The Homestead Act The Homestead Act passed on May 20 1862, allowed certain farmers to use a government grant to buy land (160 acres) in the newly bought Louisiana Purchase for $1.25 an acre. This inspired many people from east of the Mississippi river to move towards the west. Other reasons for moving west were poor soil, poverty, rumors of gold in California or just restlessness, and the promise of adventure. "Americans have always had itching feet," says historian John Mack Faragher.

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