Homestead Act
On May 20th 1862 President Abraham Lincoln, signed into law the first Homestead Act.
The act enabled an applicant to obtain the freehold title of up to 160 acres of federal land, outside the thirteen colonies.
The process involved 3 steps.
- File an application
- Improve the land
- File for title deed
In 1909 an update to the act was passed which increased the size of the land parcel to 320 acres. The Enlarged Homestead Act gave farmers access to much larger tracts of land, but this land was unirrigated, laying far from the prime alluvial riverside land that the earlier homesteaders had settled.
The huge influx of farmers onto this marginal land eventually led to catastrophic soil erosion and the dustbowl of the 1930′s ensued.
A further Act was passed in 1916. The Stock-Raising Homestead Act made provision for settlers seeking land for ranching, allowing applicants up to 640 acres.
In 1976 the government changed it’s policy on public land and decided to keep it under government control rather than continue to make it available for homesteads. The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 was passed and it was no longer possible to aquire land via the Homestead Act.
For more indepth information regarding the Homestead Act please see thisWikipedia entry
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