| Organization name | United States Congress |
| Org type | Government |
| Bio notes | The legislature of the United States Government, based in the nation’s capital. Originally weak and unicameral, the system was refined in 1789 by the ratification of the Constitution, which split Congress into the Senate and the House of Representatives and affected a compromise between equal and proportional state representation. Its early history was wracked by debate between the Federalist and Anti-Federalist parties, who differed on the powers and limits of central government. After the election of 1800, Jefferson’s Democratic-Republican Party dominated Congress and made strong movements for state rights. After 1826, parties realigned into the Whig and Democrat factions, which grappled over populism and the strictness of the Constitution. Laws about land ownership came to the forefront, a particular concern being Native American rights and their effect on expansion. Congress had maintained an organ for Indian relations since at least 1806 and finally created the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1824, while passage of the Civilization Fund Act (1819) enacted President Washington’s civilization policy by funding organizations to educate Native American tribes. In 1830, Congress passed the controversial Indian Removal Act, which in theory authorized President Jackson to make treaties with southern tribes that exchanged their homeland for territory west of the Mississippi River, and in fact resulted in forced relocations. |
| Data notes | The organizational type, "government," includes governmental bodies and other agents of the government like elected or appointed officials and members of the military. |
| See also | United States Government |
| Citations | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_Congress |
Copy of a manuscript respecting the American Indians (A)
New York Yearly Meeting Committee on Indian Concerns Scrapbook