Answer:
In a free market, it can be expected that the price will increase to the equilibrium price, as the scarcity of the good forces the price to go up. When a product is scarce, consumers are faced with conducting their own cost-benefit analysis; a product in high demand but low supply will likely be expensive.
The Land Ordinance of 1785 was basically the pre-cursor of Manifest Destiny. Basically, farmers and anyone could purchase land and live on it. It was a system for people to buy land and settle the west. It was the start of land policy until the Homestead Act in 1862.