Thursday, June 2, 2011

A Shameful Delay...!


Sometimes when studying history, you make some shameful discoveries. This was one of the most disturbing I found!

I have no idea why it took so long, and it shames me that it did!

Jun 2, 1924:
The Indian Citizenship Act


With Congress' passage of the Indian Citizenship Act, the government of the United States confers citizenship on all Native Americans born within the territorial limits of the country.

Before the Civil War, citizenship was often limited to Native Americans of one-half or less Indian blood. In the Reconstruction period, progressive Republicans in Congress sought to accelerate the granting of citizenship to friendly tribes, though state support for these measures was often limited.

In 1888, most Native American women married to U.S. citizens were conferred with citizenship, and in 1919 Native American veterans of World War I were offered citizenship. In 1924, the Indian Citizenship Act, an all-inclusive act, was passed by Congress. The privileges of citizenship, however, were largely governed by state law, and the right to vote was often denied to Native Americans in the early 20th century.


It took a long time and takes a lot of the mystery out of the bad feelings between the American Indians and the government, doesn't it?

That's one thing about studying the past...you may not be impressed with what you find. At least, not in a good way! I would like to think we have improved our humanity since then!

Let's get some fresh coffee and sit outside for a while, OK?

12 comments:

Sixbears said...

Not a proud history, but important to know -like the Trail of Tears.

JoJo said...

Its so sad to think that the American Indians were here before the whites yet they had to wait to become Citizens of America. And yes the story of the Trail of Tears I have read the book and it was so hard to read.
We would hope that humanity has changed Jim, but sometimes you have to wonder when you hear some ot the things people still say.
Pass the pot please.

HermitJim said...

Hey Sixbears...
If we don't learn from our history, we can't improve on our past actions.

I really appreciate you coming by today!


Hey JoJo...
Reading about our past, I'm always amazed at just how arrogant we were and are.

It's really shameful, some of the things we did!

Thanks, sweetie, for coming by today!

Dizzy-Dick said...

I know a lady who's granparents were on the trail of tears. I lost contact with her about a year ago and hope she is still with us. Also, this would be a better place if they had kicked us off (grin).

HermitJim said...

Hey DD...
So easy to lose track of folks over the years!

I have to agree that maybe the Indians should have left us to our own devises. However, most of them hated to see anyone starve to death!

They probably had a fear of us as well...and that turned out to be well founded!

Thanks for coming by, buddy!

TROUBLEnTX said...

Read the book about the Cherokee Nation, book, too, and the Trail of Tears. I am proud to be part Native American.

HermitJim said...

Hey Trouble...
I'm just astounded that it took so long to do what was right!

That's how politics work, I guess!

Thanks so much for coming by today!

Bob Mc said...

If you’ve read anything about the history of the native Australian Aborigine, their treatment parallels that of the Native Americans very closely. The Australian Government only recently apologized for their actions involving “The Stolen Generation”. Europeans made a habit of repeating the same mistakes over and over, wherever they colonized a country.

HermitJim said...

Hey Bob...
I do remember just recently hearing about this and was surprised. I don't know why!

Good movie about their mistreatment is one called "Rabbit Proof Fence"

It just seems to go on and on, doesn't it?

Thanks for the visit today!

Bob Mc said...

Jim, I've seen that movie, "Rabbit Proof Fence". A good one to watch concerning the treatment of Native Americans is "Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee".

Gorges Smythe said...

The government sanctions the killing of the unborn and talks of denying medical treatment to old folks so nature can take its course - No, I don't think government has gotten any more humane.

russell1200 said...

Agree that situations like the trail of tears were common.

But to see a well written example of Indians kicking some rear over an extended period of time, which they often did, you may want to look at Pekka Hamalainen's Comanche Empire.

The Comanche would not always be called "nice people" but they gave as good as they got for a long time, and to some extent did themselves in more than the U.S. Cavalry by over expanding their horse herds (which competed with Buffalo for food).

The Shawnee in what is now West Virginia kicked settlers back over the mountains on three separate occasions, and their are numerous accounts of the very deadly King Philip's War.