History of North America

What pieces of legislation served to break off the communal nature Native American land ownership?

* Indian Nonintercourse Act of 1790: This law prohibited the sale of Native American land to anyone other than the federal government. It was intended to protect Native Americans from being swindled out of their land, but it also made it difficult for them to sell their land if they wanted to.

* Indian Removal Act of 1830: This law authorized the federal government to forcibly remove Native Americans from their land in the eastern United States and relocate them to Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma. The removal process was often brutal, and many Native Americans died along the way.

* Homestead Act of 1862: This law allowed settlers to claim 160 acres of public land for free if they lived on it for five years and made improvements. This law encouraged white settlers to move onto Native American land, which further eroded Native American land ownership.

* General Allotment Act of 1887: This law broke up communal Native American landholdings and allotted individual parcels of land to Native American families. This law had a devastating impact on Native American communities, as it broke up their traditional way of life and made it difficult for them to hold onto their land.