How did speculators take advantage of the Homestead Act?

Answer 1

Speculators took advantage of the Homestead Act by acquiring large tracts of land through deceptive practices, often using intermediaries to file multiple claims. They would then sell these lands at inflated prices to settlers, who believed they were obtaining valuable farmland. By exploiting loopholes in the law, speculators could effectively monopolize resources meant for individual homesteaders, undermining the Act's intent to promote settlement and development by ordinary Americans. This manipulation contributed to the rapid commercialization of land in the West.