Connor Lokar

Amcult 373 Final

 

 

The passing of the Homestead Act of 1962 was a monumental point in United States history. This act facilitated the westward expansion of the United States towards the west coast and went hand in hand with the Jeffersonian ideals of owning and improving property, creating a civilized society, and becoming a nation of landowning voters. Additionally, the Homestead Act helped prevent the spread of slavery and encourage continued immigration of citizens into the United States from abroad helping it become the country it is today.  

 

Some relevant events leading up to and the Homestead Act of 1862:

http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/events/1860_1870.htm 

1841	Congress passes a Pre-emption Act which grants settlers the right to purchase at $1.25 per acre 160 acres of public land which they have cultivated for at least 12 months, thereby offering "squatters" some protection against speculators who purchase lands they have already improved.

 

1854	The Republican Party, born out of opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, declares its opposition to slavery and privilege, and its support for new railroads, free homesteads and the opening of Western lands by free labor.

1856	John C. Fremont becomes the first Republican candidate for the Presidency, pledging to eradicate the "twin relics of barbarism," polygamy and slavery. He wins 11 states in the election, but loses to James Buchanan.

 

1857

In Kansas, pro-slavery forces meeting at Lecompton draft a constitution making the territory a slave state. They submit to local voters only the question whether they approve a "constitution with slavery." Free-soil supporters boycott this election, and the "constitution with slavery" is submitted to Congress. But the free-soilers convince the territory's acting governor to convene a special session of the legislature, which calls for a second vote on the Lecompton constitution itself. In this referendum, Kansans reject the pro-slavery constitution by an overwhelming margin.

1858	President Buchanan, under pressure from the South, urges Congress to admit Kansas to the union under the Lecompton constitution. Instead the House calls for yet another vote. Kansans again reject the pro-slavery constitution by nearly ten-to-one.

 

1859	During this decade, a tidal wave of 2.5 million immigrants enter the United States, including 66,000 Chinese.

1860	A Homestead Bill, providing federal land grants to Western settlers, is vetoed by President Buchanan under pressure from the South. The veto divides Buchanan's Democratic party, clearing the way for Abraham Lincoln's election in a three-way race.

1860	Lincoln is elected President, pledging to pass homestead legislation and to oppose the spread of slavery. His victory provokes South Carolina to secede.

1861	Colorado and Nevada Territories are organized as Congress begins to consolidate federal control over the West, establishing strong local governments loyal to the Union across the region.

1861	Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, unleashing the Civil War.

 

1862	Congress passes the Homestead Act, which allows citizens to settle on up to 160 acres of surveyed but unclaimed public land and receive title to it after making improvements and residing there for five years.

 

 

The Pre-Emption Acts

http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hl4ota;view=1up;seq=6 (Pre-Emption laws in 1941 and 1943)

 

The Pre-emption Act was a measure taken to protect pioneers who would venture out and make improvements upon public lands before well before the arrival of the U.S. government to survey and auction the land. Prior to this act ‘squatter’ rights were not protected, now they could purchase up to 160 acres at $1.25 per acre after 12 months of cultivation. This act was instrumental in encouraging pioneers to keep pushing west into the uncivilized space, the type of expansion that America was founded upon. Again it is the same narrative we have often seen in the American west of people going out first and the government coming out after them. The Pre-emption Act played as a precursor to the Homestead Act of 1962.

     As seen in sections 11 and 12 of the Pre-Emption Laws, it protects those who arrived first on the land and that they must provide 'proof of the settlement and improvement' of their land. This would appeal to Jefferson who lamented the Indians refusal to improve the land, now you are required to improve the land through labor to maintain ownership of the land. 

 

The Free Soil Party

 

The Free Soil Party was a minor American political party formed in 1848 by members of the failed ‘Liberty Party’ and Whigs. The Free Soil Party was founded upon long held American ideals about the links between tilling and working the land and democracy. They were also highly opposed to slavery. They proposed that newly acquired lands from the Mexican-American War and future acquisitions in the west be open to settlement by free people and totally free of slavery, in other words it would be ‘Free Soil’. At this time agriculture was still the main component of the American economy and the Free Soil Party saw the use of slave labor in agriculture as creating a inferior society, especially when compared to a society of free people working their own land. Again this embodies the Jeffersonian ideals of an agrarian America of independent farmers and explains their disdain for slavery as it creates an undemocratic society if citizens are unable to own their own land or vote. In the 1848 and 1852 elections the Free Soil Party called to stop the spread of slavery past its current boundaries and they called for a HOMESTEAD act that would give land for free people to settle and cultivate in the untamed frontier. Their slogan read “Free soil, Free speech, Free labor and Free men.” While this party was never able to gain a significant portion of the vote leading to the party fizzling out with the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, they eventually led to the creation of the Republican Party. 

     In the  photo we see Free Soil Party candidates Martin Van Buren and Charles Francis Adams, below them you see a man with two horses plowing a field, showing their commitment to the independent farmer dream. 

 

 

 

 

 

The Kansas-Nebraska Act 

  

The Kansas-Nebraska Act paved the way for the creation of the Kansas and Nebraska territories out of land from the Louisiana Purchase, the act was proposed by Democratic Senator Stephen Douglas and passed by congress in 1854. This act gave both territories popular sovereignty, allowing them to choose whether or not they had slavery, completely undermining the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which had prevented slavery in these territories. This is a perfect example of the escalating tensions between pro and anti-slavery groups leading up to the Civil War. Douglas was a major believer in Manifest Destiny and the America’s god given right to expand westward and had motives for a transcontinental railroad. The land in question in the Kansas-Nebraska Act had previously been promised to Indians but, in Jeffersonian style, Douglas and others didn’t see the Indians as fit for this land and assumed they would waste it with their lack of improvement upon it.

     This act, breeching the Missouri Compromise, infuriated northerners and free soilers as it opened up the west to slavery. This led to a massive influx of both pro and anti-slavery settlers vying for control of the first elections which quickly turned violent. Pro-slavery constitutions would be continually denied until 1961 when anti-slavery supporters had a clear majority and Kansas was granted state hood just before the Civil War, which would end up being very important as Kansas became one of the most settled states by those acting on the Homestead Act.

     Another key implication of the Kansas-Nebraska Act was the creation of the Republican Party. The Republican Party gained strength by uniting northern Democrats, abolitionists, free soilers and others, all rallying around the fight against slavery. The Republican party would continue to grow in the north becoming the political party it is today. 

     In this photo we see a flyer advertising a town hall meeting to discuss the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The phrasing 'Freedom or Slavery' shows just how rigid the line is between the two sides. 

 

 

 

The Homestead Act: First Attempt

 

This convergence of political groups under the common cause of fighting slavery would prove key to the eventual passing of the Homestead Act. The first homestead bill was proposed in 1860 but was unpopular among southern democrats and slave state politicians wanting the land saved for slave states, who applied pressure to current democratic president James Buchanan to veto the bill. 

President Buchanan's Veto Message to the Senate of the United States: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=68441

 

President Buchanan concluded his Veto Message with this paragraph:

 

"The people of the United States have advanced with steady but rapid strides to their present condition of power and prosperity. They have been guided in their progress by the fixed principle of protecting the equal rights of all, whether they be rich or poor. No agrarian sentiment has ever prevailed among them. The honest poor man, by frugality and industry, can in any part of our country acquire a competence for himself and his family, and in doing this he feels that he eats the bread of independence. He desires no charity, either from the Government or from his neighbors. This bill, which proposes to give him land at an almost nominal price out of the property of the Government, will go far to demoralize the people and repress this noble spirit of independence. It may introduce among us those pernicious social theories which have proved so disastrous in other countries."

 

 

Here it seems that Buchanan shares the same philosophy that Ronald Reagan had on the subject of welfare in California. When Buchanan says "The honest poor man, by frugality and industry, can in any part of our country acquire a competence for himself and his family, and in doing this he feels that he eats the bread of independence." he is saying that no matter how poor, a man can obtain land and a solid living for his family through hard work and truly appreciate the fruits of his labor. He claims that the American man wants no charity and if he got land through charity it would "go far to demoralize the people and repress this noble spirit of independence." This is very similar to Reagan's stance on welfare in his inaugural address, when he said, "There is no humanity or charity in destroying self-reliance, dignity and self-respect – the very substance of moral fiber." This goes with another western narrative of total self reliance and success independent of the government, rather than the federal government aiding success as with the Homestead Act or infrastructure projects like the Bonneville dam providing irrigation and electricity to Arizona. 

 

Nevertheless, vetoing the bill proved very unpopular with northern democrats, free soilers, and northern capitalists who saw slave labor as a stagnating force that inhibited competition and hurt capitalism. With Buchanan's democratic base effectively cut in half, the road was paved for Abraham Lincoln to be elected as the United States first Republican president running on a platform based around homestead legislation and anti-slavery. 

 

The Homestead Act of 1862

 

The Homestead Act of 1862 was signed into law by Abraham Lincoln on May, 20^th 1862 and was to take effect on January 1^st, 1863.

 

Official transcript of Homestead Act of 1862:

http://www.ourdocuments.gov/print_friendly.php?flash=true&page=transcript&doc=31&title=Transcript+of+Homestead+Act+%281862%29

 

Key points of the Homestead Act:

 

First, in order to be eligible they must have been the head of the house hold or at least 21 years of age. Second they must be American citizens or "have filed his declaration of intention to become such", which is an important distinction to make as it keeps immigrants who have just entered the country eligible, encouraging further immigration. Next, they cannot have bore arms against the United States or helped it's allies. 

 

 

Section 1: If all those requirements were fulfilled, then one would have been eligible for the Homestead Act as of January first, 1863. This gives them the right to settle upon up to 160 acres of unappropriated land, "upon which said person may have filed a preemption claim", which relates back to the Pre-emption Acts that keeps pioneers who may have already been in the process of settling eligible and protects their preemption lands from new claims resulting from the Homestead Act, though they could still be subject to the preemption costs of $1.25 per acre. 

 

Section 2: The entry must be for the settlement and cultivation of the applicant and not for the direct or indirect benefit of another party, protecting against rich people sending out many poor people to make claims on contiguous land at extremely reduced prices. Further, once a payment of $10 is paid (recouping the surveying cost), the applicant may enter their piece of land although no title will be rewarded for at least five years. At the end of five years it must be proven that the land has been inhabited, cultivated, and improved to the satisfaction of the inspector. 

 

Section 4: Any land acquired through this act may not have been used to pay off preexisting debts.

 

 

Section 5: If the recipient of a parcel of land abandons that land for over six months or changes residence entirely, it reverts to the control of the government. 

 

 

Section 6: You can only take advantage of this act for one parcel of land, so you cannot do it several times to amass a huge amount of land. The size is constricted to small independent farms.

 

 

When reading through the Homestead Act you could easily be persuaded that Jefferson himself wrote it if you did not know the time period it was from. All of the provisions enforce adherence to the Jeffersonian ideals of small, independent farms that are not meant to be large profit farms but to provide a stable life for the families inhabiting them. The requirement to improve the land links back to Jefferson’s criticism of Indians for wasting their claim to the land. Further, it facilitates the westward expansion of the United States by farmers and voters, as they push society west the government will follow and establishing U.S. sovereignty in the west and stabilizing America.  

 

 

Photo of actual land application under Homestead Act of 1862:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Official circulation of Homestead Act laying out all sections and parameters of the act from the Chicago Tribune on December 2^nd, 1862, just less than a month before it comes into effect. 

http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/hnpchicagotribune/docview/175330864/fulltextPDF/1424D8AC593143177CA/179?accountid=14667

 

 

 

Excerpts from the Annual report of Commissioner of General Land Office, 1862

 

After such a large dispute over the Kansas-Nebraska Act those two territories both ended up being heavily appropriated to Homestead Act applicants.

 

The Commission trying to figure out how to deal with those who were pre-empters, who are entitled to the benefits of the Homestead Act, who fail to put in new entries by the start of the act. This is met with the suggestion of a 30 to 60 day grace period following initial advertisement. 

http://www.lib.umich.edu/articles/details/FETCH-lexisnexis_serialsset_1157Hexdoc141

 

 

Excerpts from the Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior, 1962

http://www.lib.umich.edu/articles/details/FETCH-lexisnexis_serialsset_1157Hexdoc131

 

 

 

 

 

Following Texas’s 1961 secession from the union they are seen as traitors but congress recognizes the vast and fertile lands that it possesses. They reference their cruel, bloody, defiant and rampant treason as justification for confiscating the land. It is recommended that Texas lands be confiscated in an act of congress and redistributed under the Homestead Act, where they will then be settled by a “loyal and industrious population”. So not only is this act being used to settle uncivilized lands, but they also attempted to use it as a re-civilizing force in Texas. They saw homesteaders as “a guarantee against treason in the future” or as a stabilizing sovereignty.

 

 

Because of the extremely cheap land rates of the Homestead Act, land sales were no longer a reliable source of revenue. This point caused considerable friction and would lead to opposition to the Homestead Act and eventual calls for repeal.

 

 

Abraham Lincoln's State of the Union Address, December 1, 1862 - Just prior to Homestead Act coming into effect

http://www.lib.umich.edu/articles/details/FETCH-lexisnexis_serialsset_1156Hexdoc111

 

 

 

 

 

Here Lincoln speaks on how our national ‘homestead’ is our greatest resource. With our grand size we have the luxury of welcoming all immigrants and those who wish to come to America. If our population keeps advancing west and increasing density, Lincoln thought we could one day reach the same population size of all of Europe. Again this relates back to taking advantage of all of our land and realizing our full potential from coast to coast. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Report from the Emigrant Bureau, February 1863 on the appeal of the US to immigrants

http://www.lib.umich.edu/articles/details/FETCH-lexisnexis_serialsset_1173Hrp421

 

 

In this report, the Emigrant Bureau appeals to the cramped conditions  and meager pay that European immigrants may be facing. They try to advertise the vastness of the United Space, or ‘Elbow Room’ as referred to in the famous School House Rock video. If immigrants come they will be offered political equality in a democratic society, a luxury that no one else has at this point as well as an abundance of personal land. The description following this is the most telling, “readily converted into farms and homesteads, and such remuneration as will ensure personal independence for themselves and their children.” From this you can tell that the governments vision for these immigrants is to come here, get their parcel of land and convert it into a farm, cultivating and improving the land as independent yeoman farmers. I hate to be so repetitive but again this is the Jeffersonian vision to a T.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

As with the excerpt above, this one immediately references land that is awaiting the immigrants owner ship, and especially labor to improve the land. They highlight the fertileness and ease of cultivation versus the rockier, more robust soil of the Atlantic states to entice immigrants. They reference the ‘willing soil’ and a plow harnessed by horse and oxen, similar to the image portrayed in the Free Soil Party’s political advertisement above. Again, in Jeffersonian form they mention the soil’s willing subjection to ‘agriculture and civilization’ going hand in hand with one another. Later the Homestead Act is referenced specifically and its 160 acre potential, free from all prior debts, which could highly appeal to European immigrants who had accumulated debt in their home country. Next they say, “In addition to the agricultural resources of the western States and Territories, which must forever remain dormant and useless without the hand of man…” again reinforcing the idea that without man and his improvements upon the land through labor the land is useless. The thought of giving away land for free would be completely unheard of to immigrants from abroad countries where land was still owned by nobles and aristocrats. 

 

 

 

 

 

Varying opinions on the Homestead Act

http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t7jq1374m;view=1up;seq=6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These two reactions to the American land distribution system (at this time only the Pre-Emption Acts are in place, but still similar) come from the  1830's but from very different perspectives. On the left we have a response from the British perspective, who are in awe at the United States. They can hardly believe the extreme efficiency and low costs of the system as well as the indiscriminate nature of the system, showing no favorites. As I said before coming from a densely packed country with the land almost exclusively owned by nobles the whole system is almost incomprehensible. Also, they have not failed to notice the extreme rates of immigration and new settlement, that as they said, "the history of the world affords no other example". The next opinion comes from Stephen F. Austin, at this time Texas is seeing a large influx of American immigrants while Texas is in the process of breaking from Mexican rule. From his writing you see that he has major concerns about the prospect of the American government taking control of Texas, all those immigrants who had not yet settled would lose out to claims made under the Pre-emption laws.  

 

Gender Roles and Westward Expansion

http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/hnpchicagotribune/docview/175129272/fulltextPDF/1424D873D721AC04982/8?accountid=14667

 

 

 

This is a quote from a speech by Senator Wilkinson, of Minnesota from the Chicago Press and Tribune on June, 21^st, 1860. Senator Wilkinson puts a clear gender role in the case of westward expansion. He said the Homestead Act applies most to the young, industrious men of the nation. He calls these young men “the vanguard of civilization on this continent”, meaning young men have been the leaders plunging into the uncivilized, western frontier. This relates back to earlier gender roles in the initial expansion into the Kentucky territories. Icons like Daniel Boone and Davy Crocket would go out exploring the frontier leaving their families behind and then bringing them out once they had set up homes for their families, exactly what Wilkinson meant when he said “They penetrate the wild solitudes far beyond the safety and comforts of society. They traverse and explore regions in which, for the time being, families could not reside securely.” This is a contrast from later stories of westward migrations like the Joads in ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ who all travel out together as a family. At this time there is still frontier left and it is the male responsibility to tame it. He later says “They furnish a more sure and perfect protection of our Western frontier than can be given by all the armed soldiers along the border line.” What I think he means by this is that it takes more than soldiers to tame the frontier, you can only tame it by civilizing and populating it and the young men who go out first are the ones who get it done. Later he says the young men’s commitment to institutions will foster the creation of municipal governments and foundations for future states in the classic western narrative of people leading first, then government following the people on the way to statehood. 

 

 

Opposition and calls for Repeal

http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/hnpchicagotribune/docview/175435675/fulltextPDF/1424D8AC593143177CA/218?accountid=14667

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not everyone on the Republican side was fully in support of the Homestead Act. Thurlow Weed, a republican politician, called for the repeal of the act as a means of restoring national credit. This article is from the Chicago Tribune in February, 1964 well into the Civil War. Thurlow was concerned about the level of national debt coming out of the war and thought the land that they were giving away would be a valuable asset. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This argument met a quick response:

http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/hnpchicagotribune/docview/175424936/fulltextPDF/1424D8AC593143177CA/223?accountid=14667

http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/hnpchicagotribune/docview/175438168/fulltextPDF/1424D8AC593143177CA/220?accountid=14667

 

 

Here are two separate articles from the Chicago Tribune sharply critiquing Thurlow's arguments. The article on the left notes that not only would repealing it halt westward emigration it would put more of the nations land in the hands of stockbrokers and large landowners, undoing the progress towards more independent land owners. Similarly to Senator Wilkinson he references "industrious, hard-working men" settling the far west, reinforcing gender ideals about westward expansion. He said it is more important that the public lands stay in the hands of individuals and yeoman farmers rather than held as an asset and left unused. The article on the right is the more scathing of the two when reacting to Thurlow's 'scheme'. He calls out Thurlow for being against the 'poor man's law' and his futile 'blowing match against the west wind'. What the author of this article means by that is the march westward is inevitable and unstoppable, perhaps thinking along the lines of 'Manifest Destiny'. In direct response to Thurlow's justification about getting national credit, this article counters that the most effective way to earn off the public land by settling them and earning off the families who would both voters and taxpayers. 

 

Abraham Lincoln's State of the Union Address, 1863. First address after Homestead Act was enacted

 

http://www.lib.umich.edu/articles/details/FETCH-lexisnexis_serialsset_1180Hexdoc111

 

This is President Lincoln’s first address since the Homestead Act took effect. In just one fiscal quarter the act had already allocated one million four hundred and fifty-six thousand five hundred and fourteen acres of land. He then talks of how some share the opinion that the United States had a higher interest in having public lands populated and cultivated for generate revenue rather than getting it from their sale. Lincoln references these long running opinions of “some of our wisest statesmen” and I very much think he is talking about Jefferson with that reference. Lincoln also talks about land grants to the railroad companies to allow for their completion that “will so largely multiply the facilities for reaching our most distant possessions.” Meaning the railroads will only intensify westward expansion, he credits all this the Homestead Act. He also suggests a modification to the Homestead Act that would allow for those serving in the military for the union, allowing those honorably discharged to count their time served as time of residence towards their year requirement. 

Below is an example of such legislation in the state of Kansas.

http://mirlyn.lib.umich.edu/Record/007770652

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ex-Post Analysis of the Homestead Act of 1862

 

By the eventual repeal of the Homestead Acts over 1.6 million applications had been processed totaling in over 270 million acres of land, over 10 percent of all federal lands that was transferred from the federal government to individuals. Unfortunately, as with most government programs, there was corruption in the homestead system. Bogus claimants were hired to accumulate many parcels, insufficient funding led to a shortage of claim investigators who were over worked and susceptible to bribery. As with all agriculture, homesteaders livelihoods were subject to Mother Nature's uncertainties and a plague or drought could be enough to take out entire regions leading to abandoned, unused land. Also, a majority of the land was in the Great Plains, an area better suited for cattle or mining than small scale agriculture. Fortunately, with the hardship came great opportunities. As railway companies acquired numerous land grants the transcontinental railroad became a reality, facilitating faster, more reliable travel deep into the western frontier as well as bringing manufactured goods to aid their farming efforts. As population levels rose in the territories, communities and municipal governments formed and evolved leading to applications for statehood and that classic western narrative of the people leading the government west. 

 

The first graph below show how many acres were distributed in five year periods throughout the life of the Homestead Act and the second shows the number of successful homesteads in each five year period (successful being defined by those who acquired patents or titles on their land after their five year improvement period): 

http://www.nps.gov/home/historyculture/abouthomesteadactlaw.htm

 

 

In Conclusion

 

The Homestead Act of 1862 is one of the most important and revolutionary pieces of legislation in American history. This act perpetuated westward expansion into the western frontier at a time when coast to coast United States sovereignty was far from a certainty. It came with the realization that land is underutilized when held as an asset, from the Jeffersonian perspective that land’s value emerges when it is populated, cultivated and improved upon. Furthermore, according to Frederick Jackson Turner, venturing into the unknown wilderness and conquering the untamed frontier is vital to the process of becoming and American and what distinguishes  America from other countries. The Homestead Act facilitated all of this while coming at a crucial juncture in America’s history leading up to the Civil War. Homestead ideals, supported by anti-slavery northerners, were a means of increasing the number of free states and confining slavery to the south. With the secession of the southern states pulling their Senators and House representatives the first Republican president in the history of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, was able to pass and sign the Homestead Act into law on May 20^th, 1862, a move that would not only pull American citizens westward but also bring in countless immigrants in pursuit of their own American dream, helping to shape America into the diverse and wonderfully democratic society it is today. 

 

Works Cited and Additional References:

 

James Buchanan: "Veto Message," June 22, 1860. Online by Gerhard Peters

and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project

The homestead law. (1862, Dec 02). Chicago Tribune (1860-1872).

    Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/docview/175330864?accountid=14667

Annual report of Commissioner of General Land Office, 1862, p. 29 Report of

the Commissioner of the General Land Office. November 29, 1862 J. M. Edmunds General Land Office, Department of Interior; Department of Interior H.exdoc.1/4 1157 2 I1.1:862; I21.1:862 140p

Annual report of Secretary of Interior, 1862 Document Title: Message of

the President of the United States to the two Houses of Congress at the commencement of the third session of the Thirty-seventh Congress. Document Date: December 01, 1862 Agency: Department of Interior Document Number: H.exdoc.1/3 Serial Volume: 1157 Sessional-Volume: 2 SUDOC Number: I1.1:862 Length: 28p

State of the Union address Document Title: Message of the President of the

United States to the two Houses of Congress at the commencement of the third session of the Thirty-seventh Congress. Document Date: December 01, 1862 Author: Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), President of the United States, 1861-1865 Document Number: H.exdoc.1/1 Serial Volume: 1156 Sessional-Volume: 1 SUDOC Number: Pr16.1:862 Length: 23p

Emigrant bureau Document Title: Emigrant Bureau. (To accompany bill H.R.

no. 761.). Document Date: February 14, 1863 Author: Cyrus Aldrich (1808-1871), Republican Representative from MN , see Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Committee: Committee on Agriculture. House Document Number: H.rp.42 Serial Volume: 1173 Sessional-Volume: 1 Bill Number: 37 H.R. 761 Length: 7p

Andrew Johnson and the early phases of the homestead ... . Sioussat, St.

George L. (St. George Leakin), 1878-1960.

THE HOMESTEAD BILL. (1860, Jun 21). Chicago Press and Tribune (1858-

1860). Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/docview/175129272?accountid=14667

THURLOW WEED WANTS THE HOMESTEAD LAW REPEALED. (1864, Feb 09).

Chicago Tribune (1860-1872). Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/docview/175435675?accountid=14667

THURLOW WEED'S SCHEME. (1864, Feb 21). Chicago Tribune (1860-1872).

Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/docview/175424936?accountid=14667

State of the Union address Document Title: Message of the President of the

United States, and accompanying documents, to the two Houses of Congress, at the commencement of the first session of the Thirty-eighth Congress. Document Date: December 08, 1863 Author: Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), President of the United States, 1861-1865 Document Number: H.exdoc.1/1 Serial Volume: 1180 Sessional-Volume: 1 SUDOC Number: Pr16.1:863 Length: 39p 

 

http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/docview/197236957

http://www.nps.gov/home/historyculture/abouthomesteadactlaw.htm

http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/docview/210616459

http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/homestead-act/

http://go.galegroup.com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CCX3407400158&v=2.1&u=umuser&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w

http://go.galegroup.com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CCX1981000451&v=2.1&u=umuser&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w

http://www.lib.umich.edu/articles/details/FETCH-bridgeman_primary_PNP2493241

http://go.galegroup.com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/ps/i.do?action=interpret&id=GALE%7CCX1981000322&v=2.1&u=umuser&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w&authCount=1

http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/homestead-act/