---
title: "Assimilation Policy — APUSH Definition & Exam Guide"
description: "Assimilation policy was the U.S. effort to erase Native cultures through boarding schools and the Dawes Act. Key to APUSH Unit 6 and westward expansion."
canonical: "https://fiveable.me/apush/key-terms/assimilation-policy"
type: "key-term"
subject: "AP US History"
unit: "Unit 6"
---

# Assimilation Policy — APUSH Definition & Exam Guide

## Definition

Assimilation policy refers to late-1800s U.S. government efforts to force American Indians to abandon tribal cultures and adopt Euro-American ways, mainly through off-reservation boarding schools like Carlisle and the Dawes Act's breakup of communal tribal land into individual plots.

## What It Is

Assimilation policy was the [federal government](/apush/key-terms/federal-government "fv-autolink")'s late-19th-century strategy for dealing with [American Indians](/apush/unit-2/comparison-period-2/study-guide/osbWaPWHbIDMpvo1PPjH "fv-autolink") after military conquest of the West was mostly complete. Instead of just confining tribes to reservations, the government tried to dissolve tribal identity itself. The two big tools were boarding schools and land allotment. Schools like the Carlisle Indian School (founded 1879) took Native children from their families, banned their languages, cut their hair, and trained them in Euro-American customs. The motto of the era was "kill the Indian, save the man." The Dawes Act (1887) attacked tribal life from the other direction by breaking up communally held tribal land into individual family plots, pushing Native people toward farming and private property.

In the CED, this sits in Topic 6.3 under KC-6.2.II.D. As white [migration](/apush/unit-3/movement-early-republic/study-guide/eoL3MkhdlT5xBQVMW6jW "fv-autolink") into the West exploded and the bison were decimated, the government violated treaties, crushed resistance with military force, and then turned to assimilation as the "peaceful" follow-up. The key twist the exam loves is that it largely failed at its cultural goal. Many American Indian communities kept their languages, ceremonies, and identities despite decades of pressure.

## Why It Matters

Assimilation policy is core content for [Unit 6](/apush/unit-6 "fv-autolink") (Industrialization and the Gilded Age, 1865-1898), specifically Topic 6.3, Westward Expansion Social and Cultural Development. It directly supports learning objective [APUSH](/apush "fv-autolink") 6.3.A, which asks you to explain the causes and effects of western settlement from 1877 to 1898. Settlement created competition for land (KC-6.2.II.C), the government broke treaties and used force (KC-6.2.II.D), and assimilation was the policy that came next. It's also a go-to example for the American and National Identity theme, because it shows the government deciding who counts as "American" and on whose terms. If a question asks how federal Indian policy changed after the Plains Wars, assimilation is usually the answer.

## Connections

### [Dawes Act (Unit 6)](/apush/key-terms/dawes-act)

The [Dawes Act of 1887](/apush/key-terms/dawes-act-of-1887 "fv-autolink") is assimilation policy written into land law. By splitting tribal land into individual allotments, it tried to turn communal tribal members into individual property-owning farmers. It also opened up "surplus" land for white settlers, so assimilation and land-grabbing worked hand in hand.

### [Carlisle Indian School (Unit 6)](/apush/key-terms/carlisle-indian-school)

Carlisle is the boarding-school side of [assimilation](/apush/key-terms/assimilation "fv-autolink"). If the Dawes Act targeted tribal land, Carlisle targeted tribal children, banning Native languages and customs to break the chain of cultural transmission. Together they're the two examples the exam expects you to name.

### [Ghost Dance movement (Unit 6)](/apush/key-terms/ghost-dance-movement)

The [Ghost Dance](/apush/key-terms/ghost-dance "fv-autolink") was the flip side of assimilation, a spiritual revival movement asserting Native identity precisely when the government was trying to erase it. The army's panicked response led to the Wounded Knee massacre in 1890. Use these two together to argue both coercion and resistance.

### [Indian Removal (Unit 4)](/apush/key-terms/indian-removal)

Removal in the 1830s and assimilation in the 1880s are two phases of the same long story. First the government pushed Native nations off their land (Trail of Tears), then, once there was nowhere left to push them, it tried to erase their cultures instead. That shift makes a great change-over-time argument.

## On the AP Exam

Multiple-choice questions usually test assimilation policy in two ways. First, identification, like a stem asking which late-1800s action is an example of assimilation policy (answer: boarding schools or the Dawes Act, not military campaigns). Second, cause and effect, like asking what goal the prohibition of Native languages in boarding schools advanced, or what development the persistence of Native languages and ceremonies demonstrates despite these policies (answer: cultural resistance and continuity). No released FRQ has used the phrase "assimilation policy" verbatim, but it's prime evidence for LEQs and DBQs on westward expansion, federal Indian policy, or American identity. The strongest move is pairing policy with response, citing the Dawes Act and Carlisle alongside the Ghost Dance and cultural persistence to show both government intent and Native agency.

## assimilation policy vs Reservation policy

Reservation policy confined tribes to designated land while (in theory) leaving tribal life intact. Assimilation policy went further and tried to destroy tribal life itself, breaking up reservation land through the Dawes Act and removing children to boarding schools. Think of reservations as separation and assimilation as forced absorption. On the exam, the Dawes Act is an attack on the reservation system, not part of it.

## Key Takeaways

- Assimilation policy was the federal government's attempt in the late 1800s to force American Indians to abandon tribal cultures and adopt Euro-American ways.
- Its two main tools were off-reservation boarding schools like the Carlisle Indian School (1879) and the Dawes Act (1887), which broke tribal land into individual allotments.
- It followed treaty violations and military force, fitting the pattern in KC-6.2.II.D where rising western settlement led the government to crush and then absorb Native nations.
- The Dawes Act also transferred millions of acres of "surplus" tribal land to white settlers, so assimilation served land hunger as well as cultural goals.
- Despite decades of pressure, many American Indian communities preserved languages, ceremonies, and identities, which the exam treats as evidence of cultural resistance and continuity.
- On the exam, pair assimilation policies with Native responses like the Ghost Dance movement to show both government coercion and Native agency.

## FAQs

### What was assimilation policy in APUSH?

It was the late-1800s federal strategy of forcing American Indians to give up tribal cultures and adopt Euro-American ways, mainly through boarding schools like Carlisle (1879) and the Dawes Act (1887). It shows up in Topic 6.3 as an effect of westward expansion.

### Did assimilation policy actually work?

Mostly no, at least not at its cultural goal. Many Native communities retained their languages, ceremonies, and identities despite boarding schools and allotment, and the exam frequently tests this persistence as cultural resistance. The Dawes Act did succeed at stripping tribes of millions of acres of land, though.

### What's the difference between assimilation policy and the reservation system?

Reservations separated Native nations onto designated land; assimilation tried to erase tribal identity altogether. The Dawes Act actually dismantled reservation land by converting it into individual private plots, so assimilation replaced the reservation approach rather than continuing it.

### Is the Dawes Act an example of assimilation policy?

Yes, it's the classic example. The 1887 Dawes Act broke communal tribal land into individual family allotments to push Native people toward private property and farming, with leftover "surplus" land sold to white settlers.

### What were Indian boarding schools trying to do?

Schools like the Carlisle Indian School separated Native children from their families, banned Native languages, and imposed Euro-American dress, religion, and customs. The goal was to end tribal culture by raising a generation outside of it, summed up in the era's slogan "kill the Indian, save the man."

## Related Study Guides

- [6.3 Westward Expansion Social and Cultural Development](/apush/unit-6/westward-expansion-social-cultural-development-1865-1898/study-guide/tjZEnBbepPcpcbtaF5eA)

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