The Homestead Act: A Chance for Free Land

Daniel Freeman had been prepared. In December of 1862, the Union Army scout had ridden in the freezing cold to a spot he had picked out on Cub Creek in the southeastern part of the Nebraska Territory. Once there, he marked out 160 acres of land, one wooden stake at a time. His preparation was soon rewarded at a New Year’s Eve party. Freeman knew he was just hours away from a new law going into effect on January 1, 1863. Freeman met officials from the Government Land Office at the party. Through charm or sheer perseverance, we’ll never know which, he convinced the officials to open the Land Office. As the clock struck midnight, The Homestead Act came into effect and, at ten minutes past midnight, Freeman filed a claim on the land he had picked out on Cub Creek, making him America’s first homesteader.

What was the Homestead Act, and how did it come to be?

The Homestead Act, enacted during the Civil War in 1862, provided that any adult citizen, or intended citizen, who had never borne arms against the U.S. government could claim 160 acres of surveyed government land. Claimants were then required to live on and “improve” their plot by cultivating the land. Freeman was just the first of many to take advantage of this act. In time, millions of Americans would follow suit, establishing new homes and towns on the frontier West.

Despite the act’s popularity over the century it was in place, it took five bills through Congress and an entire decade before the Homestead Act was passed. The bill was contentious before the Civil War. The South worried about the formation of new states that would oppose slavery, turning the balance in favor of free states. The North worried about losing its factory workers to land out West. After failing in 1852, 1854, 1859, and being vetoed by President Buchanan in 1860, the Homestead Act finally became law in 1862. In part, it was able to pass because the Civil War had begun, and Southern states had seceded from the United States. Because they were no longer part of the Union, they lost their say, no longer able to use their pro-slavery votes against the act.

Who could become a homesteader, and what did the process entail?

Homesteading was not limited to white men. Thanks to the 1866 Civil Rights Act and the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed their rights as U.S. citizens, the act included African Americans. Women, if they were single, divorced, widowed, or had been deserted by their husbands, could also claim land in their name. A married woman, however, could not make a claim in her own name unless she was the head of the household. For women homesteaders, it was a way to improve their lives and finances, not to mention exciting! As homesteader Lucy Goldthorpe said, “Even if you hadn’t inherited a bit of restlessness and a pioneering spirit… it would have been difficult to ward off the excitement of the boom.” For African Americans, it was a chance to own their own land, build communities around their cultural and religious values, and pursue a life as free and equal citizens.

For those eligible, staking a claim was only the beginning. Homesteaders had to live on the land for five years as their primary residence and make improvements, such as establishing a farm. Once the five years were up, the homesteader could submit proof of residency and improvements along with a small registration fee to the government. Only then would the land be theirs, free and clear. This was called “proving” a claim. Homesteaders could also acquire land with a six-month residency and minor improvements, but they would have to pay the government $1.25 per acre to gain legal possession.

What challenges did homesteaders face?

Free land sounded like a dream come true, especially for those from the eastern part of the country who struggled to afford property of their own. But it was not easy to live on a claim for five years. Unlike land in the East, land out West was flat and treeless. Homesteaders looked for land near creeks or small rivers, with rolling hills that could serve as a windbreak. With trees, and lumber, in short supply, many settlers built homes out of the sod itself, cutting it into bricks and stacking them to build walls. It took about three thousand sod “bricks” to build a small cabin, each one cut from the land by hand. Roofs were then formed from cedar poles and covered with bundles of brush, mud, grass, and more sod. Often, dirt or water from a leaking roof fell into the house. Some settlers fastened cloth sheets to the ceiling to keep mud, insects, and even snakes from dropping into their food or beds. Ultimately, these homes, which earned settlers the nickname “sodbusters,” were cool in the summer, warm in the winter, cozy year-round, and nearly fireproof.

However, it wasn’t just the difficulty of building structures, nor the threat of renegade reptiles tumbling through the ceiling, that made prairie life so hard. In the summer, temperatures could reach as high as 120 degrees. Crops could be destroyed by droughts, heavy rainstorms, winds, tornadoes, and even swarms of grasshoppers. Winter blizzards trapped both people and animals beneath snow. Horses and cows could suffocate when steam from their breath turned to ice over their nostrils. But the soil was good for growing crops, the game to hunt was plentiful, and the land’s only cost was labor.

What were the outcomes and impacts of the Homestead Act?

Over time, homesteaders gained experience by living on the prairies. Many learned how to grow crops successfully. If they had enough money, they could purchase lumber for a frame house since the arrival of the railroads made it possible to ship lumber from the East. Eventually, towns grew around these homesteads, and the railroads expanded so farmers could more easily ship their crops to market.

However, while many benefitted from the Homestead Act, it had serious and negative impacts on the lives of the Indigenous peoples who had lived on the prairies long before pioneers arrived. They watched their lands being fenced off. The number of buffalo, which they depended on for food and clothing, shrank. Water was redirected to crops, causing native plants in the area to dwindle. Ultimately, many Indigenous tribes were pushed off their ancestral lands and forced to live on reservations.

Of all those who filed a claim, only about 50% were able to prove their claim and gain ownership of the land. Many either went home or moved further west. But plenty others, including Freeman himself, succeeded. By the time the Homestead Act was repealed in 1976, the government had granted 270 million acres. Because of the act, many territories in the West became states, and the vast area between the east and west coasts grew into the agricultural industry that exists today. In the end, the Homestead Act, and the intrepid pioneers who weathered daunting challenges to own land of their own, left the face of the western United States forever changed.