In-Text References

Political and Governmental References

Senate of the United States (Section 1)
House of Representatives of the United States (Section 1)
United States (Section 1, Section 2)
U.S. Army (Section 2, Section 6)
U.S. Navy (Section 2, Section 6)
U.S. Congress, An act in addition to an act more effectually to provide for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States, and for other purposes, March 3, 1857 (Section 7)

References to This Text

Article and Book References

Hyman, Harold. American Singularity: the 1787 Northwest Ordinance, the 1862 Homestead and Morrill Acts, and the 1944 GI Bill. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1986.

McElroy, Wendy. "The Free-Soil Movement, Part 1." The Future of Freedom Foundation, 2001.

Shanks, Trina R.W. "The Homestead Act: A major asset-building policy in American history." In Inclusion in the American Dream:Assets, Poverty, and Public Policy, edited byMichael Sherraden, 20-41. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.

Focus on Women Homesteaders:

Smith, Sherry L. "Single women homesteaders: the perplexing case of Elinore Pruitt Stewart." Western Historical Quarterly (1991): 163-183.

Patterson-Black, Sheryll. "Women homesteaders on the Great Plains frontier." Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies (1976): 67-88.

Pop Culture

Any book or show about the prairie (e.g. Little House on the Prairie) or cowboys owes the Homestead Act, but people don’t tend to name-drop pieces of legislation. Even the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 doesn’t mention or allude to the Homestead Act.