Homestead Act
Signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on May 20,
1862, the Homestead
Act encouraged Western migration by providing settlers
160 acres of public land. In exchange, homesteaders paid
a small filing fee and were required to complete five years
of continuous residence before receiving ownership of the
land. After six months of residency, homesteaders also had
the option of purchasing the land from the government for
$1.25 per acre. The Homestead Act led to the distribution
of 80 million acres of public land
by
1900.
Library of
Congress Web Site | External Web
Sites | Selected
Bibliography
Abraham
Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress
John
Sluggett, a Canadian citizen, wrote a letter to
Abraham Lincoln seeking information on the Homestead
Bill. Search this
collection using the word "homestead" to find more
documents related to the Homestead Act.
A
Century of Lawmaking for a Nation
The
House of Representatives passed the Homestead Act
by a vote of 107 to 16 on February 28, 1862. The
Senate passed this act by a vote of 33 to 7 on May
6, 1862.
Search
in the 37th Congress using the word "homestead" to find
more Congressional documents related to the Homestead
Act.
The
Nineteenth Century in Print
Includes a speech entitled "Free
Homes for Free Men" delivered by Representative
Galusha Aaron Grow in the House of Representatives
on February 29, 1860.
Contains articles from the Continental
Monthly and the North
American Review on the Homestead Bill. Search this
collection using the words "homestead" or "public
lands" to find additional articles from the 19th
Century on this subject.
Jump
Back in Time: The Homestead Act Went Into Effect, May 20,
1862.
May
20, 1862
The Homestead Act was signed into law on May 20, 1862.
Frontier
House: Homestead History, PBS
Homestead
National Monument of America, National Park Service
Our
Documents, Homestead Act, National Archives and Records
Administration
Teaching
With Documents: The Homestead Act of 1862, National
Archives and Records Administration
Cross, Coy F. Go West, Young Man!:
Horace Greeley's Vision for America. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press,
1995. [Catalog
Record]
Lee, Lawrence Bacon. Kansas and the
Homestead Act, 1862-1905.
New York: Arno Press, 1979. [Catalog
Record]
Ottoson, Howard W., ed. Land Use
Policy and Problems in the United States. Edited by Howard W. Ottoson. Lincoln:
University of Nebraska Press, 1963. [Catalog
Record]
Stephenson, George Malcolm. The Political
History of the Public Lands From 1840 to 1862; From Preemption
to Homestead.
New York: Russell & Russell, 1967. [Catalog
Record]
Foran, Jill. Homesteading. Mankato, Minn.: Weigl Publishers,
2003. [Catalog
Record]
Raabe, Emily. Pioneers: Life as a
Homesteader. New York:
PowerKids Press, 2003. [Catalog
Record]
Stein, R. Conrad. The Story of the
Homestead Act. Chicago:
Childrens Press, 1978. [Catalog
Record]
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