Why did government officials want to use allotment policies?

Question

(1 point)
Responses

It allowed them to take land away from the Native Americans.
It allowed them to take land away from the Native Americans.

They wanted to make sure each Native American had land.
They wanted to make sure each Native American had land.

Native Americans felt their land needed to be handed out to individuals.
Native Americans felt their land needed to be handed out to individuals.

They felt that reservations were becoming too large.
They felt that reservations were becoming too large.

Answer 1

The primary reason government officials wanted to use allotment policies was:

It allowed them to take land away from the Native Americans.

Allotment policies, particularly those implemented through the Dawes Act of 1887, aimed to redistribute tribal lands into individual plots. This was seen as a way to assimilate Native Americans into American society and reduce the land held in common by tribes, thereby allowing the government to claim surplus lands for settlement by non-Native Americans.