Title: Farming on the Great Plains - The West 1850-1890
Headings: 
The West 1850-1890
Groups on the Great Plains
Lifestyle
Acts and Opportunities on the Plains

Content: The Homestead Act was passed by Congress in 1862 to encourage settlement in the West by giving government-owned land to small farmers. This act allowed any adult U.S. citizen, or any adult who planned to become one, to receive 160 acres of land. Homesteaders needed to pay a small registration fee in exchange, and they promised to live on the land for five years. The Homestead Act also granted land to unmarried women in order to encourage the presence of families and settlements in the West. The Morrill Act was also passed in 1862 and was a federal law that gave land to western states in order to encourage them to build colleges to teach agriculture and engineering like Texas A&M.
There was much economic opportunity on the Plains because of cheaper land. This less expensive land drew many settlers to the West. They saw this as an economic oppotunity. Many farming families had moved from their homelands where things were becoming too scarce and expensive to the Plains for the reason of cheaper land. Southern African Americans called Exodusters were also drawn west by the promise of land. Black communities were soon formed and drew even more African Americans west because of advertisements.