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Why Did The Homestead Act Fail

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Homestead Act of 1862
The Homestead Act was passed on May 20, 1862; this act accelerated the settlement of the western territory by granting the head of families 160 acres of surveyed public land for a fee of $30 and 5 years of continuous residence on that land. During the forty years after its passing about half a million families took advantage of the act by purchasing land trying to make a home for themselves in the vast open lands. Though the act held good intentions it was truly a hoax, making it seem better than it actually was through all the loopholes and fine print the public did not see. The Homestead Act was considered to a significant failure by examining how land was sold, attitude toward Indian reservations, and corporate greed …show more content…

The Homestead Act was considered a success by some historians; they have come to their own conclusions about the purpose of the Act. Some historians have said the Homestead Act encouraged settlers to leave their previous homes and move into areas of the United States. In The American Pageant it states, “Shattering the myth of the Great American Desert opened the gateways to the agricultural West” (Kennedy 646). Areas like the “Great American Desert” that was said to be barren and had previously not been settled this was an amazing way to expand the country and use more of the land, bringing it new hope. The Homestead Act also held hope for those who wanted a chance to start over. Before the Act, most farmers living in the east were renters who only borrowed land from larger owners, they had to pay taxes and split their gains. After the Act, there was a hope and realistic chance that small farmers could be counted among the landowners. Stated in The American Pageant, “rapid filling of empty spaces and to provide a stimulus to the family farm” (Kennedy 645), this quote refers to how the land was now for the common man not the businesses, the central focus is for the farmers and their benefits. The Homestead Act and a few other land policies were important in the encouragement of the settlement in areas like current day …show more content…

Not only were the land sales out in the west was a major problem but also the physical land held major problems for farmers. Many people bought land from the government like they were supposed to while many did not purchase the legitimate way, in The American Pageant it states, “about half a million families took advantage of the Homestead Act … Yet five times that many families purchased their lands from railroads” (Kennedy 645), the people were cheating the system. This quote is showing how the railroads were wrongfully benefiting from the West lands and how people could get around the requirements the Act stated, for example the five year limit and in those years the lands must be improved. Another problem with the land sales was that naked fraud occurred; this meant that the public lands were owned by “land-grabbing promoters” than regular farmers this was cheating the farmers and the government of proper land development. On the topic of land development a large problem with the farming life in the west was that the lands were unfit for farming. Much of the land was too hard and broke plows. The American Pageant quotes, “the tough sod had been pounded solid by millions of buffalo hooves” (Kennedy 646). This refers to how hard and compacted the ground had become. When ground is very tightly packed no moisture can enter drying out the land making it unfertile. A method of farming

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It gave men and women 160 acres of land free of charge if you paid $10 to claim the land. If you cultivated for at least five years the settler could gain ownership of the land. The government encouraged citizens to move westward and live on the reservation of the Great Plains. The government did this to reduce the amount of land the

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Have you ever heard the word “homestead” or “homesteader” and you didn’t understand what it meant? Did you hear it from a show on T.V., read it in a book, or even saw something on online that peaked your interest? You’ve looked it up and find that in truth it means something different to each person and each person sees it differently. But, you just want a straight answer? Well, you don’t have to have a lot of farm animals, a large garden, and a 30 acres of land to actually be a homesteader and if you do, all the better.

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Railroads replaced much slower, less efficient modes of transport with an all weather, 24 hour, year round alternative. The Railroads, in conjunction with telegraph lines, and steamships connected the nation and opened vast regions to the development of industries. Railroads, eager to sell land on the Great Plains granted to them by the government, advertised migration in conjunction with land speculators, transatlantic steamship lines and western territories. The government initiated Homestead Act allowed for the establishment of farms along the frontier, and built up the interior west which was only occupied by Natives, for it allowed 160 acres of land to anyone who was willing to farm it for five years. The Morrill Land Act allowed 140 million acres of federal lands to be sold by states to raise money for the establishment of public universities/ land grant colleges to broaden educational opportunities and foster technical and scientific expertise, thus allowing agricultural education to be available to migrants with little experience, thus opening up the prospect of western settlement to urban workers in the East.

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There were many advantages of the Louisiana Purchase such as the doubling of the size of the United States, total access to the Mississippi River and port of New Orleans, and more resourceful land to expand westward. Economic progress took place, and the more resourceful land the United States had, the more power the nation had. To encourage citizens to claim more land for homes and crops, the Homestead Act was passed. The Homestead Act of 1862 provided settlers with 160 acres of land, and in exchange, the land was to be used for living and growing crops. After 5 years of residency, settlers were able to receive ownership of the land.

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The changes that were seen after the act was put into law included the end of the communal holding of property by the Native Americans. They would fractionated into individual plots of property, which caused more than half of their lands to be sold off. Women were not given any land under this act, and had to be married to receive the full 160 acres offered. While the Act was supposed to help the Indians, many resisted the changes that came with individual property ownership. They thought that becoming ranchers and farmers was distasteful.

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While their accounts provide a valuable insight in the history of the area, their insight lacks an objective outlook on the overall failure of the farming community. The history of Alderwood reflects a period of Washington state history that allowed citizens to immerse themselves back into the country lands and experience the natural landscape. While the failure to cultivate the land, as exemplified by the Alderwood Manor community, indicates that people of the early 20th century had a very poor understand of land use and ecology of the Pacific Northwest. For those fooled by the Puget Mill Company into purchasing land of poor arability, this must have been a harsh reality to admit, and may return as undocumented. Yet the record does reflect that these setters, who retained faith in the potential success of their stump lands, worked hard to produce a successful income, even if that illusion never reached its latent

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First of all, Native Americans were settled on a hotbed of natural resources which included oil and precious metals such as silver and gold. There was also much fertile land that would entice farmers and frontiersmen to move out west. On this land there was so much potential economic opportunity for farmers, cattle drivers, miners and many other occupations. The government developed the popular public misconception that the indians were misusing the land and that Americans had the right to take advantage of the opportunities that lie in the west. These ideas led to the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 which authorized encroachment of Indian lands by the US government in order to divide up reservations and control Indian activity.

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The U.S had gained a lot of land, or frontiers in the West from Mexico. The land was undeveloped, therefore the U.S had to find a way to develop the land. The U.S would come up with the Homestead Act. The Homestead Acts states that any citizen or anyone planning to become a citizen is eligible to gain 160 acres of land, typically to form farms. The plan was intended to make the people stay in that land and create a

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After the wealthy land owners bought the land they put fences to making sure it was enclosed. They could get more land by having bigger fields. What they did with the land is they tested harvesting and seeding methods to see how the crops could grow bigger and faster. The land owners would test this to see what worked the best. There was two major results that was created by the enclosures.

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