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Armed Occupation Act

The Florida Armed Occupation Act of 1842 () was passed by Congress as an incentive to increase the white population of Florida.

The Act granted <span style="white-space:nowrap">160&nbsp;acres&nbsp;(0.6&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>)</span> of unsettled land south of the line separating townships 9 and 10 South (an east–west line about north of Palatka and about south of Newnansville) to any head of a family as long he satisfied the following conditions:

  • be a white male resident of Florida and not having <span style="white-space:nowrap">160&nbsp;acres&nbsp;(0.6&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>)</span> of land in Florida when asking for the permit;
  • get a permit from the Lands Office;
  • he or his heirs reside for five consecutive years on the grant;
  • clear, enclose and cultivate of land during the first year;
  • build a house on the lot during the first year;
  • the land should be two or more miles away from a garrisoned military post.

The total land to be granted should not be more than under the act.

See also

References

Further reading

  • James W. Covington, "The Armed Occupation Act of 1842." Florida Historical Quarterly 40, no. 1 (1961): 41–52.
  • Laurel Clark Shire, The Threshold of Manifest Destiny: Gender and National Expansion in Florida. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016.
  • Laurel Clark Shire, "Turning Sufferers into Settlers: Gender, Welfare, and National Expansion in Frontier Florida." Journal of the Early Republic 33, no. 3 (2013): 489–521.
  • Joe Knetsch and Paul S. George, "A Problematical Law: The Armed Occupation Act of 1842 and Its Impact on Southeast Florida." Tequesta 53 (1993): 63–80.
  • Joe Knetsch and Paul S. George, "Staking a Claim in Early Miami." South Florida History Magazine, no. 1 (Winter 1990): 18–20.
  • Michael E. Welsh, "Legislating a Homestead Bill: Thomas Hart Benton and the Second Seminole War." Florida Historical Quarterly 57, no. 2 (1978): 157–72.
  • Julius Wilm, Settlers as Conquerors: Free Land Policy in Antebellum America. Stuttgart, Germany: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2018.