Critical thinking: chapter 13, section 2

Q: How successful were the government efforts to promote settlement of the Great Plains? Give examples to support your answer.

· The growth in population on the Great Plains.
· The role of railroads in the economy.
· The Homestead Act.

A: During the 1870’s and 80’s, the United States government had the entire west land of advertise. The government was very successful in the sale and promotion of the plains and the west. They had done this through three different and successful ways. These way are railroads; the act passed called the Homestead Act, and the continuous growing population in the west.
The railroads were an excellent way to move goods out west. Even though they were labor intensive to build, it was worth the wait. Immigrants, new settlers, and farmers could ship supplies, and arrive at a destination in a fraction of the time it would take to ride over the country on horse. The trails also allowed goods to move across the country to California.
Probably the most impacting effort passed by the government was the Homestead Act. The Homestead Act offered any citizen 160 acres of land, free of charge. Over 600000 families took advantage of this offer. However, private speculators used these laws for personal by fencing off open lands from people. Another massive land giveaway was set up in 1889 to give away the entire Oklahoma area. (Pg. 421)
The growing population on the plains closed off the frontier in the west. The land that was available had either been claimed by pioneers, or bought by the railroad companies. Over 19 million of government owned land was claimed by ever growing population of the United States. All the land had been bought up and it now no longer existed. The new land increased the population in the United States. (Pg. 422)