US.01-US.02-Transcontinental Railroad and Homestead Act

_____________________ signed the Homestead Act on May 20, 1862.

• Abraham Lincoln

• Thomas Jefferson

• Meriwether Lewis

• William Clark

Why did the government support homesteading?

• to encourage trade with Canada

• to encourage settlers to farm the western land

Why did homesteaders want to live near the railroad?

• to make it easy to transport their crops to market

• to take vacations in the open space in the West

A person who migrated to the West to take advantage of the Homestead Act

• migrant

• drought

• homesteader

Could women secure a grant in their own names?

• Yes, women could own land.

• No, women could not own land.

What was the overall purpose of the Homestead Act?

• Encourage people to migrate westward

• To spread people out more

• To keep people in the same place

• To make everyone leave

True or False: If people were unable to complete the requirements in the 5 year span, the land went back to the government?

• True

• False

Vocabulary Review: The Homestead Act....

• Gave 160 acre plots of land to American settlers

• Gave 160 acre plots of land to Native American families

• Gave plots of unassigned land to anyone wanting tribal land in Oklahoma, as long as they were willing to race for it

• Gave reservation land to Native Americans

The Homestead Act attempted to promote development of western lands by

• creating a system of dams for crop migration

• removing all restrictions on immigration

• placing Native Americans on reservations

• providing free land to settlers

Which group of people were negatively affected by the Homestead Act

• Miners

• Ranchers

• Sharecroppers

• Native Americans