it became affordable as people moved west. > the land law of 1800 reduced the minimum individual purchase of land in the west to 320 acres. that minimum was slashed to 160 acres in 1804, and again in 1820 to 80 acres. by 1832, the minimum land purchase was set at 40 acres, and the minimum price per acre had steadily fallen off to about a dollar per acre.
United States