Pros And Cons Of The Homestead Act

So by investing labor into land a person could claim it. The colonists looked at this a boundless space as if it were open to anyone who would put it to use. And that is what they did. They keep their farms looking nice by trimming hedges and maintaining their fences and ditches. (Anderson)

Railroads replaced much slower, less efficient modes of transport with an all weather, 24 hour, year round alternative. The Railroads, in conjunction with telegraph lines, and steamships connected the nation and opened vast regions to the development of industries. Railroads, eager to sell land on the Great Plains granted to them by the government, advertised migration in conjunction with land speculators, transatlantic steamship lines and western territories. The government initiated Homestead Act allowed for the establishment of farms along the frontier, and built up the interior west which was only occupied by Natives, for it allowed 160 acres of land to anyone who was willing to farm it for five years. The Morrill Land Act allowed 140 million acres of federal lands to be sold by states to raise money for the establishment of public universities/ land grant colleges to broaden educational opportunities and foster technical and scientific expertise, thus allowing agricultural education to be available to migrants with little experience, thus opening up the prospect of western settlement to urban workers in the East.

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.

After the Civil War, the United States was faced with numerous challenges. The Union had won and had to resolve several issues including handling the country’s debt, how to punish Confederate traitors and slavery. Slavery was one of the leading causes of the war and once it was a abolished the government had to work out a plan to help former slaves and freedmen. The solution was conducted by Radical Republicans; it was called The Southern Homestead Act of 1866 which allowed former slaves and freedmen to purchase land in the South for a low price. Although the Southern Homestead Act (1866) was meant to help blacks in Florida, it failed to do so due to discrimination on the basis of race, lack of government support and the land that was bought was of poor quality.

Passed in 1887 the Dawes Act, also known as The General Allotment Act, assigned portions of Native American reservations into individual and family hands. Individuals received either 80 or 160 acre plots, and in some instances families received higher acreages. In 1887, over 135 million acres of American soil belonged to Native Americans. In 1934, that number had been reduced to a little over 45 million. The remaining land was sold to settlers, much of it for little or no money.

It was good for trade and industry. As it doubled the land area of the U.S., it also increased goods, services and wealth. It paved the way for Americans to share their culture. It offered the chance for exploration.

Perhaps, one of the greatest negatives is the fact that railroads were owned by Big Businessman who had a say in everything. For example in Document B it is shown that an owner of a railroad company has complete control of their industry and could affect many people’s lives. As Document B states, He alone “can control legislative bodies, dictate legislation, subsidize the press and corrupt the moral sense of the communities.” People like this did not have positive impact on their community. It was their way or the highway, no if and, or

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

6. The Homestead Act was passed by Abraham Lincoln in 1862. It offered 160 acres of land to settle in the West to settlers; however, there was limited success due to the limited supply of arable land used for farming. Since most of the land was infertile, rocky, dry, and not agriculturally suited, many people competed for land that was near a water source to make farming possible. Many people did take the acres of land in response to land speculation and corruption but instead of living on it, they sold it for a higher cost to gain profit.

Life for the Native Americans was much harder during and after the western expansion. For example, the US took land from the Indians leading the formation of reservations, White men almost hunted the Buffalo , an important food source for the Indians, to extinction, and forced the Indians to get rid of their culture. Because of the western expansion, the area of land the Indians could occupy decreased significantly. The government would make treaties with the Indians allowing them to keep a certain area of land, but this would soon be broken ; When the Pacific Railroad Act was passed it stated that wherever a track was laid the company would own any land 200 ft surrounding the track including Indian land ; the Government would make sure that

This increased population the west. Additionally, Technology was advancing too because more railroads were being built and being improved. More opportunities were given to Chinese immigrants, as they were given jobs in the railroad industry. Ultimately, the benefits of the Manifest Destiny outweighed the consequences. This is because the U.S had to grow in power and advance, without anything being in their way.

Farmers moved west, with the aid of the Homestead Act of 1862 which granted 160 acres of land to those who lived on the land for 5 years and improved it, but they faced Real-Estate Investors and Land Speculators. In total, about ¼ of American Farmers were operated by tenants and Mortgage interest rates ranged from 8-40 percent because eastern loan companies felt deserved for helping develop the country. These Real-Estate Investors and Land Speculators were given a significant opportunities to earn lots of money, just at the expense of smaller businesses and

Even the negative side effects of their actions led to long term benefits for many. The creation of monopolies led to government intervention in business on behalf of fair competition. The exploitation of workers led to regulations guaranteeing safety codes, minimum wage, abolition of child labor, and the rise of unions. While they did not intend for these things to occur, they are still byproducts of their efforts to build American industry. They set up the country to become, financially speaking, the largest beneficiary of World War I as the U.S. supplied much of the material used to fight the conflict.

With the arrival of 1868, the province of Ontario created more Free Grants throughout the Parry Sound district, looking to quickly populate the area with labour and farming for the lumber industry that was rapidly developing. Part of the reason for this law was to obtain much needed lumber to feed the British Navy. Known as the Free Grants and Homestead Act of 1868, grants of 100 to 200 acres of land were given to those settlers over 18. There were conditions placed on the settler before he could obtain a proper patent and hence own the property. These were that within 5 years of obtaining the grant, 15 acres had to be cleared and cultivated and built a house fit for habitation of size at least 16’x20’ with continuous habitation.

The Homestead Act is a special Act that promoted migration to the western part of US. Public lands were made easily accessible to settlers with a small filing fee in exchange for 160 acres of land to be used for farming. Homesteaders received ownership of the land after continuously residing on the land for five years. Homesteaders also had an alternative of acquiring the land from the government by paying a specified amount per acre, after six months of residency. The Homestead Act resulted in the distribution of million acres of public land (Library of Congress n.p).