Civil Rights: Stepping Stones

Native Americans
Beginning of the Period
Political
● Land taken by federal government
● No right to citizenship
● No political representation

Social
● Forced from their nomadic lifestyle
● Children received white education
● Forced to convert to christianity
● Forced to conform to white ways of living

Economic
● Promised annual payments and support to develop an agrarian economy. This wasn’t
fulfilled
● Dire poverty

Overall
● Incredibly bad
● Had an incredibly poor political, social and economic situation due to government actions

Middle of the Period

Political
● Dawes Act implemented to divide up land. Often didn’t work
● Rights of citizenship in 1924, however didn’t actually confer things such as right to vote
● Increased federal spending in 1928

Social
● Population increased
● Diseases spread (Tuberculosis)
● 1928 report revealed extent of poverty and disease
● Death rate outstripped birth rate in 1930s

Economic
● Few became landowning farmers
● Monetary support from government helped improve quality of life

Overall
 ● Slightly improved
● Had citizenship
● Still forced in to lifestyles that they didn’t want

Improvements
● Recognised as US citizens
● Technically had the same rights as other citizens
● Slight government support

Regression or No Change
● Still had a forced lifestyle
● Still couldn’t vote
● Still had diseases

Overall Position - Better or Worse?

● Slightly better
● Had citizenship
● Had government funding

End of the Period

Political
● Government abandoned policy of assimilation
● Provided funding
● Supreme court cases helped reclaim land

Social
● Improvements in education
● Small number middle-class
● Poor standards of living for urban Native Americans

Economic
● Received money in compensation
● Median income half that of others
● Unemployment higher than other ethnic groups
● Still nationally poorest people

Better than Start of Period?

● Yes
● Government no longer forcing change
● Slightly better economically
● Slightly higher standard of living
Better than Middle of Period?
 ● Yes
● Same points as previous

Overall
When was the Situation Best?
● End of the period

When was the Situation Worst?

● Beginning of the period

Was Improvement Greatest in the First or Second Half?

● Second half
● Government reversed attitude

Were There Improvements in Every Area of Life?

● Slight improvements

Greatest Improvement
● Political
● Government completely change from forcing change to supporting self-determination