Answer:
Government policies in the 1850s-1900 affected agriculture in several ways. For example, the Homestead Act of 1862 provided land to settlers in the West, encouraging the expansion of agriculture. The Morrill Act of 1862 provided federal land grants to states to establish colleges that would teach agriculture and engineering. The transcontinental railroad, completed in 1869, facilitated the transportation of agricultural goods to market. Additionally, tariffs on imported goods protected American farmers from foreign competition. However, there were also policies that had negative effects on agriculture, such as the forced removal of Native Americans from their land, which took away valuable farmland from indigenous populations.