The act Lincoln signed to encourage settlement of the West was the Homestead Act. More precisely, the Homestead Act of 1862 offered public land to settlers willing to establish a residence and improve the property.
President Abraham Lincoln signed the law on May 20, 1862, and it took effect on January 1, 1863. Under its main provisions, an applicant could claim up to 160 acres by paying a small filing fee, living on the land for five years, and making specified improvements. After meeting the requirements, the settler could receive ownership from the federal government.
The law reflected the Republican vision of free soil for independent farmers. Earlier homestead proposals had been blocked largely by Southern lawmakers, who feared that western territories would attract free labor and weaken the political power of slaveholding interests. After secession removed many of those opponents from Congress, the bill passed.
The Homestead Act helped populate the Great Plains and West, but settlement came at a major cost to Native nations, whose lands were taken and redistributed. The law also favored those able to survive difficult conditions, and many claims ultimately failed.