Homestead Act (1862)
The Homestead Act was signed into law in 1862. It was a legislative offer on a vast scale of free homesteads on unappropriated public lands. Any citizen (or alien who filed a declaration of intent to become a citizen), who had reached the age of 21, and was the head of a family could acquire title to a stretch of public land of up to 160 acres (65 ha) after living on it and farming it for five years. The only payment required was administrative fees. The settler could also obtain the land without the requirement of residence and cultivation for five years, against payment of $1.25 per acre. With the advent of machinery to mechanize farm labor, 160-acre (65 ha) tracts soon became uneconomical to operate, and Congress modified the original act to allow acquisition of larger tracts. The Homestead Act is still in effect, but good unappropriated land is scarce. Only Alaska still offers opportunities for homesteaders.
The Homestead Act was designed to speed development of the United States and to achieve an equitable distribution of wealth. Poor settlers, who lacked the capital to buy land, were now able to start their own farms. Indeed, the act contributed greatly to the growth and development of the country, particularly in the period between the Civil War and World War I, and it did much to speed settlement west of the Mississippi River. In all, well over a quarter of a billion acres of land has been distributed under the Homestead Act and its amendments. However, only a small percentage of land granted under the act between 1862 and 1900 was in fact acquired by homesteaders. According to estimates, only at most 1 of every 6 acres (0.4 of every 2.4 ha) and possibly only 1 in 9 acres (0.4 in 3.6 ha) passed into the hands of family farmers.
The railroad companies and land speculators obtained the bulk of the land, sometimes through gross fraud using dummy entrants. Moreover, the railroads often managed to get the best land while the homesteaders, ignorant of farming conditions on the Plains, often ended up with tracts least suitable to farming. Speculators frequently encouraged settlement on land that was too dry or had no sources of water for domestic use. When the homesteads failed, many settlers sold the land to speculators.
The environmental consequences of the Homestead Act were many and serious. The act facilitated railroad development, often in excess of transportation needs. In many instances, competing companies built lines to connect the same cities. Railroad development contributed significantly to the destruction of bison herds, which in turn led to the destruction of the way of life of the Plains Indians. Cultivation of the Plains caused wholesale destruction of the vast prairies, so that whole ecological systems virtually disappeared. Overfarming of semi-arid lands led to another environmental disaster, whose consequences were fully experienced only in the 1930s. The great Dust Bowl, with its terrifying dust storms, made huge areas of the country unlivable.
The Homestead Act was based on the notion that land held no value unless it was cultivated. It has now become clear that reckless cultivation can be self-destructive. In many cases, unfortunately, the damage can no longer be undone.
Resources
Periodicals
Shimkin, M. N. "Homesteading on the Republican River." Journal of the West 26 (October 1987): 58–66.
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