The United States, is a country that primarily grew from the east coast to the west coast. Not too surprisingly, in an era in which traveling was not very easy, and travel was also fraught with all sorts of dangers and inconveniences, many people had a strong tendency to remain in the general locale of where they were so born and raised. Yet, having purchased an incredible amount of acreage through the Louisiana Purchase, as well as through the Mexican cession to America of a staggering amount of additional acreage, these lands needed to be developed by Americans, for the benefit of not just intrepid Americans, but to provide cohesion and vibrancy for the entire United States. Therefore, the progressive Lincoln Administration passed the Homestead Act of 1862, providing acreage for citizens to develop with nothing much more required from them initially but a minimal filing fee, and of which, if those residents were therefore able to improve that land by building upon such and improving upon its previous condition, they were then permitted to purchase such land from the government for a very reasonable amount of money.
The success of the Homestead Act led to the vibrant expansion of the west, while also providing for those that had little or nothing, a foothold into the American dream. Disappointedly, this legislation was eventually formerly repealed in 1976, and while it makes sense for the Federal government to have some sort of meaningful control over the usage of federal lands, so held in its stewardship, it also makes sense for those that have not been provided with a fair opportunity to have a reasonable opportunity to create something of value, in this the richest nation that the world has ever known.
While it use to be that the mere ownership of lots of land, in and of itself, had immense potential and value; we find that in today’s world, the amount of land so needed for ownership for a specific building, or a home, does not often necessitate a lot of acreage, but rather more than anything, what is needed to augment and to improve upon such, so as to make viable progress for those that have so little, is a helping and willing hand from that government, of, for, and by the people, especially for those previously precluded from having the fair chance to have a fair stake in this the fairest of lands. In this country remains millions of acres, so held on behalf of those people, and of which, a progressive Homestead Act so created in the present, would be beneficial for those with the pluck, to make something of themselves, with a head start so provided by that forward looking government.
It is a total waste of human talent, when those that could be something are provided with no reasonable outlet to be something of substance, and therefore for lack of that requisite nourishment, fail to grow. This government needs to provide today’s generation with a fair deal to replace the raw deal that so many duly suffer from. That is why a new Federal Homestead Act is so sorely needed, to provide a way and a means for those that have been unfairly denied the American dream, to have a fair chance to obtain that which will not only better their lives, but better this the last best hope of humankind.