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"Free Homes For Free Men": A Political History Of The Homestead Act, 1774-1863, Benjamin T. Arrington
"Free Homes For Free Men": A Political History Of The Homestead Act, 1774-1863, Benjamin T. Arrington
Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
Focusing on national politics and America's long road to civil war, this dissertation presents a history of the "free land" idea that culminated with the passage of the Homestead Act of 1862. Using primary sources such as the published papers of notable political figures and records of congressional debates, this work presents the full political history of homesteading from before the Revolutionary War to its ultimate approval during the Civil War.
Politicians debated how best to use and distribute public lands for decades before the Civil War. While many took inspiration from Thomas Jefferson and called for the government to …