Definitions for "Homestead Act"
Federal program that encouraged homeownership by awarding up to 160 acres of land after a five year investment to build equity.
Legislation passed in 1862 allowing any citizen or applicant for citizenship over twenty-one years old and head of a family to acquire 160 acres of public land by living on it and cultivating it for five years.
A term sometimes used inappropriately by Canadian researchers to refer to the act which governed the settlement process in western Canada. Passed by the United States Congress on 20 May, 1862, the Homestead Act provided the basis by which public lands in western United States were patented to individual homesteaders. Although many of the regulations were similar, the settlement process in western Canada was controlled by the Dominion Lands Act.