A Study On Thomas Jefferson's Indians "Enlightened" Policy

Jefferson is a famous democratic thinker and one of the founding fathers in America, who made tremendous efforts for the establishment of America. As the President of the United States, his"enlightened" policies to Indians were totally different from his democratic ideology. The study, with the methods of documentary analysis, history analysis, factor analysis, comparison methods and example methods, tries to analyse the purpose, the theoretical and practical basis of the "enlightened" policies, and reveals that "enlightened" policies with the strong democracy and agriculture in the country of the ideal color is on behalf of the American bourgeoisie interests, is the product of Jefferson's double identity with the democratic thinker and politician, and has far-reaching influence to U.S. government Indian policies.Jefferson's "enlightened" policies aims to plunder the indians' land, expand the territory, maintain peace and prevent home invasion, and adopt deception, threaten and even slaughter for the indians, has great hypocritical. But, objectively speaking, Jefferson's "enlightened" policies, in a certain extent, promoted the development of Indian tribe, improved the indians living skills and qualities of indians.The main body of the Master thesis has four parts:The first part: The review of the United States government policies before Jefferson's ruling. Mainly discusses the indians policies in the colonial period, the independent war period and confederacy government period, Washington and Adams government.The second part: Jefferson's "enlightened" policies to Indians. Mainly discusses theoretical and practical basis, the contents, the measures and implementation effect of "enlightened" policies.The third part: The essence analysis of Jefferson's "enlightened" policies. Based on U.S. bourgeoisie interests as the starting point, with Jefferson's individual ideal, to safeguard the interests of the state as the basis, and inherit British colonists' indians policies, the federal government's "policies", "moderately" , it is racial oppression in the specific historical conditions that was carried out to make an attempt to eliminate and create indians from cultural ,and to seize indians' land.The fourth part:The influence of Jefferson's "enlightened" policies to the United States government indians policies. From 1812 to the late 1800's, the federal government policies to American indians were influenced by Thomas Jefferson's indians policies,and the changes of policies.