New people. New land. The free land was free for Everyone to take. People love free things so why judge Farmers and Slaves when they wanted to start a new beginning. Farmers and Freemen were among the groups of individuals that saw in the Homestead Act the kind of opportunity that led them to the West. This means that the farmers and Freemen were the ones who saw this new opportunity of free land. The Homestead Act brought a uniquely diverse range of settling out the west, making it the key factor of opening the West. It wasn 't only people with land, but people who wanted to own land because if you owned land you had some type of power. In providing individuals with land on which to build their lives, the Homestead Act was the longest term …show more content…
“The Southern states had regular votes against legislation because they foresaw the law that would hasten the settlement of western territory”.Says the article (History.com) This shows that The territory was bought but people wanted farmers and Freemen to move West. “Indeed, the vision of independent yeomen establishing homesteads on the prairies was offered in the political rhetoric of the 1850s as a vivid contrast to the degradation of slave labor on the southern plantations”. Says the article (History.com) Also showing how many farmers and Free men had a right to move West and have power. As it can be seen, providing the opportunity for individuals that ultimately open up the …show more content…
It gave them new opportunities to many impoverished farmers from the East and Mid West. “The Homestead Act remained in effect for more than 100 years. The final claim, for 80 acres in southeastern Alaska, was approved in 1988”. Meaning that it’s the one that has the right to be called most Effective. Also saying that the Transcontinental railroad wasn 't a reason why there was Westward Expansions. Few families had the resources to even start farming.“The Homestead Act (May 20, 1862) set in motion a program of public land grants to small farmers”(History.com) They say that the transcontinental railroad was literally the transportation of traveling to the West. Removing the main barrier of to expansion and settlement. It may have improved moving to the west a lot easier, but it doesn 't mean that the farmers and free men were wanting to go to the west just because there was transportation. Why would they leave their properties they had in the East and Midwest when they had the things they could get? Many moved for the reason of a new start. Therefore, It provided Free men and Farmers a new life. This is why the Homestead Act was the reason of Westward expansion. And why also bringing the opportunities for individuals that ultimately opened the
Life in the nineteenth-century Nebraska was rapidly developing. An increase in automation, industrialization, and modernization all took hold just before the turn of the nineteenth century and furthered its hold across the nation. The Homestead Act of 1954 was a major kick start to get the development of the west rolling and to further settlement across the continent. Many early settlers came from all across the globe. They were newly arrived immigrants, American farmers without land, young families with children, single women, former slaves freed during the Civil War.
Another 80 acres would go to each unmarried recipients. It was stipulated that the land could not be alienated for 25 years. Any Indian that received land automatically became citizens of the U.S. They were obligated to state, federal and local laws. All of the supporters of this act
1. Railroad expansion provided new avenues of migration into the American interior. 2. Congress passed the Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862. It gave the state governments millions of acres of western lands, which the states could then sell to raise money for the creation of "land grant" colleges specializing in agriculture and mechanical arts.
The Homestead act was the act that encouraged people to move west and develop agriculture in 1862.
The changes that were seen after the act was put into law included the end of the communal holding of property by the Native Americans. They would fractionated into individual plots of property, which caused more than half of their lands to be sold off. Women were not given any land under this act, and had to be married to receive the full 160 acres offered. While the Act was supposed to help the Indians, many resisted the changes that came with individual property ownership. They thought that becoming ranchers and farmers was distasteful.
One reason why Americans moved westward was to gain opportunities for themselves. The two most promising land claims were Oregon Country and the Louisiana Territory. The idea of starting a new life on the recently claimed land of Oregon Country lands all began when Lewis traveled to the land and discovered that “this passage across the continent as affording immense advantages to the fur trade,” (Doc 9). As a result of Lewis’s expedition some settlers headed to the new land to start trading on this land. Afterward, more Americans flooded this land upon learning that it was, “nice and (it had) streams full of fish,” and that “the valleys are rich and the mountains high
Following the great explorative successes, some Americans would soon venture westwards which was largely supported by rhetoric, law and the vision of the founding fathers to have a far-reaching territory. As the manufacturing industry rose in New England, the westward expansion was both timely and economically viable. The American settlers were moving rapidly to what is referred to as the Midwest today and this necessitated the development of infrastructure through the development of canals, roads, and railroads. The rapid expansion of infrastructure, more specifically the railroads, would then purge the country into a new era of medicine, manufacture, and agricultural inventions (Neil, 1964). The Midwest became an inspiration that saw the symbolic development of the American identity in the 19th century with development of acting, painting, and writing.
In 1860-1890, there was war between the Natives and the U.S. government. The U.S. government wanted to take over the Native Americans land. To do that, the U.S. government started a treaty called the Homestead Act, there was differnet kinds of conflict between the two groups, and the U.S. government killed the Natives resources. This expansion affected the lives of Native Americans across the land. The Homestead Act was a one of the effects that affected the lives of the Native Americans.
They settled those lands because Special Field Order 15 prompted them to do so, but President Johnson decided that he wanted to give the land back to the original owners. So he sent O. O. Howard, head of the Freedmen’s Bureau, to tell them to get off the land. Howard was met with resistance when he reached the land. The freed people wrote up a petition requesting that they may either keep the land or purchase it. The people showed that they were doing well with the land, and also showed that they were completing their goal of practicing religion.
After the Civil War, the African Americans were living very uncomfortably because they were still being treated cruel and unfair. They had no money, no education, and they just felt out of place. This made then want to migrate toward the West were they could be free. Not only were they wanting to leave, but with the help of the Homestead Act, they were able to get their land free. It said that 160 acres of land will be provided to anyone who lives on the plot and farms it for 5 years.
The Homestead Act was officially made a law in May 20, 1862 by President Abraham Lincoln. It made settlement possible in the western United States. By allowing all Americans, including freed slaves, to submit a claim for up to 160 free acres of federal land. The Homestead Act of 1862 basically stated that any adult citizen who headed a family could be entitled to a grant of 160 acres of free public land by paying a small fee and living on that land for five years or if that settler would pay small installments, he could obtain that land after six months of residency. The deal was that dwellers were required to improve the land by cultivating and building a dwelling on this free land.
The U.S had gained a lot of land, or frontiers in the West from Mexico. The land was undeveloped, therefore the U.S had to find a way to develop the land. The U.S would come up with the Homestead Act. The Homestead Acts states that any citizen or anyone planning to become a citizen is eligible to gain 160 acres of land, typically to form farms. The plan was intended to make the people stay in that land and create a
As America continued to grow and prosper, the only logical place to continue was westward where over 200 million acres of land was ripe for progress and growth on the other side of the Mississippi. The government at that time had many miles of federal land and was of the mindset that they could grow the country and bring some money back into central government by selling these parcels of land off to Americans. The distribution of Government lands had been chaotic since the Revolutionary War: overlapping claims and border disputes were commonplace. The Homestead Act of 1862 and Desert Lands Act of 1877 helped to promote ownership for homesteaders and spur westward expansion.
First of all, Native Americans were settled on a hotbed of natural resources which included oil and precious metals such as silver and gold. There was also much fertile land that would entice farmers and frontiersmen to move out west. On this land there was so much potential economic opportunity for farmers, cattle drivers, miners and many other occupations. The government developed the popular public misconception that the indians were misusing the land and that Americans had the right to take advantage of the opportunities that lie in the west. These ideas led to the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 which authorized encroachment of Indian lands by the US government in order to divide up reservations and control Indian activity.
The land around the Oregon Trail was also important and profitable because it could and was used for farmers to plant and harvest corn, wheat, and other vegetables. With more produce, there was more trade and transfer of goods. People earned their wages on cheap land and were able to make a living out of a few simple grains from all around the world. Some people even saw the emigration as way to make money. Businessmen saw an opportunity and created “a bustling industry of frontier trading posts sprang up to supply food and equipment for the five-month haul”(History OL).