LESSON 20 WAS FREE LAND A GOOD DEAL?
VISUAL 20.1
ECONOMIC MYSTERY
IS FREE LAND A GOOD DEAL?
In 1862, the U.S. Congress passed the Homestead Act. It provided 160
acres of surveyed land free to a homesteader who lived on and developed
that land for five years. Yet farmers often paid cash for other parcels of
land rather than accept the homestead offer.
From 1863 to 1872, the federal government sold 10 times more acres
than it gave away to homesteaders. And farmers bought high–priced
land from the railroads more often than they accepted land from the U.S.
government.
Why would farmers refuse free land? Why would they prefer expensive
land to cheap land?
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FOCUS: UNDERSTANDING ECONOMICS
IN
UNITED STATES HISTORY ©NATIONAL COUNCIL
ON
ECONOMIC EDUCATION, NEW YORK, NY
WAS FREE LAND A GOOD DEAL? LESSON 20
VISUAL 20.2
HOMESTEAD SITES
Site 1: Eastern Nebraska
Site 2: Northeastern Montana
Site 3: Southern Idaho
Site 4: Western Washington
Site 5: Western Iowa
4
2
IROQUOIS
3
1
5
PUEBLOANS
CHOCTAWS
FOCUS: UNDERSTANDING ECONOMICS
IN
UNITED STATES HISTORY ©NATIONAL COUNCIL
ON
ECONOMIC EDUCATION, NEW YORK, NY
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