Immigrant Homesteaders

The Homestead Act was the first comprehensive accommodating immigration law encouraging people to come to the United States while providing the necessary requirements for citizenship. By examining the Congressional Debates and studying the language used in the narrative of the Homestead Act, it is apparent that the 37th Congress intended to use the Homestead Act as a way to bolster a stagnant population and build an agricultural nation through immigration and the settlement of the public lands of the United States.