Final answer:
The key difference lies in the land distribution where the Homestead Act encouraged Western settlement by distributing public lands, whereas the Dawes Act redistributed Native American reservation lands to integrate Native Americans into Euro-American society.
Step-by-step explanation:
The difference between the Dawes Act of 1887 and the Homestead Act of 1862 was primarily concerned with land distribution and the treatment of Indigenous peoples. The Homestead Act was designed to promote the settlement and development of the Western territories by distributing public land to individuals willing to farm it. In contrast, the Dawes Act aimed at assimilating Native Americans into White society by breaking up communal reservation lands into individual plots for private ownership by Native families, with 'surplus' lands sold to White settlers. This policy of allotment under the Dawes Act also undermined Native American sovereignty and communal land practices, marking a significant shift in U.S. government's Native American policy from isolation on reservations to forced integration.