1. A Hundred and Sixty Acres
I got a hundred and sixty acres in the valley Got a hundred and sixty acres of the best Got an old stove there that'll cook three square And a bunk where I can lay me down to rest.
Up at dawn to greet the sun I've forgotten what a care or worry means Head for home when day is done With my pocket money jinglin' in my jeans.
I´ve got a hundred and sixty acres full of sunshine Got a hundred and sixty million stars above Got an old paint hoss, I'm the guy who's boss On the hundred and sixty acres that I love!

2. Up at dawn to greet the sun
I´ve forgotten what a care or worry means Head for home when day is done With my pocket money jinglin' in my jeans.
I´ve got a hundred and sixty acres full of sunshine
Got a hundred and sixty million stars above Got an old paint hoss, I'm the guy who's boss On the hundred and sixty acres that I love! Got an old paint hoss, I'm the guy who's boss On the hundred and sixty acres that I love!

3. Lesson Objectives
To identify the groups of people who became homesteaders
To examine the role of the US Government and Railroad companies in encouraging the movement West
To hypothesise possible problems homesteaders faced

4. Who became Homesteaders and why?

5. Young men with a sense of adventure and no other commitments could group together and claim large amounts of land

6. Families would all move
West and share the back
Breaking work

7. Women – usually groups
Of sisters would move West but this was more unusual

8. Ex-slaves would move
West to be free of
Racism and earn a living
without persecution

10. Ex-Civil War
soldiers became
Homesteaders
after the war
Ended and they
were no longer
needed in the army

11. Railroad companies
advertised heavily for
people to move West
and they even
advertised abroad in
places like Eastern
Europe where people
wanted to escape
poverty

12. Settlers allowed to have free of charge 160 acres of land
The Homestead Act
Settlers allowed to have free of charge 160 acres of land
The terms stated that homesteaders had to build a house on the land and live there for five years. After that time they would receive the deeds to land.
the act was extended through the Timber Culture Act. This provided another 160 acres of land as long as 40 acres were planted with trees. This was later reduced to 10 acres.

13. The sort of houses built for land speculators to acquire land

14. What was good about the Homestead Act?
It became possible for Homesteaders to get as much as 480 acres of land. This meant families could make more profit.
This was further extended to 640 acres.
It played a significant part in encouraging settlement on the Plains.
Problems with the Homestead Act
Critics said the amount of land was to small for a family to survive
Land was more or less fertile depending where you were
Land speculators got their employees to apply for land and then buy it off them to sell for higher profits