This Day in History

June 21, 1866: Southern Homestead Act

Time Periods: 1865
Themes: African American, Reconstruction, Labor, Racism & Racial Identity
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The Southern Homestead Act of 1866 was signed on June 21, 1866.

In teaching about any of the Homestead Acts, it is important to include how the land was stolen from Native Americans.

The Act opened 46 million acres of federal land in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi. African Americans were granted priority access until January 1, 1867. However, a lack of agricultural resources (seeds, tools, and farm animals), the poor quality of most of the land, and persecution by whites made it difficult for African Americans to take advantage of this opportunity.

Southern Homestead Act | Zinn Education Project

Learn more in primary documents about this story.

Teach about the Reconstruction era.

Related Resources
Teaching Activities (Free)

Reconstructing the South: A Role Play

Lesson. By Bill Bigelow. 17 pages.
This role play engages students in thinking about what freedpeople needed in order to achieve — and sustain — real freedom following the Civil War. It’s followed by a chapter from the book Freedom’s Unfinished Revolution.

The First Vote
Articles

Freedom’s Unfinished Revolution: Teaching a People’s History of Reconstruction

Article. Background reading for teachers. By Bill Bigelow. 4 pages.
A review of Freedom’s Unfinished Revolution, a collection of primary documents for high school on the Civil War and Reconstruction.

Books: Fiction

Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule

Book — Fiction. By Harriette Gillem Robinet. 1998. 144 pages.
Historical fiction featuring 12-year-old Pascal, 8-year-old Nellie, and their older brother Gideon, a Union Army aide, as they claim and farm the land promised to them during Reconstruction.

Articles

When Black Lives Mattered: Why Teach Reconstruction

Article. By Adam Sanchez. If We Knew Our History series.

Reconstruction, the era immediately following the Civil War and emancipation, is full of stories that help us see the possibility of a future defined by racial equity. Though often overlooked in classrooms across the country, Reconstruction was a period where the impossible suddenly became possible.