The Homestead & Pacific Railway Acts: Incentivizing the West

Target: I can explain how the federal government used the Homestead Act and Pacific Railway Act to encourage people and businesses to move West.

Key Vocabulary

• Homestead: A piece of land given by the government to a settler to live on and farm.

• Transcontinental: Extending across a continent (from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean).

• Land Grant: A gift of public land from the government to an individual or an organization (like a railroad).

• Incentive: A reward offered to encourage someone to do something.

Part 1: Do Now (5 minutes)

Directions: Read the prompt below and write a 5-8 sentence response.

Prompt: Imagine the government makes you an offer: You can have a free house and a huge plot of land, BUT you have to live there for 5 years and turn it into a working farm. If you leave early, you lose everything. In a complete paragraph, answer: Would you take this deal? Why would the government give away land for "free" instead of selling it? What does the government get out of this deal?

Sentence Starter: I (would/would not) take this deal because... The hardest part would be... The government probably gives the land away for free because they want... This helps the country because...

Part 2: Analyzing the Sources

Directions: Analyze the two documents below and then answer the questions that follow.

Source 1: The Homestead Act (Adapted Excerpt, 1862)

Original Text	Simplified Text
"Be it enacted... that any person who is the head of a family, or who has arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the United States... shall be entitled to enter one quarter section [160 acres] of unappropriated public lands..."	"Any U.S. citizen over 21 who is the head of a family is allowed to claim 160 acres of government land for free..."
"Provided... that the person applying... shall prove that he or she has resided upon or cultivated the same for the term of five years."	"...But only if they can prove that they have lived on the land and farmed it for five years."

Source 2: The Pacific Railway Act (Adapted Excerpt, 1862)

Original Text	Simplified Text
"Be it enacted... That for the purpose of aiding in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean..."	"To help build a railroad and telegraph line that connects the middle of the country to the Pacific Ocean..."
"...there be granted to said company... every alternate section of public land... on each side of said railroad, on the line thereof, and within the limits of ten miles on each side of said road."	"...The government grants (gives) the railroad company large sections of public land for 10 miles on either side of the tracks."

Analysis Questions

Directions: Answer the Regents-style questions below. For each question, you must underline the sentence in the text that helped you find the answer.

1. Based on Source 1, what was a primary requirement for acquiring land under the Homestead Act?

   
   

   (A) Paying a large fee to the government

   (B) Living on and farming the land for five years

   (C) Working for the railroad company

   (D) Being born in the Western territories

Evidence: I chose answer _____ because Source 1 says:________________________________

2. Based on Source 2, how did the government support the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad?

   
   

   (A) By building the tracks themselves using government workers

   (B) By banning telegraph lines from being built near the tracks

   (C) By granting (giving) free public land to railroad companies

   (D) By charging the railroad companies high taxes

Evidence: I chose answer _____ because Source 2 says:________________________________

3. (Work with your partner) Both documents demonstrate that the federal government was committed to:

   
   

   (A) Preserving Native American lands

   (B) Stopping the spread of slavery

   (C) Encouraging economic development of the West

   (D) Reducing the power of businesses

Evidence: I chose answer _____ because both laws offer... ____________________________

Part 3: Exit Ticket (5 minutes)

Directions: Answer the following prompt in a complete paragraph (5-8 sentences).

Prompt: Based on the documents we analyzed today, write a cause-and-effect statement explaining the impact of these laws. Start your sentence with: "By passing the Homestead Act and Pacific Railway Act, the federal government caused..." Explain how these specific incentives changed the population and economy of the West.

Sentence Starter: By passing the Homestead Act and Pacific Railway Act, the federal government caused... These laws incentivized people to move West by... As a result, the economy of the West changed because...