The U.S. National Archives, Public domain / via Wikimedia Commons image
I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute.
The federal government issued 160-acre tracts to about 400,000 families who settled a new land under the Homestead Act 1862. Even larger numbers purchased lands at very low cost as new railroads tried to create new markets.
The railroads advertised heavily in Europe and brought over hundreds of thousands of farmers from Germany, Scandinavia and Britain.
The Government of Canada and their Dominion Lands Act of 1872 did much the same.
That’s today’s American Agriculture History Minute. I’m Mark Oppold. Thanks for reading. I’ll see you next time.
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