Curated OER
National Park Service: Adeline Hornbeck and the Homestead Act
This Teaching with Historic Places instructional activity effectively depicts the life of a pioneer woman and ways in which the Homestead Act impacted her life. The site includes lesson plans, inquiry questions, and photos that may be...
Ohio State University
Osu History Teaching Institute: Homestead Act of 1862
Through the use of primary sources, 4th graders will understand the main concepts of the Homestead Act and use that information to write a letter to a relative explaining why they moved to Ohio.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Ap Us History: 1865 1898: The Homestead Act and the Exodusters
Explains what the Homestead Act of 1862 was and what it meant for settlers, as well as the Exodus of 1879 when many African Americans became exodusters and left the South. Includes questions for students at end.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Us History: 1865 1898: The Homestead Act and the Exodusters
The Homestead Act of 1862 gave free land to Americans willing to improve it, regardless of race, sex, or nation of origin.
Digital Public Library of America
Dpla: The Homestead Acts
The sources in this primary set document the Homestead Acts and the experiences of American homesteaders during the late 1800s. Includes teaching guide.
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: The Homestead Act Went Into Effect
This 4-page article discusses the Homestead Act of 1862 and its effects.
Library of Congress
Loc: Today in History: May 20: The Homestead Act
Gives facts about the Homestead Act and quotes from some homesteaders. Includes many links to additional resources within the Library of Congress site.
Curated OER
National Park Service: Homestead National Monument: History and Culture
An extensive site that covers many aspects of the Homestead Act, including biographies, charts, and the text of the act. From the National Park Service.
Siteseen
Siteseen: American Historama: Homestead Act
The purpose of the Homestead Act of 1862 was to shape the future of the Western regions of the United States by taming the region by populating the area with farmers. This article provides an overview of this important political incident...
Other
Digital Revolution: Homestead National Monument of America
This information about the Homestead Act and homesteaders has been garnered from the National Park Service. Use the links at the bottom to find out about the history of the Act, the lives of the homesteaders, and what a tall grass...
Other
Direct Line Software: The Homestead Act of 1862
This resource provides information on the Homesteaders and how to locate Homestead records. Visit to learn about the Homestead Act of 1862.
Ducksters
Ducksters: History for Kids: Homestead Act and Land Rush
Kids learn about the Homestead Act and Land Rush of the Old West. On this site learn about facts about Homesteaders and the grabbing land in the Midwest.
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Frontier Life: Uncle Sam Is Rich Enough to Give Us All a Farm
In this companion essay to the PBS series, Frontier House, you can see how the Homestead Act opened up the frontier to ordinary citizens, eager for a chance to own their own property.
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: America's History in the Making: Taming the American West
Comprehensive teaching unit that explores the settling of the American West in the late 1800s and the challenges these settlers faced. Contains video and text materials, web interactives, student oriented activities, and a timeline of...
Library of Congress
Loc: African American Mosaic: Western Migration and Homesteading
Contains text and photos on the African-American exodus to the West. Includes primary source documents and maps from the era.
US National Archives
Our Documents: A National Initiative on American History, Civics, and Service
Our Documents is home to one hundred milestone documents that influenced that course of American history and American democracy. Includes full-page scans of each document, transcriptions, background information on their significance, and...
Calisphere: University of California Libraries
University of California: Calisphere: Californio Society, 1830s 1880s
Collection of photos and drawings depicting early California elite and maps of land use from which students can learn about the transformation of the California economy and its political and cultural development in the 1800s.
Country Studies US
Countyr Studies: United States History: The Last Frontier
This site describes the settlement of the West happened quickly with the passage of the Homestead Act of 1862 and the push for the Transcontinental Railroad. With the explosion of the mining and ranching industries, the West was all but...
Curated OER
Wikipedia: Natl Historic Landmarks in Ne: Homestead Natl Monument of America
The first claim made under the Homestead Act of 1862.
University of Virginia
Miller Center at Uva: u.s. Presidents: Abraham Lincoln: Domestic Affairs
A comprehensive look at the domestic policies of the Lincoln Administration. Although the many issues involved with the Civil War were top priority, many decisions about other domestic problems were made that had a lasting effect. From...
Smithsonian Institution
National Postal Museum: Moving West
The National Postal Museum provides an intimate look at how America's postal service expanded to meet the needs of westward-moving settlers during the nineteenth century. Content includes a selection of letters written at the time, a...
CPALMS
Florida State University Cpalms: Florida Students: Captains of Industry: Second Industrial Revolution
This tutorial looks at the Second Industrial Revolution in the United States and the most famous and successful industrial entrepreneurs of that time. A PDF file of the tutorial is available.
PBS
Pbs: American Experience: Timeline of Farming in the u.s.
Presents a timeline of the history of farming in the U.S. between 1850 and 1933. Highlights include the Homestead Act of 1862, the Agricultural Act of May 1933, Emergency Farm Mortgage Act, and The Federal Surplus Relief Corporation.
Curated OER
Wikipedia: National Historic Landmarks in Vermont: Justin S. Morrill Homestead
Gothic Revival home of Justin Smith Morrill, Vermont representative and senator known for the 1862 and 1890 Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Acts.