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This act passed by Congress allowed white immigrants who had resided in the US for at least two years and their children eligible for US citizenship.
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The first railroad charted was granted in 1815. The construction finally began in 1830 where 14 miles of track were opened before the end of the year. From here, the railroad industry began to grow and grow. By 1863, the construction of the first transcontinental railroad began. The tracks started in Nebraska and ended in California.
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In the 1840's Irish would could afford passage to the America's sought the opportunity to flee from starvation. Irish immigrants made up 1/2 of all migrants to the US at this time.
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The Seven Sisters of Mercy was an organization that provided support services for single Irish women. This organization provided shelter, training in domestic service and sewing, and job placement for women who were considered to be of good character. This meant that the organization would only help pure women who did not engage in sexual activity outside of marriage.
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The Mexican-American War was a conflict between Mexico and America over the disputed boundary of Texas. By the end of the war, America had gained Texas, New Mexico, and California. America paid Mexico $15 million.
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Marking the end of the Mexico-American War, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was a peace treaty that also resulted in the gain of land for America with Texas, New Mexico, and California.
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The Irish left Ireland due to the Potato Famine and came to the States in hope to escape the poverty. When they arrived, they were severely discriminated against and could mainly only obtain domestic and/or labor jobs. After 15 years, they now make up 80% of the domestic servants in the city.
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The Panic of 1857 was a financial crisis in America. This was caused by declining international economy as well as over-expansion of the domestic economy. This panic was one of the first to be quickly spread due to the invention of the telegram.
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The Good Shepherd sisters were another organization that provided support services to single Irish women. However, this specific organization was will to help "fallen" women, meaning those who were not sexually pure.
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On March 20, 1862 the Homestead Act was passed. This act enabled any adult citizen to claim 160 acres of government land. With this land, they had to live on the land and cultivate said property. This act helped to develop the West as well as economic growth in the US.
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Thousands of white workers (made up mainly of Irish) in New York, specifically Lower Manhattan, started attacking military and government buildings. The workers were angered over a new federal draft law. The law made all male citizens between 20-35 and all unmarried men 35-45 subject to military duty. This resulted in some of the bloodies and destructive rioting in US history with hundreds of people killed and many more injured.
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In the Spring of 1865, Robert E. Lee (Confederates) surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant (Union). The Southern states were readmitted to the US and slavery was abolished. However, in the South the Lost Cause emerged in which Southern began to rewrite history to other Confederates that the war was not because of slavery but rather due to Northern tensions.
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The 14th amendment granted citizenship to all people, "born or naturalized in the United States,". This would include former slaves. Finally in the US, slaves were considered to be citizens of the nation.
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Another organization in New York aimed at helping single Irish women, however this one is set apart since they were willing to also take in children. There was an issue emerging in NYC of infants being abandoned in alley and garbage cans.
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This era of time was an age of political corruption, industrialization, extreme opulence, and worker exploitation. There was also an influx of immigrants coming to the United States during this time. This era is in between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive era.
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This act gave new freedoms to "white aliens" as well as those of "African descent". However, this act did still exclude Asian people from gaining citizenship and entering the US.
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With the boom of the railroads construction, Andrew Carnegie realized the thing all of these construction operations would require is steel. Over the next two decades, Carnegie would become a powerful figure in the industry. Over his career, he was able to take himself from a poor Irish immigrant to a successful and wealthy businessman.
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Later down the line, the city funding for the Foundling Asylum was cut. Following the rate of infanticide in the city grew and many abandoned children were found close to the asylum. After this, the Governor of NY passed legislation to ensure their funding would not be cut again.
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With the passing of this new law, children were more protected. The law made it so children over the age of 3 and under 16, could not be admitted to poorhouses but instead would be sent to orphanages and/or released to family.
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The Carlisle Boarding school in Pennsylvania was the first government-run boarding school for Native American children. Within the school, the Native children were severely abused. The goal of the school was to essentially force the Natives to behave as white people did, performing gender roles as they saw fit, etc.
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During this time period, there were a lot of issues with the banks. One of the problems was financial instability within the banks. This resulted in many crisis throughout the time period causing distress from citizens.
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The American Red Cross(ARC) was founded in 1881 by Clara Barton. Clara played a role in the Civil War, tending to soldiers in the fields. She began the ARC to provided assistance to Americans suffering in disasters or on battlefields.
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The Chinese Exclusion Act suspended Chinese immigration into the States for 10 years and also declared Chinese immigrants are ineligible for naturalization. The purpose of this act was to prevent more Chinese immigrants from coming into the nation due to the high influx of immigrants from Asia.
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By 1885, Irish-born New Yorkers accounted for over 28% of the city's population. This was due to the Potato Famine in Ireland which brought many immigrants over to the United States, specifically New York since there was more labor need there. It was easier for immigrants to find a job and get their new life started. Almost 50 years later, many Irish immigrants have settled down, gotten married and had children in the city.
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On May 4, 1886 a labor protest turned into a riot. The protesters were standing up against the poor worker conditions as well as labor wages. One of the protests elevated this act to a riot when a bomb was thrown at the police. At least eight people died due to the bomb and eight labor activists were convicted in connection to the bombing.
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This act was mainly focused on the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The purpose of the act was to ban polygamy in the US. The act was later repealed in 1978.
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Robert E. Lee's monument was erected in 1890, during a high point for the Lost Cause and the Confederates. Many Southerns looked toward the monument as a symbol of rallying together and their version of tales surrounding the Lost Cause.
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The Progressive Era was time of social activism and reform in the United States. Progessives were focused on ending corruption from the Gilded Age. The end of the Progressive Era is typically marked by the start of World War 1.
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This bill was created to enforce the ability of Blacks voting rights in the South. While the 15th Amendment had already allowed for this, white Southerns had passed new laws such as literacy tests to restrict Blacks from having this right. The bill was filibustered in the Senate which lead to be precursor for the Civil Right legislation that came later down the road.
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Due to the uprising of Industrialism, many farmers move into the city. The large factories in the city required many workers, attracting not only the farmers to leave rural life but millions of immigrants to be drawn to the United States.
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Another Native American boarding school is established. It would become the largest in the Southwest and the 2nd largest in the country. Similar to the other Native boarding schools, there was significant abuse towards the children within the school. The school was eventually closed in 1990.
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On March 14, 1891, 11 Italian-Americans were murdered by a mob who believed they had a role in the murder of the local police chief David Hennessey after some of the group had been acquitted in the murder trial. This was the largest single mass lynching in US History.
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On June 7, 1892 Homer Plessy bought a first-class train ticket and boarded the East Louisiana train. Plessy was told to move to the "colored" car on the train which he refused to do. Plessy told the conductor on the train he was an American citizen who bought the ticket and would staying in the seat he paid for. The train was promptly stopped, a detective boarded the train and arrested Plessy. This lead to the famous Supreme Court case of Plessy V. Ferguson.
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Plessy V. Ferguson was a famous Supreme Court case that is known for "separate but equal" clause. The court ruled that as long as the facilities for each race were equal in quality it was Constitutional. This case set the tone for future cases such as Brown v. Board of Education.
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Looking at the Census data, we see a rapid increase in tenancy in the South, specifically Texas which went up 30%. This increase in tenancy can be explained by white people migrating in hopes of finding lands to cultivate crops and make money. The poor whites in Texas end up having to resort to sharecropping and fall into a system of abuse alongside Mexicans and Blacks.
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By the year of 1902, there were 25 federally funded Native American boarding schools across the United States. All the children within these schools suffered terrible abuses.
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In 1907, the Japanese government agreed with the United States government to prevent any laborers from emigrating to the US. This excluded the Japanese people from entering the Nation similarly to the immigration acts to follow.
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Teddy Roosevelt parted way with the Republican Party in 1912 and formed a new one, the Progressive Party. Roosevelt and other more "modern" members of the Republican Party were frequently disagreeing with more conservative, traditional members of the Republican Party. Because of these tensions they decided to leave and form their new party of the Progressives.
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The Great Migration was a mass moving of over 6 million African American people out of the South to the North and Midwestern cities. African Americans were moving for several reasons such as to escape racial violence, pursue better careers and education, as well as gaining more freedom from the Jim Crow laws in the South.
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World War I was one of the deadliest global conflicts throughout history. The war put the Central Powers against the Allies ( which included the US starting in 1917). The war ended with the defeat of the Central Powers.
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In 1915, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was revived by white Protestants in Atlanta, Georgia. This new generation of KKK members were not only against Black Americans but also Roman Catholics, Jews, and foreigners. The KKK was fueled by the surge in immigration in America. The immigrants coming in to the US were allowed to vote straight off the boat, the KKK did not believe they had a right to vote. They also worked to implement literacy tests for all voters.
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While WWI began in 1914, the United States did not join the war until 1917. Wilson was hesitant to join the war and get the nation involved. It was not until Germany resumed submarine attacks on passenger and merchant ships that Wilson decided to was time to join the effort.
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In 1917, the Junior Red Cross(JRC) was founded and 22,000,000 schoolchildren were invited to join. The JRC goal was to teach service to children. The JRC sent out classroom activities such as assisting US troops or relief measures for Allied civilians.
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The Immigration Act of 1917, otherwise known as the "barred Asiatic zone", was an act that was to restrict immigration into the States. The act imposed literacy tests and barred immigration from the Asia-Pacific zone, preventing anyone from that area from entering the United States.
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Despite the dissent about the JRC in the postwar years, in 1919 Woodrow Wilson renewed his support for the JRC. Wilson believed that children should learn to understand children of other nations better so they could do the same.
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Beginning in 1919, more women began to wear hosiery on a daily basis with 75 million pairs being produced that year. By 1927, almost 240 million pairs were being produced. This increase is mainly inspired by flappers of the time who would frequent hosiery underneath their new shorter hem lines.
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Starting in 1919, North Carolina passed several sterilization laws. Virginia saw these laws and decided to do the same, passing some themselves. The sterilizations were mainly gives to women of color to prevent them from having children. These were later deemed unconstitutional.
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Wilson would not negotiate with the peace treaty. The treaty went to the Senate floor with 14 reservations but no amendments. This eventually led to the Senate rejected a peace treaty for the first time.
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On March 19, 1920, the Senate attempted to ratify the Versailles Treaty for a second time. However, they failed for second time. This would ultimately result in the US rejected participation in the League of Nations as well.
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This act was passed to limit the amount of immigrants coming into the United States. This act limited the number of immigrants from any country to 3% of the residents from that country living in the United States based on the 1910 Census. With the passing of this, the quotas became extremely strict.
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The Strike of 1921 was a labor strike. Following the strike, the union was able to be rebuilt and allowed for more rights for the labor workers, including the hosiery workers.
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The Workers' Education Bureau of America was an organization designed to assist labor colleges and other labor training centers involved in the labor movement. The bureau was extremely helpful in the continued education of workers throughout the 20s.
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In 1922, a mob made up of 300 white people marched into the district of Stephens County where the Mexican and Black population resided. The crowd threatened to burn down the homes of those who stayed. The mob named themselves the White Owl and claimed they were striving towards better working conditions for whites.
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With the emergence of eugenics, the initial goal by many was to eliminate undesirable traits in the human race through selective breeding. During this time, laws were enacted in order to prevent individuals that had mental or physical defects as well as couples of mixed races from marrying.
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Takao Ozawa had been living the US for 20 years, however, when he applied for citizenship he was denied due to being born in Japan. This case was taken to the Supreme Court where Ozawa was once again denied citizenship and told he was ineligible for naturalization.
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The play "Rain" opened in New York and ran for 174 weeks. The play introduced a new version of womanhood and challenged traditional ideals. This was one of many plays and movies during this time to do so.
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Bhagat Singh Thind was an Indian Sikh man who identified himself as an Aryan. Thind was an Asian Indian who was racially white. Despite this, the Supreme Court ruled that he was ineligible for naturalization and in turn around 50 other Asian Indian Americans citizenship was revoked.
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This act limited the number of immigrants who were allowed into the US. The purpose of this act was to keep undesired ethnic groups out of the country and maintain Americans character.
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This act in Virginia reinforced racial segregation along with making interracial marriage illegal. This act also incorporated use of eugenics with the classification of a white person as someone with no trace of any other blood except Caucasian. All birth certificates were required to state either white or colored.
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With the increase in demand for hosiery, the workers became more valuable. The wages for the workers increased rapidly and by 1927 hosiery workers in Philadelphia earned 25% more than the average for all industries within the city.
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The New Bedford Textile Strike was a mass worker strike in which around 30,000 machine operative stopped working during the spring and summer of 1928. The strike began due to a proposed 10% wage cut of the workers. Workers wanted a 20% wage increase as well as a 40 hour work week. The strike ended with an agreement of 5% wage cut and a implementation of a 30 day notice before any other wage reductions.
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The Great Depression began in 1929 with New York stocks falling to 50% value. Throughout this time, people significantly struggled to keep their jobs and continue to feed their families. by 1932, one of every four workers was unemployed.
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On March 22, 1929, President Herbert Hoover proclaimed the immigration quotas set into effect from the Immigration Act of 1924. This meant that after 5 years the act was now finally being implemented.
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The Dust Bowl was a environmental event in which severe dust storms blew through Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico. These dust storms severely damaged the crops in the area as well as peoples home. As a result of the intense dust, people also began to develop health complications as a result.
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This act was passed in an attempt to stabilize the current banking system of the US during the Great Depression. It allowed for 12 Federal Reserve to issue additional currency to those who were struggling as well as allowing the banks to reopen the banks.
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The New Deal was initiated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR). This program was supposed to re-inflate the economy and bring the nation out of the Great Depression. The three main goals of the New Deal were relief: creating jobs and welfare, recovery: fixing the economy and ending the Depression, and reform: creating a plan so this Depression could be avoided in the future.
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The fireside chats were a series of radio "chats" with President Franklin D. Roosevelt. FDR used this chats to address the publics fears as well as keep them informed as to what was going on in the nation.
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On March 4, 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt took the oat of office as the new President of the United States. During this time, the nation was in a horrible depression and the every part of the economy was failing.
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The Indian Reorganization Act was passed to conserve and protect the Indian lands and resources. This act gave Native Americans a new level of freedom and more control over their lands which also led to them be able to form new tribal governments.
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Black Sunday refers to one of the worst dust storms experienced during the Dust Bowl. On April 14, 1935, a black mountain of dust rolled through Kansas. The storm turned the sunny day into one dark as night.
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World War II was a global conflict involving 30 countries. The war was sparked with the Nazi invasion of Poland. The war dragged on until the Allies defeated the Axis Power of Nazi Germany, Japan, Italy.
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The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military attack by the Japanese against the US naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii. This event led the US to join the WWII effort.
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The Bracero Program was a series of agreements between the US and Mexico. This program allowed for a migration of short-term Mexican contrast laborers in and out of the United States. The laborers typically worked on southwestern farms and were closely managed on migration by US and Mexican officials.
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The War Production Board (WPD) was an agency that supervised war production during WWII. It was responsible in converting peacetime industries to meet the demands on war.
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On August 8, 1945, the B-29 Superfortress named Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. As a result of the bomb, around 70,000-80,000 people, or 30% of the city's population, were killed and an additional 70,000 were injured due to the blast.
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The atomic bomb, named "Fat Man", was dropped on Nagasaki 3 days after the Enola Gay dropped the "Little Boy" bomb. This bomb resulted in 60,000-80,000 deaths.
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US and Mexican officials introduced train-lifts and occasionally planes to deport Mexican immigrants back to Mexico. That year, 34,057 migrants were deported back to Mexico. The funds were stalled in 1953.
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Replacing the previous immigration act from 1924, the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 governs who may be allowed into the US. A new temporary visa was enacted through this act for laborers.
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Operation Wetback was an immigration program that resulted in the mass deportation of Mexican nationals. The programs intent was to deport illegal immigrants from Mexico, however it also resulted in deported legal Mexican-Americans to Mexico.
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Beginning in the 1970s, the Indian Health Services (IHS) were performing documented sterilizations on American Indians. In the year 1975 alone, IHS sterilized around 25,000 American Indian women to prevent these women from having children in the future. The IHS has indicated widespread abuse from coercion to improper consent forms.
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The Honor the Earth organization was founded to raise awareness surrounding Indigenous environmental justice. The organization also works to financial resources for Native communities. This is the only Native organization to do so.
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The Enola Gay exhibition was canceled in January of 1995. The exhibit received a fair amount of backlash from veterans, politicians, social critics, and political commentators. People felt as if the exhibit dishonored veterans by discussing the controversy of dropping the bomb as well as displaying photos of the victims.
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On September 21, 2004, the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) opened on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The Museum displayed 3 permanent exhibitions all about the Native peoples. However, some of the exhibitions received backlash for improperly representing the Natives.