Homesteading - Native American Homesteaders
Contributed By
PBS Learning Media
Homesteading - Native American Homesteaders
Native Americans were allowed to homestead only if they renounced their tribal affiliations. In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act and created opportunity for the 372,000 families that poured onto the prairies. The families came for many reasons – a hunger for land, a vision for the future, a longing for adventure, or an interest in profit.