1.2 Manifest Destiny and the Homestead Act

It encouraged fairness and working together with Native Americans.

It helped protect Native American cultures.

It made forcing Native Americans move and treating them badly seem acceptable.

It encouraged settlers and Native Americans to share and help each other.

It made the population go down because of problems with Native Americans.

It caused the population to increase as settlers claimed land.

It had no effect on the population of the Great Plains states.

It caused people to move to the East for better opportunities.

The Homestead Act of 1862 offered individuals a chance to claim 160 acres of land to build a better future for themselves and their families.

Only men could get land through the Homestead Act; women couldn't apply.

To prove their claim under the Homestead Act, settlers had to show they lived on the land for five years and made improvements like building houses or cultivating crops.

The Homestead Act made people from all over the United States and from around the world want to go west for the American Dream.

Settlers often faced loneliness in the West due to being far away from friends, family, and towns.

Living on a homestead was tough because of things like changing weather, not having enough of things they needed, and dealing with wild animals.

The Homestead Act made fewer people live in the Great Plains because many liked staying in the East.

Approximately 270 million acres of land, equivalent to 10% of the United States' land, were given away through the Homestead Act.