How did the Homestead Act and the Pacific Railway Act bring settlers to the West?
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Students will Congress passed the Homestead Act of 1862 to encourage settlers to “go west,” claim land, and create a homestead. The same year,
Congress passed the Pacific Railway Act to authorize government bonds and land grants to corporations (rather than states) that would develop and build railroads across western lands. With the establishment of a greater population and improved transportation, many changes swept across the country. Procedures
LESSON 2ObjectivesStudents will analyze and interpret photographs and other images as primary sources using the same strategies employed in Lesson 1. Materials
Historical BackgroundPhotographs are a key primary source, and images of the ceremony at Promontory Summit and of railroad workers help people gain insight into the gravity and significance of the people involved in this event and the impact it had on America. This iconic photograph records the celebration marking the completion of the first transcontinental railroad at Promontory Summit, Utah, on May 10, 1869, when Leland Stanford, a cofounder of the Central Pacific Railroad, connected the eastern and western sections of the road with a golden spike. This “joining of the rails” was the culmination of work begun when the Central Pacific began laying track eastward from Sacramento, California, in 1863, and the Union Pacific started laying track westward from Omaha, Nebraska, in 1865. To meet its manpower needs, the Central Pacific hired 15,000 laborers, of whom more than 13,000 were Chinese immigrants. These immigrants were paid less than white workers and, unlike their white counterparts, had to provide their own lodging. The crew had the formidable task of laying the track across California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range, blasting fifteen tunnels to cover 1,776 miles with 4,814 feet of new track. A close study of the photograph reveals that the Chinese workers were excluded from the photograph. This absence encourages students to consider how photographs reflect choices made by the artist—and to question accepting photographs as complete or comprehensive records of historical events. Procedure
How did the Homestead Act encourage freed African Americans to move to the Great Plains?The 1862 Homestead Act accelerated settlement of U.S. western territory by allowing any American, including freed slaves, to put in a claim for up to 160 free acres of federal land.
Who benefited from the Homestead Act?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.
How did the West get settled?Congress did, on occasion, offer free land in regions the nation wanted settled. But the landmark law that governed how public land was distributed and settled for over 100 years came in 1862. The Homestead Act, which became law on May 20, 1862, was responsible for helping settle much of the American West.
Where did the Homestead Act encourage freed African Americans to settle?The exodusters settled in the states of Colorado, Kansas, and Oklahoma. Kansas was seen as a particularly promising land of opportunity, because it had fought hard for its status as a free state. A handbill advertising homestead for African Americans.
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