American Indian Policy and American Reform: Case Studies of the Campaign to Assimilate the American Indians

First published in 1987, American Indian Policy and American Reform examines key aspects of American Indian policy and reform in the context of American ethnic problems and traditions of reform. The first four chapters provide a chronological survey discussing racial attitudes, economic issues, the role of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, missionary and reformer involvement with government policy, the political interaction of Indians and whites, and other continuing differences between the two races. The second part of the book examines important themes which illuminate the difficulties of the assimilation campaign. In a series of case studies, Prof. Bolt explores Indian-black-white relations in the South and Indian Territory, American anthropologists and American Indians, Indian education from colonial times to the 20th century, Indian women, urban Indians since the Second World War and Indian political protest groups. This book will be of interest to students of American history, ’minority’ history and race relations.