Homesteading & Railroads 1862-1876

The Homestead Act

The American Civil War started in 1861 and ended on the 9th of April 1865. The Homestead and Pacific Railroad Acts encouraged a move West and aimed to strengthen the Unionists, led by Abraham Lincoln.

The Homestead Act, 1862

The Homestead Act gave every single person in the USA the right to collect a 160-acre plot of land in exchange for an $18 fee. Slaves were eligible to buy this land and so were Unionist soldiers, but not Confederate soldiers.
Lincoln was the US President. The Conferederates were his enemies in the American Civil War. The Confederates wanted to keep slavery.
By allowing people to purchase this public land, Lincoln was rewarding his soldiers and encouraging slaves to rise up more strongly against the Confederates.
To get the land, people had to live on the land and farm.
Daniel Freeman was the first homesteader allocated land in 1863.

The significance of homesteading

In total, 160 million acres of land, over 10% of the area of the United States was purchased by homesteaders over the next century.
The last Homestead claim came in 1974 in Alaska.
More and more Americans moved to rural America.
In 1865, the Unionists won the American Civil War and slavery was abolished.
Lots of the land went to speculators or the railroad companies who were well-funded by investors in the 1800s.

The Pacific Railroad Act, 1862

In the 1800s, railroad companies competed fiercely. 6 different people had come up with the electric railroad between 1835 and 1850. Now, different companies were building different sets of railway (railroad) tracks, all leading to the same cities.
During the Civil War, the Confederates were stopping a 'transcontinental' railroad being built across the entire United States.
The Pacific Railroad Act allowed this railway to be built. It gave Union Pacific Railroad and Central Pacific Railroad, 2 private companies, land grants to build the railway track between Omaha and Sacramento.
The railway was completed in 1869 and encouraged more settlement in the west of the USA.

Problems with Homesteading

A homestead is a farmhouse, which is usually surrounded by farmland. Randomly claiming land to build farms is problematic because there is no surrounding infrastructure and the land might not be fertile.

Couldn't build houses

People couldn't easily build houses. Railroads were new, so it was hard to transfer resources from other places to the Great Plains.
The Great Plains were not rich in timber. This had caused problems for farmers earlier. They had to make houses from mud and earth.
Rainfall in the Great Plains was rare. So there wasn't much drinking water for the homesteaders.

Infertile land

It is hard to grow crops like wheat without much rainfall. Deep grass is hard to maintain.
So, although you got free land around your homestead, it was hard to build a house there and after you had built your house, it was hard to grow the crops that you needed to eat to survive.

Isolation

Homesteads were usually fragmented farmhouses a long way from each other.
This meant that the inhabitants were lonely and any families living there were not educated.
Isolation was also a problem for medical supplies and crime. If criminals attacked you in your homestead, you wouldn't have much protection. Also if you fell ill, a doctor would not be nearby.

Solutions for homesteaders

The 1873 Timber Culture Act let people claim more land (a further 160 acres). This meant that they had more land to grow crops on to survive.
As more railroads were built over time, homesteaders became more connected to other parts of the USA.
Water pumps were developed to try to bring water to the surface for the irrigation of farmland and for drinking water to survive.
Technology advanced over time. The development of 'dry farming' improved rainfall, by catching rain and redistributing it over crops and barbed wire allowed people to fence in their cattle.

1The Early Settlement of the West, c1835-c1862

1.1The Plains Indians: Beliefs & Way of Life

1.1.1The Plains Indians - Social Structure

1.1.2The Plains Indians - Way of Life

1.1.3End of Topic Test - Social & Tribal Structures

1.1.4Grade 9 - The Plains Indians

1.2Migration & Early Settlement

1.2.1The Oregon Trail & Gold Rush

1.2.2Manifest Destiny

1.2.3Major Migrations - Donner, Mormon & Farmer

1.2.4End of Topic Test - Migration and Early Settlement

1.2.5Grade 9 - The Early Settlement of the West

1.3Conflict & Tension

1.3.1Fort Laramie Treaty & Indian Appropriations Act

1.3.2Lawless Towns

1.3.3End of Topic Test - Conflict & Tension

2Development of the Plains, c.1862–c.1876

2.1The Development of Settlement in the West

2.1.1Causes of the American Civil War

2.1.2The American Civil War

2.1.3Homesteading & Railroads 1862-1876

2.1.4Continuing Law & Order Problems 1862-1876

2.1.5Ranching, Cattle & Cowboys 1862-1876

2.1.6End of Topic Test - Development of the Plains

2.2Changes in the Way of Life of the Plains Indians

2.2.1Impact of Railroads & Settlers 1862-1876

2.2.2Impact of the Peace Policy & Reservations

2.2.3The Indian Wars (1862-1868)

2.2.4End of Topic Test - Changes in the Way of Life

2.2.5Grade 9 - Development of the Plains

3Conflicts & Conquest, c.1876–c.1895

3.1Changes in Farming & Settlement

3.1.1Farming & the Cattle Industry 1876-1895

3.1.2The Exoduster Movement & Oklahoma Land Rush

3.1.3End of Topic Test - Exodusters, Land Rush & Cattle

3.2Conflict & Tension

3.2.1Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp and the Range Wars

3.2.2Little Big Horn, the Ghost Dance & Wounded Knee

3.2.3Destroying the Indian Way of Life

3.2.4End of Topic Test - Conflict and Tension

3.2.5Grade 9 - Conflicts & Tension

Jump to other topics