The first major stride towards government intervention related to agricultural policy was the Homestead Act of 1862. The act was comprised of multiple federal laws that offered ownership of land to applicants which began the normalization of individual farms. People could now own their own farm, as opposed to one person owning large amounts of land to farm on. Any adult that had not ever “taken arms against the U.S government” was eligible. This was crucial because immigrants, farmers that had no land of their own, single women and former slaves could apply. It was a was revolutionary idea; people could own their own land to increase agricultural production. The Homestead Act was put to an end with the enactment of the Federal Land policy and Management Act of 1976 due to chronic abuses of the
The first major stride towards government intervention related to agricultural policy was the Homestead Act of 1862. The act was comprised of multiple federal laws that offered ownership of land to applicants which began the normalization of individual farms. People could now own their own farm, as opposed to one person owning large amounts of land to farm on. Any adult that had not ever “taken arms against the U.S government” was eligible. This was crucial because immigrants, farmers that had no land of their own, single women and former slaves could apply. It was a was revolutionary idea; people could own their own land to increase agricultural production. The Homestead Act was put to an end with the enactment of the Federal Land policy and Management Act of 1976 due to chronic abuses of the