User:GenQuest/List of land acts in the United States


 * Land Ordinance of 1785; adopted by the Continental Congress in the United States on May 20, 1785; established the basis for the Public Land Survey System: (square townships, six miles [9.656 km] on a side - townships were sub-divided into thirty-six sections of one square mile [2.59 km²] or 640 acres; could be subdivided and re-sold); The minimum price was 640 dollars per section (or one dollar for each acre of land in each section).
 * Public Land Act of 1796; authorized Federal land sales to the public in minimum 640-acre plots at $2/acre paid at closing.
 * Harrison Land Act of 1800; April 15, 1800; reduced the required land purchase to 320 acres (at a minimum of two dollars per acre); and for the first time, credit was allowed (with at least one-half down plus administrative costs) due at time purchase (or $330), with the remaining $320 to be paid in four equal annual installments—none of which could be missed; established one of the first mechanisms for funding public education in the United States.
 * Land Act of 1804; minimum purchase was reduced to 160 acres.
 * Relief Act of 1821; purchaser allowed to return land that they could not afford back to the government (owner would not have to pay for the extra land that was given back); credit extended for eight additional years.
 * Land Act of 1820; further reduced the number of required acres purchased from 160 to 80, and the cost from $2/acre to $1.25/acre.
 * Preemption Act of 1841, under which established squatters were given the first chance to buy government land tracts at a minimum of $1.25/acre.
 * Donation Land Claim Act of 1850; September 27, 1850, granted 320 acres
 * Homestead Act of 1860 didn't pass
 * Morrill Land-Grant Acts; allowed for the creation of land-grant colleges; allocated 17,400,000 acres.
 * Homestead Act of 1862
 * Southern Homestead Act of 1866
 * Timber Culture Act of 1873
 * Kinkaid Act, a 1904 amendment to the Homestead Act
 * Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909
 * Stock-Raising Homestead Act of 1916
 * Small Tract Act of 1938, five-acre (2-hectare) tracts for homesteads were made available in Alaska at $2.50/acre.
 * Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976