To my understanding, and from what I have read in the book and throughout the course links, I believe that the intent of the Homestead Act was to defeat land monopoly. Many farmers, however, lacked the economic means to move west and manage a farm. . By this, fewer still understood the new type of agriculture, in which technology was used to farm the land that the Great Plains required. Instead, speculators and corporate interests were …showed first 75 words of 565 total…

…showed last 75 words of 565 total…voices were heard. The transformative power of the railroads in the American West, in my view, can relate to the tern "talismanic wands". At that time, the settlers did not have any mode of transportation other than their animals, and the railroad system seemed to be the magical instrument. I think the railroad did work miracles for the people at that time because it gave them a chance to travel and market their goods elsewhere.