Source: Map of Homestead States, National Park Service

The Homestead Act helped settle the entire United States. The map on the right shows the states that received homesteaders (shaded brown).

Look at the map on the right. What is the only state west of the Mississippi river not to have any homesteads?

Interactive popup. Assistance may be required. Click for the answer Texas. Under the terms of annexation, the Texas state government owned all of the unsettled territory, so there was no land for the U.S. government to give away. The federal government initially owned the land gained by the Louisiana Purchase, the Mexican Cession, and the purchase of Alaska in 1867 (“Seward’s Folly”).

Great Plains

While over 30 states had settlers from the Homestead Act, it made the most impact in states in the Great Plains, such as Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Montana, and the Dakotas. These states are located in the middle of the country—most of them directly above Texas!

• Prove It! The above paragraph is incomplete. Aside from only having two sentences, it has no evidence supporting the claim. Examine this chart from the National Park Service and add at least two sentences to the paragraph to justify the claim in your notes. Interactive popup. Assistance may be required.

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  The Great Plains states had the largest percentage of their total acreage successfully homesteaded. Nebraska, Montana, Oklahoma, and the Dakotas each had at least 32% of their total land distributed through the Homestead Act, with Nebraska leading the way at 45%. Other Plains states like Kansas and Wyoming had at least 25% of their acreage homesteaded. By contrast states like Florida and California were only at 10% and Alaska at only 0.10%.

• Seward’s Folly: Alaska was purchased in 1867 from Russia, a deal known as "Seward's Folly." Many people at the time thought Secretary of State William Seward made a major error giving Russia $7.2 million for the icy land that would become the largest state in the Union in 1959. Why do you think only 0.10% of it was successfully homesteaded? Interactive popup. Assistance may be required.

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  Alaska is located far to the west and has an extremely cold climate making it difficult to live in. Even today when it still has a total population of under one million people. With few people and its large land mass, only a tiny fraction of it could be given away. However, Seward’s Folly of 1867 has proven to be either Seward’s Genius or Seward’s Luck today. Alaska has proven to be rich in gold and in oil. Each day, the value of the oil extracted from Alaska exceeded the purchase price of the state.

Exodusters

As Reconstruction began to collapse in the 1870s, thousands of African Americans turned to the Homestead Act in order to escape their diminishing economic opportunities in the South, particularly in Louisiana which stripped away black voting rights in 1879. In particular, they headed to Kansas, which was considered to be among the states more hospitable to African Americans. It was the home of the controversial anti-slavery activist, John Brown.

Source: Historic Photograph, Early Area Homestead-Nicodemus Historic District, Library of Congress

From 1870-1880, the African-American population of Kansas increased from 16,250 people to 43,110. This migration of African Americans from the South to the West was known as the Exodus, borrowing the name of the book of the Bible that tells the story of the Israelites 40-year journey from slavery in Egypt to Israel. These freedmen were called Exodusters, combining Exodus with the dust that covered everything on the Great Plains.

Nicodemus: The first great black community of Exodusters in Kansas was the town of Nicodemus, founded in 1877.

Examine the information on the National Park Service website on Nicodemus.

Were the settlers prepared for life as homesteaders? Even though life was difficult in Nicodemus, was it still better than remaining victims of discrimination in the South? Answer in your notes.