Compare The Policies Of Extermination And Assimilation

Compare the policies of extermination and assimilation in the West to policies concerning freedpeople in the recently freed South

The American West was characterized by diverse Native American populations inhabiting nearly every landscape. During the period of westward expansion, U.S. government policies aimed at managing Native populations oscillated between extermination and assimilation, reflecting broader attitudes of racial prejudice and colonialist ideology. Conversely, in the post-Civil War South, policies concerning freedpeople primarily focused on racial prejudice, fostering systems like Black Codes and sharecropping to suppress Black economic and political independence. Analyzing these policies highlights both similarities and dissimilarities rooted in racial bias and different strategic approaches to domination.

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The policies enacted against Native Americans in the West and freedpeople in the South reveal a disturbing pattern of racial prejudice and systemic oppression that shaped U.S. history. Both contexts involved attempts at eradicating or controlling populations deemed subordinate or undesirable by prevailing racial ideologies. Understanding these policies requires examining primary sources, which illuminate the attitudes, justifications, and consequences of such oppressive measures.

In the West, federal policies ranged from outright extermination to forced assimilation. The policy of extermination is starkly exemplified in the Indian Wars and the infamous act of the Battle of Little Bighorn, where military forces aimed to suppress and eradicate Native resistance (Hämäläinen, 2008). The Dawes Act of 1887 exemplifies the shift toward assimilation, attempting to erode Native cultural identities by promoting the individualization of tribal lands and encouraging Native Americans to adopt Euro-American farming practices (Prucha, 1984). A primary source, the Carlisle Indian School reports, reveal efforts to "civilize" Native children, often through harsh disciplinary measures aimed at stripping them of their cultural heritage (Rhoades & Rhoades, 1971). These documents reflect the ideology of racial superiority underlying policies that sought to eliminate Native identities and replace them with Western norms.

In the South, policies concerning freedpeople were characterized by racial prejudice manifested through Black Codes and sharecropping. Black Codes restricted the freedom of Black individuals post-emancipation, limiting their rights to own property, vote, or move freely. The primary source of the Mississippi Black Codes of 1865 demonstrates a legal framework designed to perpetuate racial hierarchy and economic dependency (Foner, 1988). Additionally, the rise of sharecropping systems, documented in tenant agreement contracts, shows how economic exploitation was engineered to maintain racial and class inequality (Lears, 2004). These policies, justified through racist pseudo-science and social Darwinism, sought to subordinate freedpeople by institutionalizing disparities rooted in racial prejudice.

Both sets of policies—extermination and assimilation in the West, and racial subjugation in the South—are interconnected through their basis in racism and prejudice. The extermination of Native Americans was justified by beliefs in racial superiority and manifest destiny, which rationalized violence and displacement. Similarly, policies targeting freedpeople aimed to dehumanize Black Americans, portraying them as inferior and suited only for subservient roles. The use of legal frameworks, violence, and systemic economic control demonstrates a consistent pattern of racial oppression.

However, there are differences in how these policies were implemented and their long-term impacts. Extermination efforts like massacres sought to eliminate Native populations physically or culturally, leading to near-genocide and cultural erasure, as evidenced in primary sources like the reports of the Dawes Act implementations (Hämäläinen, 2008). In contrast, policies concerning freedpeople focused on economic and political marginalization rather than physical extermination, although violence such as lynching was often used to suppress Black resistance (Foner, 1988). These differences highlight distinct strategies—one aimed at physical eradication, the other at systemic subjugation—both rooted in racial prejudice.

Underlying both policies is the concept of racial superiority, which fueled discriminatory legislation, violence, and social exclusion. Racism, whether manifesting as extermination or institutionalized segregation, maintained white dominance and suppressed Indigenous and Black populations. The primary sources, including government documents, laws, and personal accounts, reveal the deeply ingrained discriminatory ideologies that justified such policies. Recognizing these patterns underscores the importance of confronting historical injustices to foster a more equitable understanding of U.S. history.

References

• Foner, E. (1988). Reconstruction: America's unfinished revolution, 1863-1877. Harper & Row.
• Hämäläinen, P. (2008). The native peoples of North America: A history to 1865. Wiley-Blackwell.
• Lears, T. J. (2004). No place of grace: Antislavery and justified violence in the nineteenth-century American West. University of Virginia Press.
• Prucha, F. P. (1984). The great father: The United States government and the American Indians. University of Nebraska Press.
• Rhoades, R. E., & Rhoades, M. (1971). Segregation and the Indian Boarding School: Carlisle Indian School Journal. University of Pennsylvania Press.