Homestead Act

The Homestead Act was passed in -

• 1876

• 1862

• 1842

• 1795

What did the Homestead act do?

• Give land to help settle the west

• Remove Native Americans off the land west

• Build railroads west

• Free slaves

How old did you have to be to receive land under the homestead act

• 18

• 17

• 21

• 20

A homestead act had long been championed by northern politicians because:

• speculators were claiming large tracts out west and bringing in slave labor to build large farms.

• the Pacific Railroad was foundering because of the limited settlement of the western territories.

• much of the land up for public federal grants was being illegally claimed by southern slaveholders

• the spread of small farms into the western territories would limit the power of the slave economy

What gave 160 acres to people willing to settle west?

• dawes act

• farmers alliances

• national grange

• Homestead act

What obstacles did pioneers face in the west

• mountains

• sickness

• natives

• weather

Farming was hard in the west because of drought

• True

• False

Many settlers ran into problems with debt because

• They couldn't pay for the land

• couldn't pay back loans for farm equipment

• Student loans

Large commercial farms began to develop in the west as new innovations increased harvest and these farms become known as

• Western Farms

• Big Farms

• Bonanza Farms

• Sharecropping farms

The homestead act encouraged western expansion by

• giving free land to willing settlers

• Place natives on reservations in the west

• removing immigration laws

• Creating irrigation systems