The Land Act of 1820 (ch. 51, ), enacted April 24, 1820, is the

United States federal law The law of the United States comprises many levels of codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the most important is the nation's Constitution, which prescribes the foundation of the federal government of the United States, as well as va ...

that ended the ability to purchase the United States' public domain lands on a credit or installment system over four years, as previously established. The new law became effective July 1, 1820 and required full payment at the time of purchase and registration. But to encourage more sales and make them more affordable, Congress also reduced both the minimum price (from $2.00 to $1.25 () per acre ($495 to $309/km²)) and the minimum size of a standard tract (from 160 to 80 acres (647,000 to 324,000 m²)). The minimum full payment now amounted to $100, rather than $320. At the time, these lands were located on the

frontier A frontier is the political and geographical area near or beyond a boundary. A frontier can also be referred to as a "front". The term came from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"—the region of a country that fronts o ...

within the

Congress Lands The Congress Lands was a group of land tracts in Ohio that made land available for sale to members of the general public through land offices in various cities, and through the General Land Office. It consisted of three groups of surveys: *Ohio Ri ...

of Ohio and elsewhere in the

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Established in 1 ...

and

Missouri Territory The Territory of Missouri was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 4, 1812, until August 10, 1821. In 1819, the Territory of Arkansas was created from a portion of its southern area. In 1821, a southeas ...

, in what was then "The West". With the high cost of transporting their produce and lack of

internal improvements Internal improvements is the term used historically in the United States for public works from the end of the American Revolution through much of the 19th century, mainly for the creation of a transportation infrastructure: roads, turnpikes, canal ...

, the law was considered necessary because many farmers were having trouble paying off loans due to the additional economic hardships brought by the

Panic of 1819 The Panic of 1819 was the first widespread and durable financial crisis in the United States that slowed westward expansion in the Cotton Belt and was followed by a general collapse of the American economy that persisted through 1821. The Panic h ...

. The previous

Land Act of 1804 The Land Act of 1804 was U.S. legislation that refined provisions for the purchase of U.S. public land north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi river. At the time, the region was divided into the Indiana Territory and the State of Ohio. ...

still included a minimum purchase (160 acres) too large for many individuals, and the price that was established by the

Land Act of 1785 The Land Ordinance of 1785 was adopted by the United States Congress of the Confederation on May 20, 1785. It set up a standardized system whereby settlers could purchase title to farmland in the undeveloped west. Congress at the time did not have ...

. This was too expensive for the average family moving west. Squatters too were breaking the laws by trying to get land more cheaply; this was accomplished by moving onto the land before it was acquired by the government and put up for auction. Congress did not like these encroachments on Indian Treaties and had to do something about it. The act was instrumental in ushering in a new age of Western influence. The low price made it possible for

settler A settler is a person who has human migration, migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a ...

s to move to the West, thus increasing the

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

in the west, and with it, Congressional states. Although the Land Act of 1820 was good for the average American it was also good for the wealthy investors, who had sufficient money to buy the lower cost land. Although the Land Act helped create a new age of Western growth and influence, it also increased the

confiscation Confiscation (from the Latin ''confiscatio'' "to consign to the ''fiscus'', i.e. transfer to the treasury") is a legal form of seizure by a government or other public authority. The word is also used, popularly, of spoliation under legal forms, o ...

of land from Native Americans. For earlier buyers of public lands however, and although helped by the eight-year credit extension, more than time was required to alleviate their situation. On February 16, 1821, the

Relief Act of 1821 The Relief Act of 1821, passed February, 16, 1821, was a United States federal law to provide additional financial relief for the purchasers of Public Lands, prior to the effective date of the Land Act of 1820. The 1820 law had ended public land pur ...

was passed to adjust debt repayment schedules for people who had bought public land prior to the Land Act of 1820, when the federal government changed its method of selling public lands.Cynthia Clark Northrup, Ed
Relief Act of 1821
The American Economy: A Historical Encyclopedia, Vol. 1. p. 376-377

References Reference is a relationship between objects in which one object designates, or acts as a means by which to connect to or link to, another object. The first object in this relation is said to ''refer to'' the second object. It is called a ''name'' ...

{{Reflist 1820 in American law United States federal public land legislation 1820 in the United States 16th United States Congress