Homestead Act of 1860

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The Homestead Act of 1860 in the United States made land available for 25 cents per acre. This was at a time where northerners had an idea that the government should give 160 acre plots of land to pioneers for free.

[edit] Opposition

There was much worry with the free land idea. The southerners, who were still pro-slavery, worried that this would result in the west becoming populated with free-soilers. This in turn would create many anti-slavery states, creating an unbalance in the Senate more than the South could handle. Another group who opposed this idea was the Eastern industrialists. They feared employees would be drained into the West for free land.

This act was passed by Congress, but was ultimately vetoed by James Buchanan.