FAQ

What is the Homestead Act?

The Homestead Act of 1862 was a United States federal law that gave one quarter of a section of a township (160 acres, or about 65 hectares) of undeveloped land in the American West to any family head or person who was at least 21 years of age, provided he lived on it for five years and built a house of a minimum of 12 by 14 feet, or allowed the family head to buy it for $1.25 per acre ($308/km²) after six months.

The act was signed into law by President Lincoln on May 20, 1862.

From Wikipedia.org

What is Homesteading?

Broadly, homesteading is a lifestyle of agrarian self-sufficiency.

In the United States, the Homestead Act (1862) allowed anyone to claim up to 160 acres (647,000 m²) of land. After clearing and working the land for five years, the homesteader would receive title to the land from the government. In this sense, homesteading was a means of obtaining land, and was the most important and prevalent means of settlement in the late 19th century. The Act was an embodiment of the broader legal homestead principle. Daniel Freeman (1826–1908) was the first person to file for a claim under Homestead Act of 1862. Similar provisions were in place for what is now Western Canada (see Last best West).

Currently the term homesteading applies to anyone who is a part of the back to the land movement and who chooses to live a sustainable, self-sufficient lifestyle. While land is no longer freely available in most areas of the world, homesteading remains as a way of life. A new movement, called “urban homesteading,” can be viewed as a simple living lifestyle, incorporating small-scale agriculture, sustainable and permaculture gardening, and home food production and storage into suburban or city living.

From Wikipedia.org