Married women could not make entry, unless they had been actually deserted by their husband. This included women who were single, widowed, or divorced. government, could make entry at a General Land Office for a quarter-section of land amounting to 160 acres. Under the Homestead Act (An Act to Secure Homesteads to Actual Settlers on the Public Domain, May 20, 1862), which would be frequently amended, any citizen, or person who intended to become one, who was the head of a family, or a single person over 21 years of age, who had never taken up arms against the U.S. At least ten percent of the homesteads went to single women, who took the opportunity the Homestead Act presented to them. By 1976 some 270,000,000 acres were distributed by the Homestead Act. Other states having between 17 and 20 percent of their land acquired by successful homesteading were Oregon, Idaho, and Washington. Some 45 percent of the land of Nebraska was acquired by successful homesteading. Between 25 and 39 percent of the total acreage of Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Colorado, Kansas, and New Mexico, were given to those settlers that met the requirements for a homestead patent. Its provisions were responsible for helping settle much of the American West. Next year marks the 160 th anniversary of the Homestead Act, a law making free public lands available to homesteading under certain conditions. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives at College Park, MD.
0 kommentar(er)
