5fish
Captain
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2007
- Location
- Central Florida
We know Lincoln and his efforts to save the union and later free the slaves. In the midst of the war, Lincoln signed a few laws that open the West for development. I do not think they were called the Western New Deal" until years later in history.
The four bills and one proclamation signed into law by President Lincoln as part of this "Western New Deal" were:
Link to the National Park ... https://www.nps.gov/home/learn/historyculture/lincolnandwest.htm
The four bills and one proclamation signed into law by President Lincoln as part of this "Western New Deal" were:
- Department of Agriculture Act, May 15, 1862: This bill created the Department of Agriculture as an agency designed to promote U.S. farming and carry agricultural technology and techniques to the West.
- Homestead Act, May 20, 1862: The Homestead Act opened millions of acres of the public domain to settlement and cultivation. This Act was open to anyone who met very basic and progressive requirements, including women, immigrants, and, beginning in 1868, African Americans. Eventually, homesteads were found in 30 states and covered 270 million acres.
- Pacific Railway Act, July 1, 1862:This law created the great transcontinental railroad, which was completed in 1869 and linked the east and west coasts. Lincoln ensured that the railroad ran along a northern rather than southern route. The southern route had been the one preferred by Southern politicians prior to the Civil War.
- Morrill Act, July 2, 1862:The Morrill Act created the land grant college system, whereby states were given title to various western lands to sell. Funds generated from these sales were to be used to build agricultural and technical colleges in those states. Many modern universities in the West and other parts of the nation are land grant colleges.
- Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, September 22, 1862: By issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln established the total abolition of slavery as a Union war aim and put African Americans on the road to citizenship. After the war, many former slaves moved west in search of new opportunities away from the South. Following the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment, which granted them citizenship, many became homesteaders [go here to learn about former slaves who became homesteaders and here for information about Nicodemus National Historic Site].
Link to the National Park ... https://www.nps.gov/home/learn/historyculture/lincolnandwest.htm