The Homestead act
During the Civil War, the U.S. Government wanted more people to settle west. So they enacted the Homestead Act in 1862. This gave 160 acres of land to settlers willing to "improve" the land for five years. Many settlers joined this act because it followed the belief of manifest destiny and more jobs were available if they moved west. Manifest destiny is a belief that it was America's destiny to settle west. People took advantage of this Homestead Act and would move west for land and start their own farms. By 1900, individual homesteading families had filed 600,000 claims for more than 80 million acres.