Question

The Homestead Act encouraged the settlement of the West because it provided:

a) land to railroad companies to build the Transcontinental Railroad
b) forty acres and a mule to formerly enslaved people
c) land to people who would live and farm on it for at least five years
d) mining claims for prospectors seeking gold and silver

Answer 1

The Homestead Act encouraged western settlement by offering settlers 160 acres of land if they improved and farmed it for at least five years. The correct option is C.

Step-by-step explanation:

The Homestead Act encouraged the settlement of the West by providing land to people who would live and farm on it for at least five years.

Specifically, the act allowed any head of household, or individual over the age of twenty-one, to claim 160 acres of federal land. The primary condition was that these settlers had to "improve" the land by building homes, cultivating fields, and possibly maintaining livestock.

This legislation was part of the government's effort to encourage westward expansion and increase agricultural output during the Civil War era.