Homestead Act: Main Idea
Homestead Act: Main Idea
Go West, Young Man
Everybody gets a piece of the American pie, basically.
The Homestead Act was enacted by the U.S. government to settle the open West (for the North, because this went down during the Civil War). It also had the side benefit of reducing population in over-crowded eastern cities by enticing people to hit the trails and head out west. Getting people out of cities by offering (nearly) free land out West would decrease poverty, crime, unsanitary conditions, and strained resources in a country occupied with fighting a bloody war with itself.
Another benefit? Putting U.S. citizens in otherwise unoccupied U.S. territories, making it difficult for other countries with interests in North America (cough-the Confederacy, Mexico, and Canada-cough) to seize land.
Waste not; want not. If you’re going to the effort of passing a law, you may as well have it multi-task.
Questions
- How does the Homestead Act reflect the spirit of the Union in the middle of the Civil War?
- What is significant about the wording defining who was allowed to homestead? How is that a sign of changing times?
- Would the Homestead Act have been as critical to U.S. development if it had been enacted at any other period? How about after the Revolution, or during the 1920s?
- How was the Homestead Act and its provisos received by the Confederate states, especially since it had been a source of controversy even before secession?
Chew On This
The Homestead Act offered free land over yonder…if you don’t mind living in the wilderness and sweating and freezing for five years to actually make a home.
Manifest Destiny got a jumpstart when the Homestead Act opened up the West for people willing to take a chance on frontier living.
Quotes
Quote #1
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That any person who is the head of a family, or who has arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the United States or who shall have filed his declaration of intention to become such, as required by the naturalization laws of the United States, and who has never borne arms against the United States Government or given aid and comfort to its enemies, shall, from and after the first January, eighteen hundred and. sixty-three, be entitled to enter one quarter section or a less quantity of unappropriated public lands[...] (Section 1)
Let’s take a moment to thoroughly digest that. The very specific use of "any person" is a pretty big change from the more common "any man" in other documents. 1862 saw a country firmly entrenched in war with itself, with the question of human rights a huge part of the conflict between sides.
With all that going on, the government carefully worded a document that let women, immigrants, and freed Blacks own fairly choice land. They even included a blatant brush off for any Confederate soldier or supporter with that little clause about bearing arms against the U.S. Now that’s a classy way of saying thanks for playing.
Quote #2
[…]That no lands acquired under the provisions of this act shall in any event become liable to the satisfaction of any debt or debts contracted prior to the issuing of the patent therefor. (Section 4)
They certainly were selling the ideal of homesteading pretty hard. Part of the rationale behind the whole enchilada was to empty out the slums, and you can bet this was an attractive offer to people dodging creditors. Having land that would be yours scot-free— even if you had to work your tail off to turn a profit to pay those creditors—would be a huge plus in the pro column for migrating west.
Quote #3
[…] Provided, however, That no certificate shall be given or patent issued therefor until the expiration of five years from the date of such entry […] (Section 2)
There it is. We all knew the idea of free land had to be too good to be true. This would be the other shoe dropping. Sure, the government is going to give you the land. But you don’t get to own it until you’ve worked it for five years. That’s a lot of blood, sweat, and toil going into ground you’ve taken on sight unseen.
Quote #4
[…]That no person who has served, or may hereafter serve, for a period of not less than fourteen days in the army or navy of the United States, either regular or volunteer, under the laws thereof, during the existence of an actual war, domestic or foreign, shall be deprived of the benefits of this act on account of not having attained the age of twenty-one years. (Section 6)
Now there’s a reason to go join the military early on. And the U.S. was in the middle of a bloody domestic war and young men were signing up left, right, and center.
If young men could fight for their country at seventeen or eighteen years old, the Union was for sure going to make certain they could at least make themselves a home afterwards. This was a massive step forward in acknowledging veterans’ rights.
After the Revolution and the War of 1812, vets didn’t have many—if any—special rights or benefits. The Homestead Act was pretty much the first legal act that gave vets, especially underage vets, any advantages. And given that those younger guys had a lot of energy and were just starting out in life, they had a better than average chance of taking on the challenge of homesteading.
Quote #5
[…] nothing in this act shall be construed as to prevent any person who has availed him or herself of the benefits of the first section of this act, from paying the minimum price, or the price to which the same may have graduated, for the quantity of land so entered at any time before the expiration of the five years, and obtaining a patent therefor from the government[…] (Section 8)
Of course there had to be a shortcut involving money somewhere.
So, if homesteading wasn't working out so well for you—or you’re just too impatient to wait a full five years to own the land—you could buy it. The government sure wasn’t going to turn down cash at hand. Especially if a railroad was being built near you land—you could scrape up the cash to pay government prices to own the land, and then turn around and sell it for the initial offer price from the railroad. It’s the American Way.