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Farming the Great Plains

Farming the Great Plains. Homestead Act of 1862. Goal: Encourage settlement of the West Offer 160 acres of land per family Requirements Within five years must have House and farm If successful, land was theirs. Failing of the Homestead Act. Intended for poor families

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Farming the Great Plains

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  1. Farming the Great Plains

  2. Homestead Act of 1862 • Goal: • Encourage settlement of the West • Offer • 160 acres of land per family • Requirements • Within five years must have • House and farm • If successful, land was theirs

  3. Failing of the Homestead Act • Intended for poor families • Cost of outfitting the move to expensive • Law was ambiguous • Fraud and abuse prevalent • Became land grab for • Land speculators • Cattlemen • Miners • Railroads

  4. Exoduster African Americans who moved from the post-Reconstruction South to Kansas 25,000 Africans Americans migrated West

  5. Living on the Plains • Houses • No lumber, used available resources • Dugouts-homes built into the side of hills • Soddy- freestanding homes made of blocks of prairie turf

  6. Farming Implements Advance 1837 – steel plow, John Deere 1847- Reaping machines, Cyrus McCormick 1869- Spring tooth harrow 1841- Grain Drill 1874- Barbed Wire 1878- Corn binder

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