1862 — Homestead Act Signed, Impact on Black Land Ownership

On May 20, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act into law, allowing citizens to claim 160 acres of free land in the West. While intended to promote opportunity, Black Americans were largely excluded from its benefits due to systemic racism and delayed citizenship status for formerly enslaved people. After the Civil War, some African Americans attempted to claim homesteads, but discriminatory enforcement and violence often blocked access. The Homestead Act’s legacy is a double-edged sword: a symbol of opportunity for some and exclusion for others. It exemplifies how federal policies that seem neutral can reproduce racial inequality. By examining how Black communities were denied generational wealth through land ownership, this date reveals the historical roots of today’s racial wealth gap. Understanding May 20 through the lens of Black exclusion from land rights helps contextualize modern calls for reparative justice.