Homestead Act Essay example -- essays research papers fc

I THESIS STATEMENTThe homestead Act of 1862 do surveyed lands obtainable to homesteaders. The act stated that men and women over the age of 21, mateless women who were head of households and married men under the age of 21, who did not cause over 160 acres of land anywhere, were citizens or intended on becoming citizens of the United States, were eligible to homestead. This paper will show how the Homestead Act came to be enacted, who the homesteaders were and the effects of the Homestead Act on the pioneers.II WHAT EVENTS LEAD TO THE HOMESTEAD ACT? The distribution of Government lands had been an issue since the extremist War. Early methods for allocating unsettled land outside the original 13 colonies were chaotic. Boundaries were effected by stepping off plots from geographical landmarks. As a result, overlapping claims and brink disputes were common. The Land Ordinance of 1785 finally implemented a standardized system of rules of Federal land surveys that eased boundary c onflicts. Territories were divided into a 6-mile lame called a township prior to settlement. The township was divided into 36 sections, distributively measuring 1 square mile or 640 acres each. cut-rate sale of public land was viewed as a means to generate tax revenue for the Government rather than as a way to encourage settlement. Initially, an undivided was required to purchase a full section of land at the cost of $1 per acre for 640 acres. The investment needed to purchase these large plots and the gigantic amount of physical labor required to clear the land for factory farm were often insurmountable obstacles. According to all available indexes of growth, the United States grew enormously between 1840 and 1860. The continental limits of the nation were reached, with the exception of Alaska, by 1854 through the erudition of the Mexican Cession territory and the Gadsden Purchase. The population continued its upward spiral, pitiful from slightly over seventeen million in 1 840 to over thirty-eight million in 1860. New canals, steamboats, turnpikes, and railroads knit the nation together into an corporate economic unit. Hundred of thousands of people crossed the Atlantic to take up residence in the dynamic nation, while other hundreds of thousands moved into the western regions of the country. Legislative efforts to improve homest... ..., September 8). New Homestead Act would athletic supporter ruralAmerica. Grand Forks Herald.Potter, L. A. (1999). The Homestead Act of 1862. Cobblestone,20(2), 4.Red River Valley genealogic Society (n.d.). Time passages,genealogy of the Dakotas. Retrieved from,Web site http//www.fargodigital.comSchaetzl, R. J. (n.d.). Settlement of the upstart frontier TheHomestead Act of 1862. Retrieved from land mileState University, GEO333 Geography of Michigan and the Great Lakes Region Web site http//www.geo.msu.edu/geo333/South Dakota Department of touristry and State Development (n.d.).Prairie Pioneers. Retrieved from So uth Dakota Department of Tourism Media, Web site http//www.mediasd.com/ facts/pioneers.aspUS Department of Education ERIC (2003, January 14). The HomesteadAct of 1862. Retrieved from US issue account & Records arrangement Web site http//www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/lessons/homestead_act_1862/homestead_act.htmlU.S. National Archives & Records Administration (1995, 1998).Homestead Act (1862). Retrieved fromTeaching with Documents Using Primary Sources From the NationalArchives Web site http//www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=31