the homestead act
1(the) Homestead Act — the Homestead Act [the Homestead Act] a law passed by the US Congress in 1862. It gave 160 ↑acres /65 ↑hectares of government land in the west to anyone who would agree to live on it for five years. A small payment was required. A person who… …
2Homestead Act of 1860 — The Homestead Act of 1860 in the United States made land available for 25 cents per acre. This was at a time where northerners had an idea that the government should give convert|160|acre|km2|sing=on plots of land to pioneers for free. People… …
3Homestead Act — thumb|Certificate of homestead given under the Homestead Act in Nebraska, 1868.The Homestead Act was a United States Federal law that gave an applicant freehold title to 160 acres (one quarter section or about 65 hectares) 640 acres (one section… …
4Homestead Act — A federal law, passed in 1862, which allowed people to become owners of up to 160 acres of unappropriated public land by filing an application, living on the land and improving it for five years, and paying a filing fee to acquire title. Category …
5Southern Homestead Act of 1866 — The Southern Homestead Act of 1866 is a United States federal law enacted to break a cycle of debt during the Reconstruction following the American Civil War. Prior to this act, blacks and whites alike were having trouble buying land.… …
6Homestead Act — Home′stead Act n. gov a special act of Congress (1862) that made public lands in the West available to settlers without payment, usu. in lots of 160 acres, to be used as farms …
7Homestead Act — /ˈhoʊmstɛd/ (say hohmsted) noun a special act (1862) of the US Congress which made lands in the West available to settlers without payments …
8Homestead Act — a special act of Congress (1862) that made public lands in the West available to settlers without payment, usually in lots of 160 acres, to be used as farms. * * * …
9Homestead Act — a special act of Congress (1862) that made public lands in the West available to settlers without payment, usually in lots of 160 acres, to be used as farms …
10homestead — [hōm′sted΄] n. [OE hamstede: see HOME & STEAD ] ☆ 1. a place where a family makes its home, including the land, house, and outbuildings 2. Law such a place occupied by the owner and his family and exempted from seizure or forced sale to meet… …
