Nineteenth-Century Land Policy

The Homestead Act, considered to be one of the most influential pieces of legislation ever approved by Congress, was passed on May 20, 1862. As a result of vigorous agitation by western settlers, the U.S. Congress had, for many years, attempted to settle requests for inexpensive land. The allotment of land started immediately after the end of the American Revolution. The new government had no money to pay the soldiers, yet had an abundance of available land. As a result, the U.S. government decided to grant solders land warrants as payment. The boundaries of land parcels, however, were unclear, making it difficult to [Page 484]allot specific lands to specific individuals. Consequently, the first Congress created the Land Act of 1785 establishing the Federal Survey System. The act required that land be surveyed and broken up into square parcels six miles square called townships. Each township would then be divided up into 36 sections each one mile square, and each section would be given an identification number. Each acre could be sold for $1, or $640 per section. Additionally, section sixteen in each township was to remain open for educational purposes.

[Page 485]The Land Act of 1785 would be amended in 1800 when Congress, under President Harrison, passed the Land Ordinance of 1800. This act reduced the amount of land which could be purchased from 640 acres to 320 acres. It further established a credit system, where one-fourth of the payment was due at the time of purchase, and the rest would come in installments. Furthermore, in the mid 1820s, the United States passed new land laws that called for a reduction in the minimum price per acre of land. Furthermore, it called for the minimum plot to be reduced from 160 to 80 acres, allowing settlers to purchase land for as little as $100.

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