increasing belief in the ideology of Manifest Destiny, which justified the expropriation of Native lands in the name of American progress.