The correct answer is "granted farmers land". The Homestead Act signed in 1842, allowed any American in the western United States to put in a claim for up to 160 free acres of federal land. This Act was well received as 15,000 signed papers were established by the end of the Civil War.
As per the 2019 Demographic Projections of the U.s. Census, the rise of this population resulted in an increase throughout the regional average age. "In 2011, the very first Younger Generations reached 65 years of age."
