What legislation, enacted in 1887, allowed Native Americans to receive land in exchange for the loss of their tribal lands to white settlers?

The correct answer is the Dawes Act, also known as the General Allotment Act. Enacted in 1887, this legislation aimed to assimilate Native Americans into American society by allotting them individual plots of land. Each Native American family was granted a specific amount of land, which was meant to promote agriculture and a lifestyle similar to that of white settlers. In exchange for these individual land allotments, Native American tribes lost ownership of the majority of their communal lands, which were then made available for white settlers.

The act reflected the U.S. government's broader policy of assimilation during this period, which intended to erase tribal affiliations and integrate Native Americans into mainstream American culture. By the time the Dawes Act was implemented, a significant portion of Native American land had already been lost, and the act facilitated further dispossession and fragmentation of tribal territories.

The other options represent different legislative efforts and are not related to the exchange of tribal lands for individual allotments. The Homestead Act, for instance, provided land to settlers willing to cultivate it, but it did not specifically address Native American land or rights. The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 aimed to reverse some of the damage caused by such earlier policies, thus establishing a new framework