Homesteading Act of 1862 (Specific Narratives of Black Homesteaders)

What opportunities did the Homesteading Act provide?

• Homesteading act gave people (working class) a chance to own land in the west (great plains) and achieve economic independence/advancement

• Homestead act allowed for immigrants (European) to have a fresh start

• Gave America a chance to flourish more agriculturally

What did the Homestead act say? (paraphrase)

• Anyone willing to work for the land (in the west) farm on it, and improve it, can own it

• There was up to 160 acres of free land for claim

How much people came to Homestead? (include numbers)

• From 1878-1890, the population of White Americans in the Great Plains went from 16,000 to 191,000.

• Census of 1890 showed that 1 out of 3 North Dakotans were of foreign origin

What were the costs of Homesteading?

• A lot of money was used to claim the free land, with horses, oxen, and boards for barns and wells

  • that was about $2,500 dollars, while the average annual income for an urban worker was $250,000 per year in 1880’s

• A lot of money was used on farming tools

How did immigrants learn about Homesteading in America? and why did they benefit from it?

• Dakotas were advertised in Europe with brochures and postcards

  • The Northern Pacific land department was dedicated to selling land to immigrants

• Steamship companies would transport immigrants across the Atlantic Ocean to America

• Transcontinental Railroads would transport immigrants too

Why did Abraham Lincoln encourage Homesteading?

• Abraham believed in free labor and that everyone deserves an opportunity to develop America

How were Native Americans impacted by the Homesteading Act?

• Native American reservation lands were targeted to be sold

• The Dawes act of 1887 divided Native American land

  • Tribes/families were separated

  • ruined traditional way of life

Name 2 Black Homesteader Colonies

• Nicodemus Kansas

• Sully County

What was Nicodemus Kansas’s Legacy?

• Nicodemus Kansas was the longest lasting Black Homesteading colony in America

• In 1887, Black entrepreneurs in Topeka worked with a white developer to make the Nicodemus Town Company

• People who settled in Nicodemus filed homestead claims

  • In 1899, 144 homestead patents were received. Meaning that they owned 18,000 acres of land

What was Sully County’s Legacy?

• Sully County prioritized education and owning land

• Sully county owned between 7,000 to 8,000 acers of land

  • 22 homesteads were claimed

• Sully county had 100 residents