The Homestead and Railroad Acts 1862 Flashcards
In what year did the American Civil War break out?
1861
What impact did the start of the American Civil War have on control of the US government?
The southern (Confederate) states left the Union, meaning the northern states had full control over the US government, allowing them to pass the Homestead Act and Pacific Railroad Act
What was the main purpose of the Homestead Act?
To settle the West with individual farms, owned and worked by free men and women
What was the main purpose of the Pacific Railroad Act?
To develop connections between the new lands of the West and the northern industrial cities
How did the government divide up public land before 1862? Why was this a problem?
They divided it up into sections of 640 acres, sold at $1 per acre
This was too expensive for most ordinary families
How did the Homestead Act change plots of land?
They were smaller (160 acres) and it cost just $10 to register a claim, making them much cheaper
Why were there limits on how many claims one person could take up in the Homestead Act?
To prevent businessmen snapping up lots of land cheaply, then selling it for a profit
Give THREE examples of people who could “file a claim” under the Homestead Act
Any three from:
1) The head of a family
2) Anyone single and over 21 (including women)
3) Anyone younger than 21 but an ex-soldier
4) Ex-slaves
5) Anyone intending to become a US citizen
What was the one group of people who could NOT file a claim under the Homestead Act?
Plains Indians
How could a homesteader “prove up” their homestead?
After five years, they could build a house, plant five acres of crops and pay $30 to own the land outright
How many acres of government land had become homesteads by 1876?
6 million acres
What impact did the Homestead Act have on Nebraska?
Its population grew so much that it became a state by 1867 - nearly half of all settled land here was homestead land
What percentage of homestead land was never proved up?
60%
How many acres of homestead land were “proved up” by 1884?
Only 13 million acres
What percentage of public land was used for homesteading? What happened to the rest of it?
Just 16%
The rest went to the railroads or cattle ranchers
How did rich businessmen exploit the Homestead Act to get more land very cheaply?
They made their employees file claims and hand over the rights to the land to the ranch owner
Who were the two companies who had the job of building the First Transcontinental Railroad?
The Union Pacific and the Central Pacific
Where did the Union Pacific start building from, and in which direction did they build?
From Omaha - built westwards
Where did the Central Pacific start building from, and in which direction did they build?
From Sacramento - built eastwards
Who was stopped from entering the land along the route of the railroad by the US government?
Plains Indians
How much money was each company loaned per mile of track they laid?
$16,000 ($48,000 in mountain areas)
How much public land in total was given to the railroad companies for them to sell?
45 million acres
How much money were the Union Pacific and Central Pacific loaned in total?
$61 million
Give TWO ways in which the railroad companies used marketing to encourage settlers to buy their land grants
Any two from:
They put on special trips to show possible buyers the attractions of the area
They organised loans to help people buy the land
They sent successful settlers on tours to recruit new customers
What did each railroad company have to persuade people from foreign countries to settle on the Plains?
A Bureau of Immigration
What was the city of Edwinton in North Dakota renamed in 1873, and why?
Bismarck
The railway companies wanted to encourage German immigrants to settle there so they named it after the German chancellor (Otto von Bismarck)
How many acres had been settled by the railroad companies by 1880?
200 million acres
Give three reasons why the railroad companies were more influential than the Homestead Act in encouraging settlement
1) They had more land to sell
2) They had better marketing
3) People wanted to settle near the railroad
Why did the Canadian Pacific Railroad stop every 8 miles?
They knew this was the maximum distance homesteaders could travel in a day and bring crops with them
How could farmers make money out of the Transcontinental Railroad?
They could transport their grain and crops to sell in the big eastern cities
How many locomotives were there in the USA by 1880?
40,000
How did the eastern industrial cities benefit from the Transcontinental Railroad?
Their agricultural machinery, clothes and household items could be transported on the railroads to be bought by settlers in the west
