The Dawes Act and the origin of the term $5 Indian

tent with flag on fabric

In 1887, the U.S. Congress passed the Dawes Act (named after Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts). The law regulated land rights on tribal territories in the United States. It converted the Native American traditional system of communal land ownership into the private property land ownership we are all familiar with today. Before it could […]

Henry Clay’s gamble: the 1824 U.S. Presidential election

In the early years of America, the position of Secretary of State was seen as the next President in waiting. Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe were all previously Secretary of State’s before they became President. In the 1824 Presidential Election, John Quincy Adams was the sitting Secretary of State and the presumptive next […]