Question

What did the homestead act of 1862 do

Answer 1

Answer:

The Homestead Act of 1862 was a law established and signed by President Abraham Lincoln, that sought to encourage new settlement by Americans towards the West.

Its main purpose was to invite new settlers into the new territories of the West, and to do this, what the Act did was to promise 160 acres of public land for settlers for a very small filling fee and for 5 years of continuous settlement. At the end of the five years, these settlers could become owners of the land by paying the government only 1.25 dollars per acre. This Act was successful enough that by 1900, around 80 million acres of new land had been distributed among the new settlers.

Answer 2

The Homestead Act of 1862 opened up a setttlement of the western U.S, allowing any American or free slave, to put in a claim for up to 160 free acres of federal land.
(Credit to HISTORY.com for a bit of this answer!)