Jimmy Waw Mr. Mancha September 26, 2017 Essay I will describe to you three federal land grants that were instrumental in opening westward expansion in the United States. These three include the Transcontinental Railroad, Homestead Act, and the Morrill Act. The transcontinental railroad is a train route across the United States that was completed in the year 1869. This was a project of two railroad companies called the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific. The union was built from the east and the central was built from the west until the two lines met in Utah. The Homestead Act provided settlers with 160 acres of public land to encourage western migration. That sounded amazing back then but everything comes with a cost, they had to complete …show more content…
The railroad was built crossing the western half of America which opened up a father route during 1863 to 1869. It was 1,776 miles long and served for the Atlantic and Pacific coast for the United States including the two railroad companies as well. In less than a century, the expansion has the stretched the U.S. from a lot of states along the eastern seaboard until they reached the pacific. Don't forget that this railroad took six years to build and was entirely made with the workers bare hands. The two railroad companies supported the westward expansion by issuing U.S. government bonds. Roads, canals, and steamships made it a lot easier to transport goods mainly because the cost was extremely low and it was faster. The Golden Spike driven by governor Stanford that symbolized the accomplishment of the transcontinental …show more content…
This helped people without jobs like slaves, be hard workers and benefit for their families. This law was signed by none other than Abraham Lincoln on July 2, 1862. These colleges were for farmers that wanted to know more about Agriculture and Mechanical Arts could do that in 1862. This is when the independence in America blossomed into what it is today. These colleges took up to 17,400,000 acres of land, which cost around 7.55 million in 1862. The morrill act was resourceful to the westward expansion because it brought people from around the world seeking knowledge and a better lifestyle or looking to start over in life. The act was a sign of hope to people in America and that same hope is what drives people to America in the