Southern Homestead Act (1866)

Thu Jun 21, 1866

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On this day in 1866, the U.S. government put up approximately 46 million acres of public land for sale in southern states, with government officials de facto excluding black people from the process so that whites could homestead it first.

The sale came via the passage of the Southern Homestead Act and made land available in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Until January 1st, 1867, the bill specified, only free black people and loyal white people would be allowed access to these lands. Homesteaders were required to occupy and improve the land for five years before acquiring full ownership.

Southern bureaucrats often obstructed or violated the law, not informing black people of their right to land (thus delaying and allowing Confederates to be eligible, from 1867 onwards). It was also difficult for freed slaves to take advantage of the opportunity, often lacking seed, animals, and farm tools.

Despite this, free black people entered about 6,500 claims to homesteads, 1,000 of which eventually resulted in property certificates. The law was repealed a decade later as part of a growing cooperation between Northern and Southern capitalists. This cooperation became more explicit with the Compromise of 1877, which resulted in the end of Reconstruction and federal troops withdrawing from Southern states.