may 20, 1862 - Homestead Act
Description:
Lincoln signed the Federal Homestead Law. The act granted public land in 160 acres allotments in the West to those willing to farm the land for five years. Roughly six weeks later, on July 1, Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act providing land and government loans to construct the first transcontinental rail line. The next day he signed the Morrill Act, which allotted public lands to states to finance colleges dedicated to agricultural education and research, an especially pressing need given the semi-arid West’s great challenges to farmers of that day.
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APUSH Unit 5
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