What Factors Pulled People to Nebraska and the Plains?
Even if someone decides to leave his or her homeland, it’s a big world, and emigrants could choose to go almost anywhere in it. So, in addition to the push away, there had to be a pull toward the new land of Nebraska. The Homestead Act of 1862 was a major pull that lured immigrants westward. The promise of “free” land proved to be a real inducement to peasants who had to eke out an existence on inadequate land holdings back in Europe. One requirement of the Homestead Act was that you had to be an U.S. citizen; however, you could also qualify by declaring your intention to become a citizen. Some Midwestern areas were anxious to increase their populations and encourage immigration from Europe by publishing pamphlets and newspaper advertisements about the wonderland on the American prairies. Some states like Nebraska even created an Immigration Bureau to “sell the state” to people living in foreign nations.
