Push Pull Factors and the Homestead Act

Definition of push/pull factor

• Push factor, what causes or forces people to leave• Pull factor, what leads or attracts people to a specific

place?

Push Factors to the West

• Overcrowding• Need for jobs• Ethnic/Religious

repression• Refuge for outlaws

Pull Factors to the West

• Land (cheap and plentiful)• Riches (gold, silver, oil)• Freedom of religion/beliefs• Family connections• Jobs and new opportunities• Adventure• Maybe to find love

Moving West

• Many people moved out west because they believed in the philosophy of Manifest Destiny, which was the belief that America was destined to expand from coast to coast

• The primary method of travel to the west was stagecoach, wagon or horseback, some even walked

• Most who traveled out West were hoping for a new life

• A lot were given incentives to go by the US Government, like the Homestead Act or the Pacific Railways Act

What is an Immigrant?

• An immigrant is a person who moves from one country or region to another in order to make a new home.

Picture from: http://www.hmongstudies.org/HmongCulturalCenterESLProgramPhotos05.html

The Homestead Act• Passed by Congress on May 20, 1862 to get

people to move to the Great Plains. • Any citizen of the United States could claim 160

acres of government land. • After paying a small fee, homesteaders were to

improve their land by living on it, building a dwelling (home), and planting crops. If the settlers fulfilled these requirements, and remained on their homestead for a period of five years, the land became their property.

• With the Homestead Act 270 million acres of land was available for people to live on.

Reflect• What was the Homestead Act?

• What did settlers have to do to become owners of the land?

What are some problems that could arise from the Homestead Act?

Homestead Problems• Though the requirements of the Homestead Act

seemed easy, many people still had problems.

• Many who took claims had little or no farming experience.

• Much of the land in the Great Plains was not good for farming even if you were a great farmer. It was dry and not good for many crops.

*The Homestead Act lasted for 124 years. In this time over 2 million people claimed land. Of that 2 million, less than half lived on the land long enough to become an owner.

Reflect

• Why would the following groups of people want to settle in the West?•Single Women•Freed Slaves• Immigrants

Reflect• If you lived in the 1870s would you want to move

to the frontier? Why or why not? • Analyze the push and pull factors that an

immigrant coming to America would face during this time.

• What do you think life was like once you settled there? Easy? Difficult? Fun? Boring?