Homestead Act

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Homestead Act
Homestead Act
By Alex Lokken and TC Fletcher
The original Homestead Act was a United States
Federal law that gave away 160 acres of land
outside of the original 13 colonies. The new law
requires three steps file for an application,
improve land, and file for deed of title.

• By Alex Lokken and TC Fletcher

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Background

• The Homestead Act began in order to populate
  frontier land that was very under populated and
  was signed into law by Abraham Lincoln in 1862.
  Two men greatly responsible for the act were
  George Henry Evans and Horace Greeley. Evans
  lobbied the idea of the Homestead Act and came up
  with the slogan Vote yourself a farm thus he
  was given the title Father of the Homestead Act.

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Criticism
Criticism

• The Homestead Act was abused. The idea of the
  Homestead Act was to grant land for agriculture.
  However, in the areas west of the Rocky
  Mountains, 640 acres was generally too little
  land for a farm prior to major public investments
  in irrigation projects. In these areas homesteads
  were instead used to control resources such as
  water.

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Decline of Homestead Act

• The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of
  1976 ended the homestead act. The government
  believed the ideal use of the land was for public
  use. The only exception to this policy was in
  Alaska where it remained until 1986.

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Environmental Harm
Environmental Harm

• The Homestead Act was blamed mainly for the dust
  bowl in the 1930s. This was due to the over
  pasteurization of the land. The dust bowl helped
  lead the country into the Great Depression

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Eventually 1.6 million homesteads were granted
and 270,000,000 acres were privatized between
1862 and 1986, a total of 10 of all lands in the
United States.
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Bibliography

• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homestead_Act
• http//users.rcn.com/deeds/homestead.htm
• http//gerald-massey.org.uk/holyoake/images/george
  _henry_lewes_2.jpg
• http//www.historic-lamott-pa.com/media/client/pho
  tos/lincolnandthelaw/homesteadmap.jpg