"Homesteading the Plains offers a bold new look at the history of homesteading, overturning what for decades has been the orthodox scholarly view. The authors begin by noting the striking disparity between the public's perception of homesteading as a cherished part of our national narrative and most scholars' harshly negative and dismissive treatment. Homesteading the Plains reexamines old data and draws from newly available digitized records to reassess the current interpretation's four principal tenets: homesteading was a ...
Read More
"Homesteading the Plains offers a bold new look at the history of homesteading, overturning what for decades has been the orthodox scholarly view. The authors begin by noting the striking disparity between the public's perception of homesteading as a cherished part of our national narrative and most scholars' harshly negative and dismissive treatment. Homesteading the Plains reexamines old data and draws from newly available digitized records to reassess the current interpretation's four principal tenets: homesteading was a minor factor in farm formation, with most Western farmers purchasing their land; most homesteaders failed to prove up their claims; the homesteading process was rife with corruption and fraud; and homesteading caused Indian land dispossession. Using data instead of anecdotes and focusing mainly on the nineteenth century, Homesteading the Plains demonstrates that the first three tenets are wrong and the fourth only partially true. In short, the public's perception of homesteading is perhaps more accurate than the one scholars have constructed. Homesteading the Plains provides the basis for an understanding of homesteading that is startlingly different from current scholarly orthodoxy"-- $c Provided by publisher.
Read Less
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Fine. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 272 p. Contains: Unspecified. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
New. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 272 p. Contains: Unspecified. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Fine. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 272 p. Contains: Unspecified. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
New. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 272 p. Contains: Unspecified. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
In April, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act which was designed to "secure homesteads to actual settlers on the public domain". Settlers could file a claim for a tract of land, generally up to 160 acres. After living on the land for five years (later reduced to three years) and making improvements and cultivating the land, they received a patent, making the land their own. The Homestead Act was a way to encourage settlement of the West by individuals seeking a start in life. The Act and its vision have become part of American culture. The National Park Service maintains the Homestead National Monument near Beatrice, Nebraska. The Monument is on the site of the patent of the first claimant under the Act, a physician named Daniel Freeman.
The Homestead Act has not fared well at the hand of historians. It has been viewed as ineffective in achieving its goal and as rife with corruption and abuse. It has been viewed as one of the means used to deprive Indians of their land. Historians seem to have lost interest in the Homestead Act and have not produced a major study of homesteading in fifty years.
This recent book, "Homesteading the Plains: Toward a New History" (2017) revisits the Homestead Act to argue that the more celebratory view of the Act reflected in popular culture is more nearly correct than the view of historians. The book is a team effort by Richard Edwards, Director of the Center for Great Plains Economics at the University of Nebraska, Jacob Friefeld, PhD, instructor in history at the University of Nebraska, and Rebecca Wingo, Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in digital liberal arts at Manchester College. The study makes use of the ongoing digitalization of the large, difficult to access historical record of the homesteading program to argue for a revised view of the importance of homesteading.
The book is at once a history of the homesteading program, a discussion of how earlier historians have viewed the program, and a new view with suggestions for further study. According to this study, the received scholarly view has found the homesteading program a failure for four reasons: 1. homesteading was a minor factor in land settlement as most new farmers paid for their land; 2. most homesteaders failed to prove up their claims; 3. the homesteading program was rife with corruption and fraud; and 4. homesteading caused Indian land dispossession.
In successive chapters, the book examines and rebuts the arguments used for each of these critiques of the homesteading program. The book then uses the newly-available digitalized records for some of the Great Plains states where homesteading was significant to offer specific rebuttal to each of the four claims and to show the importance and value of homesteading. The study produces statistics of its own to show the scope and success of the homesteading program in settling the West. With the exception of the claim based upon Indian dispossession, in which the record is mixed, prior scholarly criticism of homesteading is argued to be unwarranted and misleading. The program was inspiring, successful, and important. The book makes a strong case for its position, at least in the states for which digitalized homestead records are available. In addition, the work offers a good account of homesteading and of how the program was administered by the General Land Office. The book includes many fascinating stories of the homesteaders and their ongoing struggles and hardships as pioneers. Besides challenging the prevailing scholarly view of homesteading, the book uses the digitalized records to break new ground in showing the large role women, single, married, and widowed, played in homesteading and in showing how the homesteaders in a particular area often worked together to forge the ties of community.
The book celebrates the pioneering, community spirit of the homesteaders and the value of the homestead program. It offers and defends a positive view of the program in face of the view most often taken by historians and encourages students to take a further, close look at homesteading. I found the book both well-argued and inspiring. Readers with a strong interest in the American West will enjoy this book.
