What is the importance of the Homestead Act?

The Homestead Act of 1862 was one of the most significant and enduring events in the westward expansion of the United States. ... Homestead National Monument of America, located in Southeast Nebraska, commemorates this Act and the far-reaching effects it had upon the landscape and ... Significance of Homesteading. read more

It was one of the primary legal instruments, along with highly subsidized land and subsidies for the railroads, by which the United States induced the settlement by white people of the vast tracts of land stolen from the Indians. read more

The Homestead Act of 1862 has been called one of the most important pieces of Legislation in the history of the United States. read more

Signed into law in May 1862, the Homestead Act opened up settlement in the western United States, allowing any American, including freed slaves, to put in a claim for up to 160 free acres of federal land. By the end of the Civil War, 15,000 homestead claims had been established, and more followed in the postwar years. read more