Advanced Placement US History (AP US History) Practice Exam

What was the goal of the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887?

1. To promote Native American cultural practices

2. To convert Plains Indians into farmers and landowners

3. To forcibly relocate Native Americans to reservations

4. To provide financial support to Indian treaties

The correct answer is: To convert Plains Indians into farmers and landowners

The Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 aimed primarily to convert Plains Indians into farmers and landowners by allotting them individual parcels of land. The underlying assumption of the Act was that breaking up communal tribal land into individual plots would encourage Native Americans to adopt American agricultural practices and integrate into mainstream society. Each Native American family was given a certain amount of land to cultivate, with the hope that this would foster self-sufficiency and promote assimilation into European-American culture. The Act ultimately aimed to undermine the communal nature of Native American landholding, which was seen as incompatible with the American ideals of individual property rights and economic independence. While the intention was to uplift and civilize Native Americans according to Euro-American standards, the implementation often led to significant loss of land and transference of indigenous lands to non-Native settlers. This reflects a colonial mindset focused on assimilation through land ownership, a core component of American expansionist ideology during this period.