Arguments Against The Homestead Act

The Homestead Act was signed on May 20, 1862 by Abraham Lincoln. The Homestead Act was proposed by northern republicans. Southern representatives in congress kept voting against the Homestead Act because they saw it as an opportunity for the development of Free states that would tip the scale in the free vs. slave states. It was originally passed by congress in 1860 but then vetoed by President James Buchanan. After southern representatives left congress was when the act was then passed. The act motivated people to settle west by giving them the incentive of 160 acres of land. There was a small fee and after 5 years of working and living on the land it would become theirs. Or, after six months, the settlers had the option to buy the land at $1.25 per acre from the government. The act was so successful that over 80 million acres of land were given out by the year 1990. To be a “qualifying homesteader,” a person had to be either twenty one years old or the head of their household. It costed eighteen dollars to for an initial filing fee. The homesteaders had to build a house farm the land for a minimum of five years. It wasn't just families and white males that were settling west under the Homestead Act. Immigrants, single women and freed slaves all took advantage of
Most Native Americans resettled from Georgia and Florida to the Great Plains. The Cherokee tribe of Georgia did not move. This group of Native Americans wanted to stay in Georgia because they had established communities and laws. The Cherokee Tribe wanted to remain on its territory and be viewed as independent and self-governing (sovereign) nation. In 1825 Samuel Worcester moved to Georgia to support the Cherokee Nation. Worcester became a close friend of the Cherokees and provided advice to this tribe about their legal rights. The state of Georgia was not pleased with the Cherokees that they were refusing to