What was the extent to which the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which guaranteed women the right to vote, marked a turning point in United States women’s history?

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What was the extent to which the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which guaranteed women the right to vote, marked a turning point in United States women’s history?

The native Americans and the white Americans had a tainted relationship from their early years. Initially, the native Americans had lived in peace, tilling their lands, and keeping their animals peacefully until new settlers who had whiter skin color emerged from the sea. These new settlers came with the critical mission of conquering this new land for their mother countries while at the same time establishing their homes there. However, the major problem arose with how these white settlers would live together with the land’s original owners- the native Americans. First, the problem emerged because the white settlers soon wanted to take all the fertile lands, displacing their hosts. Second, the Europeans came with certain aspects of cultural attributes that were foreign, such as religious practices. Third, the Europeans appeared to have brought a broad array of afflictions in the form of diseases that plagued the native Americans. Amid all these troubles, the dynamics of American society underwent immense changes. For example, the country attained self-rule from the British crown, and it became apparent that the native Americans had to be integrated into the entire American population. This integration on religion, work, and even governance effectively achieved this fete, which felt that the native Americans had to be fully assimilated into the new cultural dimensions. One of these cultural assimilation strategies was formulated by Captain Richard H. Pratt, who designed the slogan “Kill the Indian, and Save the Man.”

The slogan “Kill the Indian, and Save the Man” was colloquially coined to assimilate native Americans into accepting the “modern” education system. The term killing does not mean physical action but ensures that native Indians lose their hard stance towards their cultural attributes (Pratt). This aspect was after it emerged that it would be difficult to make them conform to the new official requirements owing to their substantial conformity with their traditions. The first step to assimilating native Americans was to go through the stipulated education system that the government provided. It was perceived as a matter of great national interest to mingle the Indians with white Americans to ensure that the country grew steadfast through an inclusion system of governance.

Education was the first mode of killing the Indians among the native Americans. After Pratts’s declaration, the government embarked on a mission to enroll many native American young people into boarding schools (Little, 12). An example of these boarding schools was the Carlisle industrial schools established in 1879 and ran up to the onset of the 20th century. It would be easier for them to see sense in some government acts and grow up to appreciate and support certain aspects of the government’s decision through education. For example, native American students were forbidden from using their native names and speaking their language to ensure that they conformed to the stipulations of “killing the Indian” in them. Second, they were not allowed to practice their religion, maintain their clothing, and do away with their haircut.

The call for assimilation of the Native Americans was a demonization of their tradition and cultures. This aspect is because eliminating any element of their culture was seen as a way of degrading and dismissing the existence or importance of their cultural practices or attributes (Bentley, 9). The mere suggestion of doing away with cultural importance or attributes shows that American society has come a long way as far as the fight for equal rights has come. Moreover, the term used by Pratt also indicates that there is a likelihood that it is not only the African Americans who endured stints of troubles from the hands of the white Americans but also the native Americans. For example, in 1887 there was passed the general allotment act. This act mandated the president to break all the native reservation land from the communal set-up of ownership to individual ownership. The principal aim of this act was to force the native Americans into stopping to put more effort and emphasis on cultural aspects such as land and instead focus on other social-economic elements like the other white Americans. The forced system of assimilation placed the native Americans in certain difficult situations that disadvantaged them economically and socially.

Work cited

Bentley, Matthew Steven. “Kill the Indian, Save the Man”: Manhood at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, 1879-1918. Diss. University of East Anglia, 2012. https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/40572/1/2012BentleyMSPhD.pdf

Little, Becky. “How boarding schools tried to ‘kill the Indian ‘through assimilation.” History. com (2017). https://airc.ucsc.edu/resources/schools-little.pdf

Pratt, Richard H. “Kill the Indian, and Save the Man.” Official Report of the Nineteenth Annual Conference of Charities and Correction. 1892, pp. 46-59.