Congress in the Archives

After almost a decade of debate in Congress, the Homestead Act was signed into law on May 20, 1862. The debate had started during the 1850s. As westward expansion grew increasingly popular, more and more people argued that the government should give free land titles to settlers. The House of Representatives passed several homestead bills during the 1850s, but each failed when it was opposed by Senators from the South. In 1862, with the country fighting a civil war (and no southern opposition remaining in Congress), the legislation’s proponents finally achieved success. The House passed the Homestead Act on February 28 by the large margin of 107 to 16. The Senate also passed the act easily on May 6 by a vote of 33 to 7. After a few minor changes in conference committee—to which both houses agreed without controversy—Congress sent the final legislation to President Abraham Lincoln, who signed the act into law on May 20.

The Homestead Act encouraged western migration by providing settlers with 160 acres of land in exchange for a nominal filing fee. Its provisions included two requirements: settlers had to reside on the land continuously for five-years before receiving the title to it, and settlers had to be, or in the process of becoming, U.S. citizens. Through 1986, when the last claim was made in Alaska, the Homestead Act distributed 270 million acres of land in the United States making it, arguably, one of the most far-reaching pieces of legislation in American history.

HR 125, “An Act to secure homesteads to actual settlers on the public domain, 3/25/1862, SEN37A-C1, Records of the U.S. Senate