Some similarities and differences in the government of native americans

Similarities And Differences Between African And Native Americans History Essay

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Published: 23rd March, 2015

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Both the African American and Native American communities in the United States suffered great hardships since the dawn of the Republic. Southern plantation owners held the black community in enslavement while greedy American settlers stole the Indians' land. After the Civil War, however, conditions radically changed for both: the slaves were freed at last, and the remaining free tribes were being herded onto reservations. In these years immediately following the war, blacks, due to a strong Republican influence in the federal and state governments, were far better off economically, politically, and socially than their Native American counterparts. While the Indians lost their land because of the ever-moving drive westward, blacks gained suffrage and equality under the law. However, as time went on, the African American community was robbed of its rights due to a coalition between white supremacists eager to keep freed blacks at the bottom of society and Democrats eager to gain a Southern power-base. Blacks began suffering the same hardships that their Indian cousins suffered. But, after World War I, the plight of the Native Americans was somewhat relieved because of pity for their wretched reservation life and attempts were made to give them both reparations for lost lands and representation in American politics. The African American community, conversely, was still being discriminated against by racist elements in both the North and South; blacks had to wait until the mid-1950's before their condition was alleviated and they were brought to the level Native Americans occupied.