Homestead Acts

The Homestead Acts were several United States federal laws that gave an applicant ownership of land, typically called a "homestead", at little or no cost. It gave settlers 160 acres (65 hectares). An extension of the Homestead Principle in law, the Homestead Acts were an expression of the "Free Soil" policy of Northerners who wanted individual farmers to own and operate their own farms, as opposed to Southern slave-owners who wanted to buy up large tracts of land and use slave labor, thereby shutting out free white men.

The first of the acts, the Homestead Act of 1862, opened up millions of acres. Any adult who had never taken up arms against the U.S. government, could apply. Women, blacks, and immigrants were eligible.

Several additional laws were enacted in the latter half of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Southern Homestead Act of 1866 sought to address land ownership inequalities in the south during Reconstruction. The Timber Culture Act of 1873 granted land to a claimant who was required to plant trees—the tract could be added to an existing homestead claim and had no residency requirement. The Kinkaid Amendment of 1904 granted a full section (640 acres) to new homesteaders settling in western Nebraska. An amendment to the Homestead Act of 1862, the Enlarged Homestead Act, was passed in 1909 and doubled the allotted acreage to 320. Another amended act, the national Stock-Raising Homestead Act, was passed in 1916 and again increased the land involved, this time to 640 acres. In all, more than 270 million acres of public land, or nearly 10% of the total area of the U.S., was given away free to homesteaders.

Homestead (unit)

A homestead is a unit used in US Surveyors' Measure.

Definition

1 homestead is equivalent to 160 acres (ac).

Conversion

References

Homestead (meteorite)

Homestead is a L5 meteorite fallen in 1875 in Iowa, United States.

History

On the evening of 12 February 1875 above Iowa a brilliant fireball was observed. About 100 meteorite fragments fell over a 18-square-mile (47 km²) snowy countryside area from Amana to Boltonville in Iowa County. The first found fragment, a stone weighing about 3.5 kilograms (7.7 lb), was discovered by Sarah Sherlock 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) south of Homestead. The area was wooded and covered by snow, impeding recovery efforts. On 10 February a 40 centimetres (16 in) snowfall blanketed the ground, preventing the great majority of the fragments from being discovered until Spring. The 74 pounds (34 kg) main mass was found along with a 48 pounds (22 kg) fragment buried 2 feet (0.61 m) in the soil.

As of December 2011, approximately 230 kilograms (510 lb) has been found.

Homestead meteorite strewnfield

Homestead meteorite strewnfield

1875 drawing of some fragments

1875 drawing of some fragments

Homestead principle

The homestead principle is the principle by which one gains ownership of an unowned natural resource by performing an act of original appropriation. Appropriation could be enacted by putting an unowned resource to active use (as with using it to produce a product), joining it with previously acquired property or by marking it as owned (as with livestock branding). Proponents of intellectual property hold that ideas can also be homesteaded by originally creating a virtual or tangible representation of them. Others however argue that since tangible manifestations of a single idea will be present in many places, including within the minds of people, this precludes their being owned in most or all cases. Homesteading is one of the foundations of Rothbardian anarcho-capitalism.

In philosophy

John Locke

Enlightenment philosopher John Locke in his work Second Treatise of Government, published in 1690 advocated the Lockean proviso, which allows for homesteading. Locke famously sees the "mixing of labour" with land as the source of ownership via homesteading. He writes:

Acts 15

Acts 15 is the fifteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It records the journey of Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem and the Council of Jerusalem. The book containing this chapter is anonymous but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke composed this book as well as the Gospel of Luke.

Text

The original text is written in Koine Greek and is divided into 41 verses. Some most ancient manuscripts containing this chapter are:

Location

This chapter mentions the following places (in order of appearance):

Timeline

The journey of Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem and the Council of Jerusalem is generally considered to have taken place around 48 - 50 AD.

Acts 13

Acts 13 is the thirteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It records the first missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas to Cyprus and Pisidia. The book containing this chapter is anonymous but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke composed this book as well as the Gospel of Luke.

Text

The original text is written in Koine Greek and is divided into 52 verses. Some most ancient manuscripts containing this chapter are:

Location

This chapter mentions the following places (in order of appearance):

Timeline

The first missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas took place about AD 47-48.

Acts 4

Acts 4 is the fourth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It records the aftermath of a healing by Simon Peter and his preaching in Solomon’s Portico, that Sanhedrin arrested the apostles, but had to let them go. The book containing this chapter is anonymous but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke composed this book as well as the Gospel of Luke.

Text

The original text is written in Koine Greek and is divided into 37 verses. Some most ancient manuscripts containing this chapter are:

Structure

This chapter can be grouped: