The Homestead Laws are a series of laws passed by the US Congress. UU That allowed applicants throughout the United States to own land. In general, about 270 million acres of land were issued to 1.6 million people, most of whom lived west of the Mississippi River. The first property law was passed in 1862 and, therefore, it was called "Homestead Act of 1862".
The Homestead Act of 1862 is perhaps one of the most important laws adopted by Congress. It was signed by President Abraham Lincoln on May 20, 1862 after the southern states separated from the union. The Law issued 270 million acres, approximately 10% of the landmass, for the public. Family heads or those who were at least 21 years of age were eligible to own a 160-acre plot of land. Settlers, immigrants, ex-slaves, landless farmers and single women or widows filed applications and accepted the challenge of demonstrating to the government that they could conserve the land. Each person who emitted the land had to build a house and live in it, develop and practice agriculture for five years before being legally allowed to own the land.
The potential to acquire free land attracted thousands of settlers to the territories of Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Dakota and the western states. African-Americans were tempted to move from the south in hopes of securing the land. It is estimated that black people of 25,000 moved to Kansas in the 1870s and 1880s as part of the "Exodus Movement," an exodus of African Americans escaping the oppression of Jim Crow.
