Lecture 84: Reform and Reform Lobbies, 1860-1928
Introduction
The westward rush which followed the Civil War destroyed the last vestiges of the policy which
had set aside a separate “Indian Country” beyond the periphery of non-Indian settlement. After the midnineteenth century, the government had to develop a policy which would provide for Indians surrounded
by non-Indian settlements within rapidly developing states and territories. While government officials
began to draft this new policy, non-Indian interest in the resolution of the “Indian problem” increased
rapidly. That interest was both reflected in and encouraged by the development of organizations
dedicated to the cause of Indian reform. The reformers came from many areas of American society, and
they were attracted to the cause for a wide variety of reasons, but the majority shared one characteristic:
they were Christian (predominantly Protestant) men and women who believed that the future welfare and
perhaps even the survival of the Indians would depend on their conversion to Christianity and their
assimilation into non-Indian society.
Acting on that assumption, the reformers advocated series of policies and programs designed to
transform the Indians accordingly. In the years following the Civil War, reform interests supported a
series of programs designed to protect Indians from fraud, violence, and trespass on the reservations
until they could be assimilated. At the same time, reformers encouraged the development of missionary
activity and educational programs which would hasten the process of assimilation. By the 1880s,
however, it was clear that the nomination of “Christian men” as agents, the limited education programs,
and the largely unsuccessful attempt to protect reservation integrity had not produced the desired results.
In the l880s the number and extent of reform groups increased. All but one of these groups based
their proposals on the premise that the immediate allotment of land in severalty would result in rapid and
successful assimilation of the Indians into non-Indian society. In addition, most supported the extension
of federal or state law to Indian lands, the granting of citizenship to Indians, the destruction of tribal
structures, and the development of Indian education. Most of their goals were incorporated in the
legislation of the l880s and l890s. With the passage of the Dawes Act, the establishment of numerous
Indian schools, and the reform of Indian administration, the organized reform movement dwindled.
There was a general sense that the necessary reforms had been legislated and that as soon as these
changes were fully implemented, the “Indian problem” would disappear.
By 1920, however, ample evidence suggested that perhaps such confident assumptions had been
premature. The Indians were manifestly not assimilated. Those who had been pronounced “competent”
by the thousands after 1917 were not capable of dealing with the complex legal structures of non-Indian
society; some, in fact, scarcely spoke English. Even among the children, who had been the primary target
of educational programs, Indian culture had not disappeared. But if allotment policy had failed to bring
about assimilation, it had succeeded all too well in reducing Indian land-holdings, in disrupting the tribal
structures which had once provided leadership and direction, and in encouraging Indians to lease their
lands. Further, Indian health services, schools, and agencies had benefited little from periodic reforms;
they remained inefficient and ineffective in general, and many were still subject to the evils of corruption
and the pressures of local interests. The policies of the nineteenth century had, despite the high-minded
goals of their proponents, intensified the problems of the Indians. By 1920 a new generation of reformers
had begun to point out the effects of such naive “solutions,” and by 1928 they had produced extensive,
specific documentation of the inadequacies of existing policy. Their protests, stated in the Meriam
Report of 1928 and many other reports, marked the end of the nineteenth-century programs by providing
incontrovertible evidence of their failure. At the same time, the reports and recommendations of the
1920s outlined the shape of a new United States Indian policy, which was to be implemented in the
1930s.
Lecture 84: Reform and Reform Lobbies, 1860—1928
I.
Indian Policy and Reform, 1860—1880
A. The Major Reform Issues
1. The impracticality of removal was apparent, and numerous reservations had already been
established by treaty, but the outlines of reservation policy were still under debate.
2. The roles of military and civilian interests in Indian affairs had not been firmly defined.
3. Fraud, graft, and corruption in the Indian trade had not been eliminated.
4. Trespassing on Indian lands and violation of treaty boundaries were virtually universal
conditions.
5. Unprovoked violence toward Indians, exemplified by the Sand Creek Massacre, and
Indian-white hostilities throughout the Plains and the West continued.
6. The administration of Indian affairs was frequently inefficient and corrupt; the incidents
involving the Santee Sioux called attention to these problems.
7. The service had attracted personnel who contributed to the problems of administration,
and much criticism was directed at the partisan process by which agents were chosen.
B. The Reformers
1. A number of individuals who had been involved with Indian reform before and during the
Civil War remained active in the post-war years. Most notable among them were John
Beeson and Bishop Henry B. Whipple.
2. Several prominent abolitionists contributed to the cause of Indian reform in the post-war
years. The most active were Lydia Marie Child (author of An Appeal for the Indians) and
Wendell Phillips. Most leaders of the anti-slavery movement, however, did not participate
actively in the growing Indian reform movement.
3. George W. Manypenny, a pre-war commissioner of Indian affairs, continued to agitate for
Indian reform.
a. He urged reforms of the Indian trade system to eliminate unscrupulous and fraudulent
transactions.
b. He was a leading opponent of the proposed transfer of Indian affairs to military
jurisdiction.
c. His book, Our Indian Wars, published in 1880, summarized his attitudes for reform
and became an influential document for the reformers of the 1880s.
4. In 1868 Peter Cooper founded the United States Indian Commission, a private
organization of religious people and philanthropists who supported Indian reform.
a. The commission investigated specific cases of injustice to the Indians, drew up
general statements of policy, and lobbied itt Congress for reform.
b. Its primary goal was the reform of the agencies, a concern largely answered by the
formation of the Board of Indian Commissioners; after the board was appointed, the
organization’ s activities declined.
5. The report of the Peace Commission outlined a series of proposals for Indian reform.
6. The Board of Indian Commissioners
a. The formation of a national board to oversee Indian affairs had been proposed by
Bishop Whipple in 1862.
b.
The Board of Indian Commissioners was established in 1869 as a part of President
Grant’s “Peace Policy.”
c. Its members were selected through a non-partisan process oh the basis of their
character, intelligence, and philanthropic activities.
d. The board’s most immediate task was the supervision of the Indian trade and the
goods provided to Indian reservation
e. Unlike many private reform organizations, the board continued to operate into the
twentieth century, though its official powers were more limited after 1882.
C. The Accomplishments of the Reform Interests, 1860-1880
1. With the support of varied reform interests, the policies collectively known as “Grant’s
Peace Policy” prevailed.
a. Triumphing over those who supported military jurisdiction over Indian affairs and
those who proposed the extermination of the Indians, the reformers instituted a
policy which emphasized humane and nonviolent treatment of Indians.
b. Supervision of the Indian trade curtailed, but did not eliminate, the abuses
surrounding commercial dealings with Indians.
c. The foundations of an educational program for Indians were established.
d. The reservation system was established throughout the West.
2. One of the reformers’ major goals had been the appointment of “Christian men” to the
Indian service. Although this was accomplished with the “Peace Policy,” the selection of
personnel nominated by the country’s churches did little to improve the caliber of agency
employees or to eliminate the problems of corruption and local-interest pressure.
II.
Indian Policy and Reform, 1880—1920
A. The Major Reform Issues
1. The reservation policy had failed to protect Indian lands.
2. Reform attempts had not eliminated inefficiency, graft, and corruption in the
administration of Indian affairs.
3. The limited educational programs and the existence of the reservation system had not
produced widespread Indian assimilation, as had been predicted.
4. The destruction of traditional Indian economies was virtually complete, and the
elimination of the buffalo herds served as a prominent example of that destruction. Indian
policy had provided no economic alternatives except the distribution of rations, which
was costly and impeded the progress of assimilation.
5. The general public was uninformed about the condition of Indian affairs and the problems
of Indians.
B. The Reformers
1. The publication of Helen Hunt Jackson’s A Century of Dishonor in 1881 focused
national
attention on the problems of the Indians.
a. Jackson was a newcomer to Indian reform; she became involved only in 1879, after
hearing the Ponca leader Standing Bear speak.
b. Her hastily written book was one of the most important documents of the reform
movement at the time. It popularized the cause of Indian reform and, although it was
admittedly biased and somewhat sentimentalized, did much to educate the public.
2.
3.
c. Jackson later served as a special commissioner studying the Indians of California.
The Women’s National Indian Association
a. The nucleus of the Women’s National Indian Association was an informal group
organized in 1879 by Mary L. Bonney, a Baptist teacher from Philadelphia.
(1) Like Helen Hunt Jackson, Mary Bonney was attracted to Indian reform after
learning of the Ponca case.
(2) From 1879 until 1883, the fledgling organization, under a variety of names,
circulated petitions and publicized the cause of Indian reform.
b. By the mid-l880s, the Women’s National Indian Organization had developed an
extensive system for publicizing Indian problems and mobilizing public support.
(1) Members circulated leaflets, literature on the Indian question, and petitions;
many published articles on Indian reform and wrote letters to newspapers and
government officials.
(2) Local chapters and branch organizations were established among the nation’s
Christian women’s groups.
(a) By 1884 the organization had branches in Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota,
Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Ohio.
(b) Although the group did not work extensively in the South, auxiliary
branches were organized in Maryland and Georgia by 1885.
(c) By 1886 the organization had 83 branches in 28 states and territories.
(3) The organization sent speakers to gatherings of religious groups and women’s
groups. One prominent spokeswoman, Amelia Quinton, spoke at 102 meetings
in the East, Northeast, and Midwest in 1884.
c. In its early years, the Women’s National Indian Association worked specifically for
Indian reforms; after the establishment of the Indian Rights Association, the
organization shifted its attention primarily to mission work on the reservations,
taking a supportive role in the reform movement.
The Indian Rights Association
a. The Indian Rights Association, founded in 1882 by Herbert Welsh, espoused a
variety of reform proposals designed to bring about the assimilation of the Indians.
(1) The organization lobbied for Indian citizenship and Indian civil rights.
(2) It promoted the extension of federal law to the reservations.
(3) It supported educational programs.
b. Using the existing network of churches, the Indian Rights Association quickly
developed an organized national membership.
(1) Welsh established a central office in Philadelphia and persuaded the churches
in
major American cities to form auxiliary organizations which would work with
that office.
(2) Representatives of the organization visited reservations throughout the country
to gather information.
(3) The organization circulated the information it gathered by publishing in
newspapers and journals, writing pamphlets, giving speeches, and
corresponding with those prominent in Indian affairs.
(4) The association kept a representative in Washington, D.C., to follow the
progress of Indian legislation, lobby for the association’s interests, and relay
information to the group’s headquarters in Philadelphia.
4.
The Lake Mohonk Conference
a. Annual conferences held at Lake Mohonk in New York in the l880s provided a
forum for the leading Indian reformers, the members of the Board of Indian
Commissioners, and Indian policy-makers.
b. The first conference was organized in 1883 by Albert K. Smiley, a Quaker who had
been appointed to the Board of Indian Commissioners in 1879.
c. The second meeting, held in 1885, and subsequent annual conferences attracted
most of the major figures of the Indian reform movement.
d. The conferences supported the concept of assimilation policy and served as a focus
for the debate on citizenship, voting rights, allotment, and other methods to
accomplish Indian assimilation.
5. The National Indian Defense Association
a. The National Indian Defense Association was established in 1885 by Dr. Thomas A.
Bland, the editor of The Council Fire.
b. The association was opposed to the policies of forced allotment and immediate
assimilation espoused by most of the other reformers.
(1) Its members hoped to prevent the forcible allotment of Indian lands, which
would result in enormous land loss.
(a) It argued that dissolving tribal bonds and Indian governments would
hinder, not help, Indian development.
(b) Pointing out that few Indians were prepared to defend individual titles to
their lands, the organization suggested that patents be issued to tribal
groups, not individuals. The goal of eventual ownership of land
in severalty could be accomplished through tribal action.
(2) The organization maintained that Indians should have freedom of choice and
a
voice in the administration of their own affairs.
(a) It proposed that tribal organizations should be maintained and allowed
to
evolve until they could be integrated in the American political system.
(b) Its leaders actively solicited Indian opinions and the support of Indian
leaders.
(3) The organization favored the extension of federal law to the reservations, so
long as that jurisdiction did not infringe on treaty obligations or Indian rights.
c. The organization tried to counter the inaccurate, distorted, and sentimentalized view
of Indian affairs which had gained currency.
C. The Accomplishments of the Reform Interests, 1880-1920
1. The reformers who shared a desire for assimilation and immediate allotment saw their
proposals largely embodied in the legislation of the 1880s and 1890s.
a. The Dawes Act of 1887 made the allotment of Indian lands national policy; in its
final
form, the allotment bill eliminated provisions which would have required Indian
consent.
b. In 1885, for the first time, Congress extended the jurisdiction of federal law to cover
certain major crimes committed by Indians against Indians within the boundaries of
Indian reservations.
2.
III.
c. By 1896 the civil service system had been extended to include all Indian agency
personnel except the agents, thus reducing the evils of the partisan appointment
system.
d. During the 1880s and 1890s, an extensive Indian education system was organized
both on and off the reservations. The programs of both government schools and
private, sectarian schools were designed to encourage assimilation and to require as
many children as possible to enroll.
The legislation of the late nineteenth century did not resolve the urgent problems of
Indian affairs, but it led to a decline, of reform organizations. When the proposals they
had recommended became law, reform interests turned their attention to the
administration and implementation of these programs. Until the 1920s, the reform
movement remained dormant, and there were few reformers who proposed any
fundamental changes in the government’s policy.
Indian Policy and Reform, 1920-1928
A.
The Major Reform Issues
1. By 1920 a large body of evidence suggested that the implementation of the Dawes Act,
the Lease Acts, the Burke Act, and the related assimilation programs had caused an
enormous reduction in Indian land-holdings, without creating self-sufficient Indian
economies or assimilating the Indians into the mainstream of non-Indian society.
2. Forcibly implemented education programs and prohibitions against traditional Indian
governments and religions had not eradicated Indian culture, even among the young,
who were the primary target of such assimilation policies. The unexpected degree of
Indian resistance to such programs raised questions about the general assumption that
Indians should and would abandon their traditions.
3. The incident which ignited the new reform movement was the introduction of the
Bursum Bill, a proposal which would have ratified non-Indian trespass on the lands of
the Pueblo Indians.
B.
The Reformers
1. A variety of individuals and organizations, many new to the reform movement, came
together to support the Pueblo Indians. After the defeat of the Bursum Bill, these
reformers turned their attention to other Indian problems.
a.
The reform groups included an all-Pueblo council which was called in
November 1922 to organize resistance to the Bursum Bill. It was the first time
since the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 that the Indians of the Pueblos had met together
to resolve a common problem.
b.
A variety of reformers and organizations supported the resistance. Among them
were the Indian Rights Association, the American Indian Defense Association,
the Indian Welfare Committee of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs, and
the editor of the New York Times.
2. Spokesmen for the new Indian reform movement, including such men and women as
John Collier, Steward E. White, James W. Schultz, M. Clyde Kelly, and Mary Austin,
published numerous articles pointing Out the failures of Indian policy and calling for
thorough investigation and reform. Journals such as Sunset, The Survey, Current
History, and The Forum featured their material.
3.
C.
In 1921 the Bureau of Indian Commissioners sponsored an extensive investigation of
the issuance of fee patents and the systems used to evaluate Indian “competency.”
a. The board sent questionnaires to many Indian service employees in the nine states
where most allotments had been made.
b. The resulting data overwhelmingly indicated that most, if not all, of the Indians
who had received patents in fee had sold or lost their lands. Only four respondents
could cite any cases in which such Indians still owned their lands (Fey and
McNickle, pp. 93-95).
The Accomplishments of the Reform Interests, 1920-1928
1. These new reformers effected some immediate, specific changes in Indian policy.
a. As a result of the report of the Board of Indian Commissioners, the policy of
liberally granting fee patents was discontinued in 1921. The secretary of the
interior required all subsequent applications for patents in fee to be examined on
an individual basis.
b. The Bursum Bill was defeated and the Pueblo Lands Board was established to
review non-Indian claims to Pueblo land.
c. In 1924 all Indians were officially granted American citizenship; by that time,
approximately two-thirds of America’s Indians were already citizens.
d. The Osage Guardianship Act of 1925 was intended to prevent the unscrupulous
exploitation of Osage oil resources.
2. The primary effect of the reform movement in the l920s was the initiation of a series
of detailed investigations into the conditions of American Indians. Together these
investigations provided a devastating indictment of the effects of existing Indian
policies.
a. Responding to reform pressures, Secretary of the Interior Hubert Work requested
a series of official investigation beginning with one conducted by the Committee
of One Hundred, a national advisory committee on Indian affairs.
(1) The committee prepared a report in 1923 and presented that report to
Congress in 1924.
(2) The report focused on education and produced some immediate reforms of
curriculum and procedure.
(3) Neither the report nor the resulting changes satisfied such reformers as John
Collier.
b. To remedy the deficiencies of the committee’s report, Secretary Work asked the
Board of Indian Commissioners to conduct an investigation.
(1) The board submitted its report in January 1926.
(2) Subsequently, in its annual report for 1926, the board recommended that a
thorough investigation of Indian affairs be conducted by an agency outside
the auspices of the government.
c. In June 1926 the Institute for Government Research (the Brookings Institution)
was commissioned to carry out the study recommended by the Board of Indian
Commissioners.
(1) A staff of professional specialists, under the direction of Lewis Meriam,
investigated reservation conditions and presented a report on February 21,
1928.
3.
(2) The Meriam Report explored many areas of Indian affairs, including health,
education, economic conditions, land-holdings, law, and administration. It
provided a specific and devastating assessment of the conditions of the
Indians in virtually every area it examined.
(a) It placed a large share of the blame for these conditions on the
allotment policy and its implementation.
(b) It recommended a series of reforms to correct these problems.
d. A special report dealing with the irrigation of Indian lands also appeared in
1928.
e. A resolution calling for an extensive congressional investigation of Indian
affairs was passed in 1928, and the first subcommittee hearings were held that
November at reservations in the Northwest.
The activities of the reform interests and the findings of investigations provided
specific data on the condition of the Indians. This body of information and
recommendations provided the basis for subsequent general reform of Indian policy.
Bibliography
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edition. New York: Harper & Row, Perennial Library, 1970.
Fritz, Henry E. The Movement for Indian Assimilation, 1860-1890. Philadelphia: University of
Pennsylvania Press, 1963. Especially pp. 34-56, 135-68.
Kinney, J.P. A Continent Lost-A Civilization Won: Indian Land Tenure in America. 1937; rpt. New
York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Octagon Books, 1975. Especially pp. 81-214.
Priest, Loring Benson. Uncle Sam’s Stepchildren: The Reformation of United States Indian Policy,
1856-1887. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, Bison Books, 1942. Especially pp. 57-81,
95-155.
Prucha, Francis Paul. American Indian Policy in Crisis: Christian Reformers and the Indian, 1865-1900.
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