The correct answer to this open question is the following.
Although the question does not provide any options, we can say that the correct answers are B) live on the land for at least five years and D) make improvements to the land better.
The other options of the question were A) live on the land for a few months. C) farm the land with predetermined crops. E) pay for the land over a five-year span.
The characteristics that a homesteader needed in order to take advantage of the Homestead were the following: to live on the land for at least five years and to make improvements to the land better.
On May 20, 1862, United States President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act that helped settlers to settle in the Western territory of the US. With this act, American citizens and former slaves could get 160 acres of public land. Many Americans decided to get the benefits of this act to start a nee life in the western territories. However, one of the problems that affected this process was that speculators took advantage of the land, complicating the process for real families.
