Armed Occupation Act facts for kids

The Florida Armed Occupation Act of 1842 (5 Stat. 502) was a special law. It was created to encourage people to move to and settle in Florida.

This Act offered 160 acres (0.6 km²) of land. This land was south of a specific line, near Palatka and Newnansville. It was given to the head of a family. But they had to meet certain rules.

What Was the Armed Occupation Act?

The Florida Armed Occupation Act was a United States federal law. It was passed in 1842. The main goal was to help Florida grow. At that time, Florida was still a territory, not yet a state. The government wanted more people to live there. They hoped this would make the area safer and more developed.

Who Could Get Land?

To get land under this Act, a person had to be the head of a family. They also had to meet several important conditions. These rules made sure the land was used as intended.

Conditions for Receiving Land

To get a land grant, people had to follow these rules:

• They had to live in Florida already.
• They could not already own 160 acres (0.6 km²) of land in Florida.
• They needed to get a special permit from the Lands Office.
• The person or their family had to live on the land for five years in a row.
• During the first year, they had to clear and farm 5 acres (20,000 m²) of the land.
• They also had to build a house on the land within the first year.
• The land they chose had to be at least two miles away from any military base.

How Much Land Was Given Out?

The Act set a limit on how much land could be given away. In total, no more than 200,000 acres (800 km²) could be granted under this law. This helped control the amount of land distributed.

Literature

• 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.