The homestead act of 1862 impacted american indians by

The Homestead Acts are a group of federal laws that gave ownership of land, called a “homestead,” at little or no cost, to people who applied for it. The original Homestead Act of 1862 was signed by President Abraham Lincoln.  Applicants had to be the head of a household or at least 21 years old.  They had to live on the land, build a home, make “improvements” on the land, and farm it for a minimum of five years.  The intent was to grant land for agriculture, but the law was abused, and much land fell into the hands of land speculators.  Still, the Homestead Acts have always been thought of as a good thing by mainstream Americans.  A lot of people in my generation grew up watching Westerns on  TV, where the trials and tribulations of the white settlers were highly romanticized.

The Homestead Act of 1862 impacted American Indians by displacing them from their ancestral lands.

Explanation: The Homestead Act of 1862 was signed by President Lincoln during the Civil War and it provided white settlers with 160 acres of government-owned land. However, Native Americans had been living in these lands for a long time; in other words, these lands were their home. As Native Americans did not want to leave nor share the place with the new settlers, the government forced them to leave in order to clear the way for the new settlers and offered to relocate them.