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Difficulty: HardWestward Expansion and American Indians

"We, the Creek Nation, view with serious alarm the proposition to divide our lands in severalty and to destroy our national government... Under our present system of holding lands in common, we have lived in peace and security... To force individual allotment upon us will open our country to land speculators, reduce our people to poverty, and ultimately destroy our existence as a distinct tribe."

— Petition of the Creek Nation to the United States Congress, 1895

The concerns expressed in the petition most directly respond to which of the following federal policies of the late nineteenth century?

  1. The implementation of the General Allotment Act, which aimed to assimilate Native Americans through the division of tribal lands into individual plotsAnswer
  2. B
    The establishment of the reservation system to permanently protect tribal land rights and support cultural preservation
  3. C
    The Supreme Court rulings that recognized tribal nations as fully independent sovereign states exempt from federal authority
  4. D
    The formation of a unified military and political alliance of all North American tribes to establish a single sovereign Native state

Answer

The implementation of the General Allotment Act, which aimed to assimilate Native Americans through the division of tribal lands into individual plots
The correct answer is the option stating that the policy was the implementation of the General Allotment Act. The Creek Nation's 1895 petition directly objects to dividing tribal lands 'in severalty' and forcing 'individual allotment,' which were the core mechanisms of the Dawes Severalty (General Allotment) Act of 1887. The federal government intended this policy to dismantle tribal structures, assimilate Native Americans into Euro-American farming lifestyles, and open up remaining 'surplus' tribal lands to white settlers and land speculators.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the stimulus document for key terms and context.
The petition mentions dividing Creek lands 'in severalty,' ending the system of 'holding lands in common,' and opposing 'individual allotment' in 1895.
Identifying these terms establishes that the document is protesting the policy of land allotment (severalty) during the late nineteenth century.
2
Connect the document's subject to the corresponding federal policy of the era.
The primary federal policy of this era promoting land allotment in severalty was the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 (also known as the General Allotment Act).
This links the historical protest directly to the federal action that prompted it.
3
Evaluate the options to identify which one accurately describes this policy and its objectives.
The option describing the implementation of the General Allotment Act to assimilate Native Americans by dividing tribal lands matches the context of the Creek petition. Other options mischaracterize the intent of the reservation system, reference incorrect Supreme Court interpretations, or assume a historically inaccurate unified tribal alliance.
This confirms the correct choice while eliminating incorrect distractors.

Key Concept

The Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 and the policy of assimilation through land allotment.
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Topics

Westward Expansion and American Indians

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