Indian Reservations and American Law Analytical Essay by Top Papers

This paper examines the formative laws that set in motion the creation of Indian reservations in America. From there, the paper explores the attitudes that made seemingly racist laws appear intuitive and even desirable. The paper notes how selfishness - in addition to paternalism - explains the determination to shove natives onto reservations; the paper uses the Dawes Act of 1887 as proof of both this paternalistic streak and, more obviously, as proof of the ill intentions of American legislators as they greedily explored new ways of gobbling up tribal lands and resources.