<P> The Homestead Acts were several United States federal laws that gave an applicant ownership of land, typically called a "homestead," at no cost . In all, more than 270 million acres of public land, or nearly 10% of the total area of the U.S., was given away free to 1.6 million homesteaders; most of the homesteads were west of the Mississippi River . </P> <P> An extension of the Homestead Principle in law, the Homestead Acts were an expression of the "Free Soil" policy of Northerners who wanted individual farmers to own and operate their own farms, as opposed to Southern slave - owners who wanted to buy up large tracts of land and use slave labor, thereby shutting out free white men . </P> <P> The first of the acts, the Homestead Act of 1862, opened up millions of acres . Any adult who had never taken up arms against the U.S. government could apply . Women and immigrants who had applied for citizenship were eligible . The 1866 Act explicitly included black Americans and encouraged them to participate, but rampant discrimination slowed black gains . Historian Michael Lanza argues that while the 1866 law pack was not as beneficial as it might have been, it was part of the reason that by 1900 one fourth of all Southern black farmers owned their own farms . </P>

How to cite the homestead act of 1862