The Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890 provided land grants to states to establish colleges of agriculture and mechanical arts. The Pacific Railway Act of 1862 encouraged the building of the transcontinental railroad, which was completed in 1869 at Promontory Point, Utah. The Homestead Act and new technologies like the windmill, seed drill, and barbed wire encouraged western expansion by making farming on the Great Plains possible. The Morrill Acts established land grant colleges that still educate farmers today.

1. Farmers and
Homesteading
2-DD2

2. New
Vocabulary • Laws passed in 1862 and 1890 that gave states land to sell, requiring the states
to then use the money to build and finance colleges of “agriculture and
mechanical arts.”
Morrill Acts
• 1862 law passed by Congress to encourage private firms to build a
transcontinental railroad.
Pacific Railway Act
• Location where in 1869 the first transcontinental railroad was completed.
Promontory Point, Utah
• Houses built by homesteaders made from patches of grass and soil.
Soddies
• A person who either received land free or bought it for cheap in order to sell it
later at a high profit in violation of the purpose of Homestead Act.
Speculator

3. Railroads Reach Westward
1. Synthesizing Information: What did you learn about the difficulties of building
the cross-country railroads from the video we watched?
2. Read the Section, “Railroads Reach Westward”
• Use your annotation skills (Close Reading, binder page H)
3. In the margin,
• write 2 new things you have learned
• write 1 question you have about something you read
4. Turn to your teammates and discuss the two things you learned.

4. Railroads Reach Westward
5. Write Question 1 and INDEPENDENTLY give “YOUR Answer”.
What impact did railroads have on the westward expansion of the
United States?
6. Turn to your teammates and discuss your answers.
7. Together, create one answer for your team that includes ideas from everyone
and write “Your TEAM’S Answer” on your paper.

5. Pacific Railway
Act
Analyze the image to the right.
1. What is advertised?
2. What did railroad companies do
with the land the federal
government gave them?
3. What are some of the things in
advertisement that would seem
attractive to settlers to make
them want to buy?

6. Homestead Act and New
Technologies
1. Synthesizing Information: From the video, describe the challenges faced by
settlers who farmed the Great Plains.
2. Read the Section, “Homestead Act and New Technologies”
• Use your annotation skills (Close Reading, binder page H)
3. In the margin,
• write 2 new things you have learned
• write 1 question you have about something you read
4. Turn to your teammates and discuss the two things you learned.

7. Homestead Act and New
Technologies
5. Write Question 2 and INDEPENDENTLY give “YOUR Answer”.
How did the Homestead Act and the new technologies encourage
settlers to move west?
6. Turn to your teammates and discuss your answers.
7. Together, create one answer for your team that includes ideas from everyone
and write “Your TEAM’S Answer” on your paper.

8. Exodusters
Watch the video
(beginning to point
1:14) and answer the
question.
1. Who were the
Exodusters?
2. What possible
reasons did they
have for leaving
the south?
https://youtu.be/Q5v
YbFL7OHI

9. The Seed Drill
Watch the video and
answer the question.
1. What did the
Seed Drill do?
2. How did it
improve farming?
https://youtu.be/Of
w5-YafPnc

10. Baker Windmill
Watch the video and
answer the question.
1. How did the steel
windmill work?
2. How did it
improve farming?
https://youtu.be/iHv
gpMnyfVk

11. Government Support
1. Read the Section, “Government Support”
• Use your annotation skills (Close Reading, binder page H)
2. In the margin,
• write 2 new things you have learned
• write 1 question you have about something you read
3. Turn to your teammates and discuss the two things you learned.

12. Government Support
4. Write Question 2 and INDEPENDENTLY give “YOUR Answer”.
What impact did the Morrill Acts have in educating farmers? What
impact does it have today?
5. Turn to your teammates and discuss your answers.
6. Together, create one answer for your team that includes ideas from everyone
and write “Your TEAM’S Answer” on your paper.

13. Soddies
Watch the video and
answer the
questions.
1. What were
soddies?
2. Why did settlers
build and live in
sod houses?
https://youtu.be/fds
Cjtky6ZQ

14. Summarize
Independently, summarize
what you learned about
Farming and Homesteading.