Settling of the Great Plains Homestead Act Exoduster Soddy Morrill Act Bonanza Farm

Homestead Act RR companies began to expand westward Build by immigrants Chinese Irish Mexican Former Slaves RR Companies sold some land for farms Bought mostly by immigrants

Homestead Act cont. 1862 Offered 160 acres free to any citizen who was a head of household Land was largely claimed by companies and private speculators 10% was settled by families Some land wasn’t as fertile as others Required more land to turn a profit

Homestead Act cont. 1889 Act was strengthened Land rush in Oklahoma (Sooner State) 2 million acres were claimed in less than a day By 1890 19 million acres of gov’t land was sold End of the frontier

Exodusters 1862-1900 600,000 former slaves take advantage of homestead opportunities in Kansas

Soddy Many people lived in caves, dugouts or soddys Stacks of prairie sod built as walls Warm in the winter Cool in the summer Little light Dirt floor bugs

Morrill Act 1862 and 1890 Gave federal land to help finance agricultural colleges Worked with the Hatch Act Established agricultural experiment stations to inform farmers about new farming techniques Both helped the Midwest to become the nation’s “breadbasket”

Bonanza Farms Farms that focused on a single, enormous crop 15,000-50,000 acres Not flexible Large drought 1885-1890 Bonanza farms were not flexible enough to survive Many went bankrupt Many farmers were impacted by falling cost of grain, rising taxes, and railroad companies Farmers would become an important political machine