Broken+Treaties+by+the+U.S.+Government


 * Broken Treaties by the U.S. Government **

A Treaty is defined as a negotiated agreement or contract, which is legally binding and duly authorized by both the state and sovereign nations. They were originally designed to recognize the sovereignty of the Native American tribes; acknowledging Indian laws and policies by both the Europeans and U.S. Government. Treaties were originally sought after to bring peace and stability between the Indians and the whites, and avoiding any kind of military action. The first treaty signed into law, was in 1778, and was authorized by the U.S. Government and the Delaware Tribe. This enabled the Native Americans to be represented in congress.

According to The Avalon Project, __Article II__ of the 1778 Treaty with the Delaware’s read as follows: “That a perpetual peace and friendship shall from henceforth take place, and subsist between the contracting: parties aforesaid, through all succeeding generations: and if either of the parties are engaged in a just and necessary war with any other nation or nations, that then each shall assist the other in due proportion to their abilities, till their enemies are brought to reasonable terms of accommodation: and that if either of them shall discover any hostile designs forming against the other, they shall give the earliest notice thereof that timeous measures may be taken to prevent their ill effect.”

During the period of 1700 and the early 1800s, the federal government secured much power over the sovereign nations, and Indians were not thought of as “equals.” The government maintained tribal control, exploiting the Indians and controlling more and more of their land. Even though the Indians signed the treaties, they had little to no power as to what was written.



Citations: [] Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, Publisher: Merriam-Webster Inc., Springfield, MA, U.S.A. This Land Was Theirs, A Study of Native Americans, Ninth Ed., Oswalt, W., Universtiy of Califorina, Los Angeles, Oxford University Press, 2009 []