In What Way That American Western Land Policy Affects United States's Research Paper

In What Way That Ameri mint Western Land Policy Affects United Statess Economy - look Paper ExampleGenerally in European countries at that time chargelords owned most of the territories and peasants were working as a lower class servants. barely US federal government, far sighting the future, came up with a different form _or_ system of government. They acquired the whole land and because redistributed it to common man. The Land Ordinance of 1785 do it easy for a settler to acquire a land of his own. The distribution of the land was intelligently crafted into sections of square mile with four equal subsections of 160 acre. (White 1991). These subsections were then interchange at public auctions. Federal Land Policy The distribution of land was initiated at a fair price of $2 per acre but the precondition was to minimally buy the whole subsector of 160 acre. To ease the burden the money can be given over four years. Although the aim of land policy was to encourage a common man in buying the land, this policy also favored the speculators. They bought a lot of land with a vision that raise price in future will provide them with a hefty profit. In the beginning, however, the process of land distribution was not well organized as federal land offices were located miles away from the distributed lands. But much amendments were made in the 1820s when the price of per acre was decreased to 1.2$ and minimum land acquisition requirement reduced to 80 acres only. Also the federal land offices were placed at convenient locations to aid the process. These changes significantly increase the number of buyer as to a greater extent and more common men could afford the price now. Problem of squatter was on the rise and Pre-Emption Act was introduced to allow them buy the respective land at a discounted price of 1.25$ per acre (White 1999). Homestead Act In 1862, despite the civil war in progress, congress came up with a homestead act. This was to facilitate availabili ty of land to the real settlers on the public domain. Under this act an individual who is an American citizen or migrated here and is in process of citizenship can concur for a land in public domain. The maximum area under this was about a quarter sections. If a person resides on the land for 5 years, the land is granted in his name. But the condition applies that he should not leave the place for more than 6 months or in else the land can be taken back by the government. Or the person can buy this land at discounted rates. In the span of 122 years (1862-1986) government sold about 25% of land under Homestead Act. It provided capital for stabilizing economy as well as provided a new home and gag rule for many citizens. Railway Road Grants Between 1862 and 1872 congress gave railway road grants to develop railway tracks. About 125 million acre of land was granted for such(prenominal) development. This was to result in economic boost with no theoretical loss of money in grants. It was speculated that the land near the railway tracks will have twice the actual value hence recovering the money lost in land grants. (White 1991). These rail roads acted as a catalyst in change magnitude the rate of settlement. Many new settlements emerged along the tracks. Also it supported the farmers as they found a medium for cheap transportation of their goods. As a round-eyed rule of economics, before a significant large scale production of any commodity is achieved, it is very important to have an access to open markets where these products could be sold. Another important