The Homestead Act

By: Alex Jones And Bailee Farland

What is It ?It was an Act that stated that settlers could get free land.

Well, the poor people could get it for freeImmigrants in the process of receiving their citizenship or already had their citizenship, could receive the free land The rich people however would have to pay for the land, if they could afford it ( they usually could.)

Requirements: You have to be the head of your household so you can be given free land.If your not the head of a household, you have to be over the age of 21 to be able to get free land.When you do get the land you have to

build a house with certain dimensions, and a large part of the land must be crops, and you can’t leave your land for a long periods of time.

What was the deal?

On May 20th , 1862, Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act into law.You could get 160 acres of un-surveyed land for free. Abraham Lincoln used this law as a major effect in westward expansion. After the Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark were sent by the U.S. gov. to survey this wild land , unable to survey this massive expanse , the Homestead Act solved this problem.

What happened and

Fun Facts!

This idea was used 123 years after it was made into law, and eventually would be responsible for the settlement of over 270 million acres of the American landscape.

On May 20, 2012 will be the 150th year anniversary of Lincoln signing the act into law.

This has been a

Oscar nominated

Production.

Oscar!