The Homestead Act and Pioneer Farmers

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Other Title
  • ホームステッド法と開拓農民 : ネブラスカ州ゲイジ郡の例
  • ホームステッドホウ ト カイタク ノウミン ネブラスカシュウ ゲイジグン ノ レイ

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Description

The Homestead Act is one of the most important laws in American history, but the evaluation of this law is still fluctuating. In order to understand the significance of the Homestead Act, we have to know more about the actual operation of the law and the condition of homesteaders. The achievement of the Homestead Act should be measured not only by the amount of public land acquired under this law but also by its effects upon the life of pioneer, farmers. Though the Homestead Act gave a free land, raw land did not constitute a farm. There was no provision in the act which enabled homsteaders to start farm-making. This was a serious drawback for poor settlers. At the sametime, however, we know that some homesteaders had no intention to complete the title. Horace Greeley and Albert Richardson already noticed the existence of settler-speculators. Thomas LeDuc recently suggested that public land policies retarded the development of the west by allowing small settler-speculators to control a large amount of idle acreage. Did homesteaders have enough money to start farm-making? Why did they engage in speculative activities? It is the the purpose of this paper to answer these questinos focussing attention on a Nebraska county.

Journal

  • The Journal of Agrarian History

    The Journal of Agrarian History 11 (4), 1-18, 1969

    The Agrarian History Society (Renamed as The Political Economy and Economic History Society)

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