I found out that Chapter 133 of the Act for the Government and Protection of Indians of 1850 provides defense for the people residing in the State of California. The provision directs that the Indians should be given peace as they settle in the state and no one has the right to molest them. A white who wished to adopt a minor Indian had to go through the court which would establish the ability of the individual to take good care of the child. Also, it was meant to determine whether the means used to obtain him or her are legal or not.On the other hand, the book entitled City of Inmates elaborates on mass incarceration that faced Los Angeles. This appears as the punch line of this publication whereby certain groups of people have been targeted for two centuries to be eliminated in society (Hernández 20). Surprisingly, out of all the states in the US, Los Angeles led in mass incarceration, and this was a worrying trend. Some of the affected groups included Indians and African Americans. This appeared to be the source of racial discrimination in the land.In California, the law was instead used as a way of protecting people against slavery.For people of California to be able to hire Indians into their companies or firms, they have to represent their full contracts before the court for approval. However, the Act is biased as it does not allow the conviction of a white upon the confession of an Indian. The courts have to make financial statements after six months, which include the total amount of fines received and service fees permissible.On the other hand, the courts in Los Angeles propagated mass incarceration.Comparing the two cases, it is evident that any law did not deter Los Angeles regarding imprisonment while California used the existing provisions to even make racism worse (Johnston-Dodds and Burton, 140).
From the Act, I believe that California had the aim of protecting its people more than the Indians, which has been the case in other states in the US. I think the Act champions for slavery as it allows the whites to give settlement to the Indians as long as they work on their firms.This can be equated with the case with Los Angeles in the City of Inmates. It is clear that most of the states in the US had ways of bringing down the members of the majority groups. For example, the Indians and the African Americans found themselves in the receiving end.Initially, the Act for the Government and Protection of Indianresulted in Indians being displaced from their traditional lands and separating children from their families through the adoption process. However, the law was, on the other hand, good in taking care of the Indian children. Another provision that I think relates to that of California is the New Fugitive Slave Act that was also implemented in 1850.It allowed slavery, mostly in Southern America, by tracing the fugitive slaves in the North and sending them back to their owners.The Indians and the Africans were mistreated due to strict policies brought about by this Act just as in the case of mass incarceration in Los Angeles. Theprovision was used by courts to punish the California Indians and other Africans in the South who attempted to run away from their masters.Similarly, in current America, many blacks are jailed for the pettiest mistakes showing that mass incarceration is still in existence.
Work Cited
Hernández, Kelly Lytle. City of Inmates: Conquest, Rebellion, and the Rise of Human Caging in Los Angeles, 1771–1965. UNC Press Books, 2017.
Johnston-Dodds, Kimberly, and John L. Burton. Early California laws and policies related to California Indians. California State Library, California Research Bureau, 2002.
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