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How did U.S. policy toward Native nations change from 1830 to 1934?

Removal, treaties, allotment, boarding schools, and citizenship: students track a century of federal policy and Native responses.

Timeline of key events →

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✓ Lesson ready

A ready-to-run lesson for this set: Change-Over-Time Card Sort. Slides include a hook, one slide per source, directions, a take-a-stand vote, an exit ticket, and a teacher script in the speaker notes.

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1. Hook: a striking quote 3-5 min

Permit us to ask, what better right can a people have to a country, than the right of inheritance and immemorial peaceable possession ?
Memorial of the Cherokee Nation to Congress (1829)

Ask: The Cherokee asked Congress this question in 1829. How would you answer it? What would the U.S. government answer?

2. Main activity: Change-Over-Time Card Sort

Grouping: Groups of 3 or 4

Materials (printables are in the Lesson Plan Doc)
  • One set of 8 evidence cards per group (printable pages in the Lesson Plan Doc)
  • A long sheet of paper or tape line for a timeline
  • Exit ticket slips
  1. Introduce the categories 5 min
    Write four policy labels on the board: Removal, Treaties and reservations, Assimilation (allotment, boarding schools), Citizenship.
  2. Timeline sort 12 min
    Groups put the 8 cards in date order on a timeline and label each with one policy category.
  3. Turning points 10 min
    Groups circle the two cards they think mark the biggest changes in policy and write why.
  4. Share and challenge 10 min
    Each group names one turning point. Others agree or challenge with a different card. Add this fact: in 1934 Congress passed the Indian Reorganization Act, which ended allotment.
  5. Take a stand 8 min
    Use the vote slide.
  6. Exit ticket 5 min
    Students answer on a slip before leaving.

Take a stand: Did U.S. policy toward Native nations change more than it stayed the same from 1830 to 1934?

  • Mostly changed: Policy moved from removal (1830) to treaties and reservations, then allotment and boarding schools, and finally citizenship (1924) and the end of allotment (1934).
  • Mostly the same: In each period, decisions about Native land and life were made mainly in Washington, and Native nations kept losing land, from removal through allotment.

3. Pacing options

15-minute bell-ringer

  • 3 min Hook: Cherokee Memorial
  • 8 min Compare two cards only: the Indian Removal Act (1830) and the Indian Citizenship Act (1924). What changed, and what stayed the same?
  • 4 min Exit ticket question 1

Full 50-minute lesson

  • 4 min Hook: Cherokee Memorial
  • 5 min Introduce the four policy categories
  • 12 min Timeline sort
  • 10 min Turning points
  • 10 min Share and vote
  • 5 min Exit ticket
  • 4 min Buffer

4. Exit ticket

  1. Which source marks the biggest turning point in U.S. policy? Explain.
  2. Worcester v. Georgia ruled for the Cherokee in 1832, yet removal still happened. What does this tell you about the limits of a court ruling?

5. Differentiation

Support

Extension

  • Look at the Carlisle debating class photograph. What does it show about the goals of boarding schools? What does it leave out?
  • Research the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 and decide whether it was a turning point.

Suggested sequence

  1. Cherokee Memorial to Congress (1829)
    Document · Wikisource · Expansion & Reform (1801-1861) · Grades 9-12 · ⏱ 15 min
    The Cherokee Nation's petition asking Congress to protect their lands.
    Ask: How did the Cherokee use treaties and American law to argue against removal?
    Open with this source to frame the question.
    Original ↗Copy DocCopy AdaptedSOAPSToneHIPP / HAPP
  2. Indian Removal Act (1830)
    Document · Wikisource · Expansion & Reform (1801-1861) · Grades 9-12 · ⏱ 5 min
    The 1830 law authorizing the president to exchange land with Native nations east of the Mississippi.
    Ask: How did a short law lead to the Trail of Tears?
    Original ↗Copy DocCopy AdaptedSOAPSToneHIPP / HAPP
  3. Worcester v. Georgia
    Court case · Oyez · Expansion & Reform (1801-1861) · Grades 9-12 · ⏱ 10 min
    1832 case recognizing Cherokee sovereignty, ignored by Georgia and Jackson.
    Ask: What happens when a Supreme Court ruling is not enforced?
    Original ↗Copy DocHIPP / HAPPClaim-Evidence-Reasoning (CER)
  4. Fort Laramie Treaty (1868)
    Document · Yale Avalon Project · Civil War & Reconstruction (1850-1877) · Grades 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 20 min
    The treaty guaranteeing the Black Hills to the Lakota, later broken by the U.S.
    Ask: What happens when a nation breaks its treaties?
    Original ↗Copy DocSOAPSToneHIPP / HAPP
  5. Dawes Act
    Document · National Archives · Industrialization & Gilded Age (1870-1900) · Grades 9-12 · ⏱ 15 min
    1887 allotment act.
    Ask: What was the goal of allotment, and what was its effect?
    Original ↗Copy DocCopy AdaptedSOAPSToneHIPP / HAPP
  6. Debating class, Carlisle Indian School, Carlisle, Pennsylvania (1901)
    Photograph · Library of Congress · Industrialization & Gilded Age (1870-1900) · Grades 9-12 · ⏱ 5 min
    Library of Congress photograph: Debating class, Carlisle Indian School, Carlisle, Pennsylvania (1901). 1 photographic print : cyanotype. | Photo shows a young woman standing before a group of seated students. A partially visible chalkboard says "Debate. Resolved: That the U.S. Senate [...]" An older woman is seated at a p…
    Ask: What were Indian boarding schools trying to change about Native students?
    Original ↗Copy SlidesSee-Think-WonderOPTIC
  7. The Wounded Knee Massacre (DPLA Primary Source Set)
    Document collection · Digital Public Library of America · Industrialization & Gilded Age (1870-1900) · Grades 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ Varies
    Digital Public Library of America primary source set, 'The Wounded Knee Massacre': curated sources from U.S. libraries, archives, and museums, with a teaching guide.
    Ask: What happened at Wounded Knee in 1890, and how was it reported?
    Original ↗Sourcing, Contextualization, CorroborationHIPP / HAPP
  8. Indian Citizenship Act (1924)
    Document · Wikisource · Progressive Era (1890-1920) · Grades 9-12 · ⏱ 5 min
    The 1924 law declaring Native Americans born in the U.S. to be citizens.
    Ask: What did citizenship mean for Native Americans in 1924?
    Close with this source before writing.
    Original ↗Copy DocSOAPSToneHIPP / HAPP

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Culminating writing prompt

Using evidence from at least three sources in this set, write an argument that answers the question: “How did U.S. policy toward Native nations change from 1830 to 1934?” Cite each source by title, explain how its author, audience, and purpose affect its reliability, and respond to at least one counterargument.

Printable writing sheet (make a copy)

Students can plan with the Claim-Evidence-Reasoning organizer.