Question

Pls help.

Although its stated purpose was to extend the protection of the laws of the U.S to Native Americans , the Dawes Act was passed because the federal government wanted to.

A. complete work on the Transcontinental Railroad.

B. Claim Indian tribal islands and open them to settlement by non-Indians.

C. Force the Cherokee from lands to the east of the Appalachian Mountains.

D. complete its Manifest Destiny by claiming territories from other countries.

Answer 1

The Dawes Act was created to assimilate Native Americans by dividing communal lands into individual plots, but in reality, it facilitated the government's acquisition of tribal lands for non-Indian settlement. Therefore, the correct option is B.

Step-by-step explanation:

The Dawes Act, passed in 1887, had the stated purpose of assimilating Native Americans by dividing their communal lands into individual plots. Nonetheless, the federal government's intention behind the act was to open up land for non-Indian settlement by claiming Indian tribal lands. The act resulted in the redistribution of millions of acres of 'surplus' land to Anglo settlers, which was previously owned communally by Native American tribes.

Although the act was framed as a way to encourage assimilation and to help Native Americans by granting them land and citizenship, it was much more beneficial to the government and non-Indian settlers. By allocating only a fraction of reservation land to Native Americans and declaring the rest as surplus, the government effectively reduced the landholdings of Native American tribes and made vast areas available for purchase and settlement by non-Indians.