Date of Award

4-1980

Degree Type

Master's Essay - Restricted

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

History

First Advisor

Francis Paul Prucha

Abstract

On May 25, 1933, President Franklin D, Roosevelt signed an Executive Order abolishing the United States Board of Indian Commissioners after sixty-four years of service. It was a move made by a new administration committed to a program of economy. The discharge of the Board represented a savings of $14,000 a year for the country. Although the President ostensibly issued the order for reasons of economy and in order to "eliminate overlapping and duplication of effort," the action signalled significant changes in the guardianship of the American Indian under the guiding hand of the new Commissioner of Indian Affairs, John Collier. It represented a necessary step in Collier's "New Deal" for the Indian, a program of reform that departed significantly from the philosophy and avowed goals of the Board of Indian Commissioners. Roosevelt's action on May 25 ended a bitter struggle for control of Indian affairs that began a dozen years before. Collier, considered a radical by the conservative Board, was now in control, and he acted swiftly to remove his old foe.

Comments

An Essay submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School, Marquette University, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts. Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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