The main theme of this essay is to expose the disadvantages of building housing developments on ridgetops, thereby accomplishing the purpose of urging readers to dissuade such developments. From the nature of its one sided view of the disadvantages of ridgetop development, it is definitely a persuasive essay.
I don't know what that means
Congress passed it to encourage people to move and settle west. they promised free land, and they knew that people would rush to claim it. 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.
