This collection uses primary sources to explore the Homestead Acts.

The critically acclaimed PBS series, "The West," provides the text of the Homestead Act of 1862.

This Teaching with Historic Places lesson effectively depicts the life of a pioneer woman and ways in which the Homestead Act impacted her life. The site includes lesson plans, inquiry questions, and photos that may be used in covering...

The Homestead Act of 1862 gave free land to Americans willing to improve it, regardless of race, sex, or nation of origin.

This 4-page article discusses the Homestead Act of 1862 and its effects.

An extensive site that covers many aspects of the Homestead Act, including biographies, charts, and the text of the act. From the National Park Service.

This in-depth resource presents a history of the American West from pre-Columbian times until World War I with profiles, documents, and images. It encourages visitors to link these into patterns of historical meaning for themselves....

Original text (and transcription) of the 1862 Homestead Act, which granted land for a five-year residence for minimal fees. Accompanied by an overview of the act, including how it both helped and hindered farmers.

With the passage of the Homestead Act, settlers could own 160 acres for free. Read about the problems that faced the new farmers both economically and from Mother Nature.

From the very beginning and through the twentieth century, this comprehensive collection of lessons will enrich students studying the history in between and the effects on South Dakota.

Comprehensive teaching unit that explores the settling of the American West in the late 1800s and the challenges these settlers faced. Contains video and text materials, web interactives, student oriented activities, and a timeline of...

Find a brief recounting of resistance by several Indian tribes in an attempt to maintain their territory. See how the settlers participating in the Oklahoma land rush stole land set aside for several Indian tribes.

The history of the reformation of beef in Nebraska is detailed in this impressive compilation.

From the extensive site about African-American migrations, this part of the site focuses on Exodusters and African-Americans who moved to Kansas after the Civil War. Read first-person accounts and see photographs of these hardy...

A large site that tracks the history of the Nebraska area begins with the formation of the earth, moves through the earliest human activity in Nebraska, and then through proto-historical and historical Nebraska. The Kansas-Nebraska Act,...

A fascinating look at the building of the irrigation tunnel that brought water into the arid Uncompahgre Valley in Colorado. President Theodore Roosevelt's interest in conservation and his interest in the National Reclamation Act of 1902...

From Joy Hakim's marvelous set of books, A History of US, this webisode offers narrative, pictures, and teaching guides for the settling of the West after the Civil War.

On this site you will find the application to the National Park Service to include the Bagg Bonanza Farm as a National Landmark. The first part describes what is found on the land now, but if you'll scroll through the history of...

The first claim made under the Homestead Act of 1862.

This scholarly project from California State University analyzes the effect of the Dawes Act, or General Allotment Act, which divided Indian lands into individual holdings to promote assimilation by deliberately destroying tribal...

A five-question quiz mainly over westward expansion in the late 1800s.

This is from an American history course designed for teachers to enrich their knowledge and their teaching practice. This interactive is a set of nine exercises where teachers evaluate primary resources related to a specific event in...

[Free Registration/Login Required] A lengthy essay discussing the differing opinions about immigration and the role of immigrants in the United States in the latter half of the 19th century and the early 20th century. Find out about the...

Our Documents is home to one hundred milestone documents that influenced that course of American history and American democracy. Includes full-page scans of each document, transcriptions, background information on their significance, and...