chapter 16 acts

Homestead Act of 1862

this allowed a settler to acquire 160 acres by living on it for five years, improving it and paying about $30

Foreign Miners Tax

In order to stop the Chinese immigrants from advancing in the gold mining industry and making money the California legislature created this.

Chinese Exclusion Act

Congress created to stop Chinese immigrants from "taking over". They banned chinese emigration to the united states for ten years and all chinese immigrants already in the country could not be citizens. This act was supported from all over the nation and was seen as helping american workers. The Chinese population declined because of this.

Timber Culture Act

Permitted homesteaders to receive grants of 160 additional acres if they planted 40 acres of trees on them.

Desert Land ACt

Someone could buy 640 acres at $1.25 an acre if they irrigated part of their holdings within three years

Timber and Stone Act

Authorized selling an acre for $2.50 each. It made it possible for individuals to acquire as much as 1380 acres of land at little cost. This caused Fraud to increase.

Indian Peace Commission

a commission formed by Congress in 1867, which created two reservations on the Great Plains. Composed of soldiers and civilians to recommend a new and presumably permanent indian policy. Recommended replacing the "concentration" policy with a plan to move all the plains indians into two large reservations. They had to trick tribes into accepting the policy.

1867 Native American treaties

Brought a temporary lull (to quiet) to many of the conflicts including native americans and the mass killing that white people contributed to. It quickly started again in 1870 when white settlers began to penetrate (forcing way through) the Dakota Territory that was literally Native American land where they had settled their nations

Dawes Severalty Act of 1887

Gradual elimination of tribal ownership of land. Gave the tracts away to individual owners. Applied mostly to western tribes (pueblo). The bureau of indian affairs promoted the idea of assimilation which was to move native american families onto their own plots of land but also take native american children away from their families and send them to boardings schools ran by white people

Burke Act of 1906

Speed the transition of the dawes severalty act of 1887, Native americans continued to resist forced assimilation