Lesson 6: Homestead Acts and Native American Land Ownership

Lesson 6 will examine the consequences on Native American populations due to the Homestead Acts starting in 1862 The Homestead Acts opened up millions of acres of lands and allowed for people who had never officially taken up arms against the US Government, i.e non-confederates as well as blacks,  to both apply for and then be given allotted lands. The original intention for the Act was to encourage African-American and former slave populations the opportunity to obtain land. While the intentions of this legislation inherently seem to create a positive situation for an oppressed population, African-Americans, it simultaneously negatively affected Native Americans living on lands that were thought to be free to expanding Homesteaders. Though the intentions of the Homestead Acts were not completely fulfilled, it promoted large-scale westward expansion for blacks, whites, and immigrant populations to impede on Native American land holdings in the western portions of the United States.