ARTICLES

Signed by Abraham Lincoln in 1862, the Homestead Act offered eligible settlers the chance to claim public land and build new lives in the West. Explore how the law worked, the hardships homesteaders faced, and the lasting consequences of western settlement.

The Trail of Tears forced thousands of Cherokee people from their southeastern homelands in the 1830s. Learn what led to the removal, how the Cherokee resisted, and why this history still matters.