宅地法
1862年美国南北战争期间由第16届总统A.林肯颁布的一项旨在无偿分配美国西部国有土地给广大移民的法令.它是美国历史上一项著名的经济措施.又译“份地法”、“移居法”.美国独立后,联邦政府对西部土地实行国有化,并决定按地段分块出售,以增加政府的收入,偿还国债和满足土地投机者的要求.但出售土地单位面积大、价格高,西部移民无力购买,因而展开了长期争取无偿分配土地的斗争.由于南部奴隶主的阻挠,直到内战前,无偿授予移民土地的法案均被参议院否决.
南部奴隶主的政治代表退出国会后,林肯政府得以实现共和党提出的宅地纲领,国会众议院和参议院于1862年2月28日和5月6日先后通过了宅地法.5月20日林肯颁布此项法令.《宅地法》规定,凡一家之长或年满21岁、从未参加叛乱之合众国公民,在宣誓获得土地是不了垦殖目的并缴纳10美元费用后,均可登记领取总数不超过160英亩宅地,登记人在宅地上居住并耕种满5年,就可获得土地执照而成为该项宅地的所有者.《宅地法》还规定一项折偿条款,即如果登记人提出优先购买的申请,可于6个月后,以每英亩1.25美元的价格购买.《宅地法》生效后,又陆续通过一些带有补充性质的法令.如1873年的《育林法》,1877年的荒漠法.据统计,依据《宅地法》及其补充法令,联邦政府到1950年有2.5亿英亩土地授予移民.该法于1976年美国除阿拉斯加外所有的州失效，而阿拉斯加也在1986宣布失效。
《宅地法》在一定程度上满足了西部垦殖农民的土地要求,确立了小农土地所有制,从而为美国农业资本主义的发展创造了有利条件.它的实施也鼓舞了西部农民反对南部奴隶主的斗争,遏制了奴隶制种植园向西扩展.在美国内战中,西部农民为联邦军队输送了半数以上的士兵,并提供了充足的粮食,对北方取得战争的胜利起了重要的作用.但是它也存在一些弊端：首先它缺乏实际性，宅地法要求居住并耕种满五年，但由于天气等自然及社会环境所影响，没有多少家庭实际呆了五年。
并且在宅地法下的大部分土地都很快被投机者掌握，并没有给一些贫民提供新的开始。而美国农业机械化的迅速发展也导致了大农场取代个人宅第，加速宅第法的失效。
但不可否认，宅第法对于美国的经济、农业和社会稳定发展是完全不可想象的，在第二十世纪形成了美国繁荣的基础的很大一部分。
The Homestead Act was Signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on May 20, 1862, The law took effect on January 1, 1863.The Homestead Act of 1862 was paed by the U.S.The House of Representatives paed the Homestead Act by a vote of 107 to 16 on February 28, 1862.The Senate paed the Homestead Act by a vote of 33 to 7 on May 6, 1862.theHomestead Act encouraged Western migration by providing settlers 160 acres of public land.In exchange, homesteaders paid a small filing fee and were required to complete five years of continuous residence before receiving ownership of the land.After six months of residency, homesteaders also had the option of purchasing the land from the government for $1.25 per acre.The Homestead Act led to the distribution of 80 million acres of public land by 1900.Under this law any man or woman twenty-one years old or the head of a family could have 160 acres of undeveloped land by living on it five years and paying eighteen dollars in fees.They were also required to build a home, make improvements and farm the land before they could own it outright.Alternatively, the homesteader could purchase the land for $1.25 per acre after having lived on the land for six months.The Homestead Act of 1862 has been called one of the most important pieces of Legislation in the history of the United States.The Homestead Act remained in effect for more than 100 years.（1862-1986），In 1976 it expired in all the states but Alaska, where it ended in 1986.But the law did not provide the new beginning for urban slum dwellers that some had hoped; few such families had the resources to start farming, even on free land.The grants did give new opportunities to many impoverished farmers from the East and Midwest, but much of the land granted under the Homestead Act fell quickly into the hands of speculators.Also, over time, the growing mechanization of American agriculture led to the replacement of individual homesteads with a smaller number of much larger farms.Ironically, the Homestead Act was often used as a scam.Usually, the land that was available was in too poor a shape to farm on, especially in the middle of the plains where droughts were common occurrences.Because of hardships like these, not many families actually stayed for the entire five years.Many corporations also took advantage of this act.They would pay people to buy the top-of-the-line property which contained an abundance of resources such as timber, minerals, and oil.Then the settlers would claim later on that they had \"improved\" the land.In reality, the improvements made to the land were minimal.But we can\'t deny that Homestead Act is completely Contribute to the U.S.economy, agricultural development and social stability,。It also became the basis of the twentieth century prosperity of the United States.
