What did the Indian appropriations act of 1851 do?

The Indian Appropriations Act of 1851 was a significant piece of legislation passed by the United States Congress. Its primary purpose was to allocate funds for the relocation of Native American tribes onto lands specifically designated to them, known as reservations. This act was a continuation of the policy of the U.S. government aimed at managing and controlling the indigenous populations.

The 1851 Act authorized the creation of Indian reservations in modern-day Oklahoma, moving Native American tribes from their ancestral homelands to these new, confined areas. The reservation system was intended to "civilize" Native Americans and make them more amenable to assimilation into Euro-American ways of life. It also aimed to reduce the conflicts between settlers and Native Americans by segregating them, and it facilitated the exploitation of natural resources found on indigenous lands by non-Native people.

This act marked a shift in federal Indian policy from the negotiation of treaties, which had been recognized as nation-to-nation agreements, towards unilaterally imposing the will of the United States on Native American tribes.