The General Allotment Act, also known as the Dawes Act, named after Senator Henry Dawes, who wrote the act, is the legislation to which Thomas Sowell refers in his passage. The Dawes Act divided Native American reservations into small parcels for individual ownership by Native Americans. To the head of a family, 160 acres were given, 80 acres was given to any single person over the age of 18, and 80 acres were also given to any orphans under …
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showed last 75 words of 674 total
…of only Blacks existed in the West. In 1920, Oklahoma had 137,000 Blacks residing in it, in over 50 Black Towns. Blacks saw the West as an opportunity to start new lifestyles, and for some, escape the violence and oppression of the south. Owning land, independence, and abundance of jobs was very attractive to the Blacks. Blacks held occupations of cattle drivers, miners, railroad works, farmers, soldiers, nurses, and virtually every job vital to life in the West.