This is the second part of the eighth chapter which now fully deals with the Great American Railroad and the great American tradition of homesteading in action which combines political protections and land grants to the freedmen of the South. While the combination of these proposals seems extreme, all of these were at one point in time or another from OTL, merely combined here through the power of a better economy, big business interests, and the combined power of Manifest Destiny and the desire to embrace the frontiersman spirit (also to allow for an escape valve for the poor southern whites that would inevitably wish to leave once plantation land was divided up between the freedmen). Finally, the policy issue we're all here for... Radical Reconstruction! It's finally here folks! The Radical Republican ideal of land distribution will be totally implemented, with the twin goals of both empowering the freedmen and simultaneously breaking the power of the infamous Planter Aristocracy, with many of their lands being split up between the former leaves which worked on those lands, with additional stretches of lands been given to ensure the African-American community had its own relatively homogenous living areas for safety and Republican majorities in the future.
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The Trans-Continental Railroad would be the main catalyst for the creation of new Western states. A policy goal from the now-extinct Whig Party, the idea of constructing a nation-spanning railroad had been seen as a way of both stimulating the railroad companies and the settlement of the Pacific, the Democrats would block all railroad bills, seeing them as economic competitors to the South, Immediately after the Southern Secession, the Northern states would pass multiple bills authorizing the construction of multiple railroads, which would start after hostilities had ended. Ambitious plans would provide for three routes: a Northern, Central, and Southern route. The reason for this extreme amount of construction would be twofold: the stimulation of domestic industries and the construction of railroads which would allow for an escape valve for many of the immigrants and poor whites who would be displaced by the North’s policies in the South. The routes would be as follows [1]:
The Northern route would go through what would have been the territory of Montana, reaching the Oregon territory. Though the route was considered harsh due to the terrain and winter snows, it was considered important to have an economic connection to British Columbia, and alongside a proper supply route to Rogeon and Washington would be created by this route.
The central route, which would be the most famous of the three would comprise a near tracing of the famous Oregon Trail, beginning in what had been the Wyoming territory, and would finish its route in the Californian city of Sacramento. While there had been discussions for having one main terminus for this railroad, it was found that all locations were more than satisfactory, and as such the central route of the Trans-Pacific Railroad would have the cities of St. Joseph, Missouri, Kansas City and Leavenworth, Kansas, Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Omaha, Nebraska as termini of the railroad, helping with issues of logistics, passenger transport, and made for easier supervision of the railroads alongside the economic boons that would be brought to those cities.
Finally, the southern route would go from Texas, all the way to Los Angeles, California, using territory acquired from the 1853 Gadsden Purchase. The railroad would have three main effects: a form of employment for former slaves in eastern Texas and surrounding areas alongside poor whites, the settlement of the New Mexico territory, and the enrichment of the city of Los Angeles. [2]
Alongside the railroad grants, Abraham Lincoln would sign into law the new Homesteading Act of 1865 which would create a release valve for those displaced by the Civil War, with emphasis on the poor, yeoman farmer whites in the Southern states who were the men who would be mostly responsible for the extreme acts of racial violence against the Freedmen of the South, and as such would be encouraged to settle in the West to alleviate tensions between the races. The old planter aristocracy would also settle land in the West, many of their properties being confiscated by the Freedmen’s Bureau during the period of military governance of the South. The main issue was the settlement of the state of Nebraska, which had seen itself with an incredibly low population count and an improper settlement of its lands, which would be rectified in one of the main clauses of the Act, which stipulated that within the state of Nebraska, all homesteaders were able to claim 640 acres of land in the Sandhills, as these lands had poor irrigation. Alongside the generous provisions in regards to Nebraska, arid, desert lands would also be available in 640-acre plots of land, in exchange for the settlers irrigating said land; which would also be combined with 320-acre grants for marginal lands, particularly in the Great Plains, due to their difficulty in cultivating. Following this, the Homestead Act would, for all intents and purposes, renew the Donation Land Claim Act, allowing settlers to acquire 320 or 640-acre land plots in the Oregon territory for free, which when combined with the northern route of the Trans-Continental Railroad, would result in a massive boom for Oregon’s population, leading to the territory’s admission as a state soon thereafter. In adding to the idea of settlement, and the necessity for credit mobility due to the use of the Greenback fiat currency, the credit stipulation of the 1804 Land Act would come into effect, which when combined with the option for smaller land purchases enabled by the 1820 Land Act, and the additional option to have an 8-year payment plan if one prefers over the 4-year plan, would also lead to less adventurous and more economically secure individuals to buy public land situated north and east of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers respectively, would increase the plot sizes of the people already living in the area, as well as allow for new people to settle. Three more clauses would be added to the Act which unlike the previous ones, would apply to any and all homesteaders that met the conditions of such: the Stock-Raising clause, the Timber Culture clause, and the Small Tracts clause. The Stock-Raising clause would provide 640-acre plots in addition to any others, as long as the land was specifically put to use for the raising of livestock. The Timber Culture clause stipulated for an additional 160 acres, as long as 40 of those acres were used for the planting of trees, this deemed necessary due to a combination of the necessity for lumber and to reduce the effect of the wind upon the land, a common problem in the plains. Finally, the Small Tracts clause would allow unlimited claims in 5-acre increments as long as those areas were developed for the purposes of either entertainment, residence, or business. The Act would have lenient requirements such as 3 years of residency and showing that one was a citizen or in the process of becoming one (with accounts made for military service) and for the claimant to be 21 years old in most cases, or 18 years old (if the head of household), alongside the usual stipulations of residing on and improving the land with the exception of the Timber Culture Act). [3]
The creation of the Freedmen’s Bureau would be President Lincoln’s toughest and most impactful law passed in the remainder of his term. Dealing directly with the creation of an agency that would endeavor to protect the newly freed slaves, the Freedmen’s Bureau would be responsible for the resettlement, housing, feeding, education, and provision of legal and voting rights for former slaves all across the Confederacy. An extremely unpopular agency amongst the old Planter Aristocracy and poor whites who saw that they were not benefiting from those programs, and as such (in their minds) relegated to a position below the former chattel. Bowing to the Radical inclinations held by Grant, and vociferously espoused by Butler, Lincoln would, against his better instincts and wishes, give the Bureau mandate to implement the famous promise of “40 Acres and a Mule” order of Major General William Tecumseh Sherman in his Special Field Order No. 15. Dividing up southern plantation land in parcels of up to 40 acres, alongside the provision of a pair of mules, harnesses, a cart, tools, seed, and food supplies. Freedmen would have the land available to them for a 6% (or less) yearly rent, with the option to buy the land after holding it for three years (at full 1860 prices). Alongside the opening-up of three million acres of unsettled land in Florida, Mississippi, and Arkansas, it would ensure the economic independence and freedom and stability so badly needed for the freedmen after the war and their emancipation. Drafted by Lyman Trumbull, Senator from Illinois, the Bureau would be a part of the War Department, would have no expiration date, and the homesteading would be open to all refugees and African-Americans, regardless of whether or not they lived in the ex-confederacy. As such, combined with the settlement of the 10,000 African-American soldiers from Virginia serving in Texas, alongside an additional 50,000 African Americans in the state of Virginia would be granted 500,000 acres of land in the state of Florida as a demonstration of the benefits of the settlement of former Confederate land. Alongside a provision of three million acres of land within the states of Florida, Mississippi, and Arkansas exclusively for freed slaves. An additional 46,398,544.87 acres would be opened up for sale in 80 and 160-acre sized plots in the states of Florida, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, and Louisiana which would be open to both the freed slaves and loyal whites. The Act would, in its formation by Illinois Senator Lyman Trumbull would also notably include the following phrase which would grant: “any of the civil rights or immunities belonging to white persons, including the right to.....inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold and convey real and personal property, and to have full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of person and estate, including the constitutional right of bearing arms.” which would guarantee civil and legal rights for all freed slaves, with the second notable element a lack of expiration date to the Act, which meant that the law would be in effect until Congress saw fit to nullify it instead of having to renew it constantly. [4]
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[1] Context from OTL. ITTL, the building of railroads is seen as even more important to the development of the nation, both as part of the Republican idea of settling the West and as a way to stimulate the economy (alongside the opportunity to create large investments by Butler and other less than scrupulous politicians).
[2] All cities were proposed as potential termini IOTL for their respective routes, which ITTL, they are all selected to be able to build more railroads and create more jobs in their areas.
[3] This updated Homesteading Act is basically just a combination of the Timber Culture Act, the Kinkaid Amendment, the Stock-Raising Homestead Act, and the Small Tracts Ac, followed by a combination and amendment of the 1804 and 1820 Land Acts. Alongside the least restrictive application provisions found for any of the bills being applied to all of them, it would comply with the Republican ideals of Homesteading and settlement of the West, with additional incentives for land ownership in the Ohio area.
[4] This superpowered version of the Freedmen’s Bureau Act would combine the terms of the first and second iterations of the Act. IOTL, Illinois Senator Lyman Trumbull did insert a provision for the Second Freedmen’s Bureau bill to be without an expiration date, and ITTL, he succeeds. Due to Grant and Butler’s Radical Republican leanings, the bill would be more vigorously enforced by them and would hold their approval through their administration.