Land Act of 1820

The Land Act of 1820 (ch. 51, 3 Stat. 566, April 24, 1820) is a United States federal law that eliminated the purchase of public land in the United States on credit. It also reduced the minimum size of the tract from 160 to 80 acres (647,000 to 324,000 m²). Additionally, the act required a down payment of $100 and reduced the price from $1.65 to $1.25 per acre ($408 to $309/km²). The land was located in the Northwest Territory and Missouri Territory, in what was then "the West". This was needed because farmers had trouble paying off their loans due to an economic hardship. The land ordinance of 1785 made land too expensive for the average American that was moving west. And squatters were breaking the laws by trying to get cheap land. They did this by moving onto the land before it was up for sale then they would try to get cheaper by saying the improvements on the land made the land more expensive. Congress did not like this and had to do something about it. The act was instrumental in ushering in a new age of Western influence. The low price made it possible for settlers to move to the West, thus increasing the population in the west, and with it, Congressional seats from the eventual states. Although the Land Act of 1820 was good for the average American it was even better for the wealthy investor, who had a lot of money to buy cheap land. Although the Land Act helped create a new age of Western influence, it also continued in the confiscation of land from Native Americans.