1862 Homestead Act
 

The 1862 Homestead Act was strongly supported by Republicans and most Americans, although many southern plantation owners opposed such a program before the Civil War. When the war began, Republicans took advantage of southern secession to pass the Homestead Act. Who was eligible to take advantage of the program? Why do you think plantation owners opposed such a plan? One of the links below takes you to the North Dakota Homestead project. Looking at this website, what is the public memory (image) of the Homestead Act and its consequences? Also take a look at the Library of Congress' American Memory "today in history" site for links to good primary source materials related to the Homestead Act.

Homestead Act http://www.time-passages.com/homestead-act.html

Today in History http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/may20.html

The National Park Service maintains the Homestead National Monument. There is some interesting information on the monument website located at http://www.nps.gov/home/

Alaska still has land that falls under a Homestead Act http://touchngo.com/lglcntr/akstats/Statutes/Title38/Chapter09.htm