President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act into law on May 20, 1862. The Homestead Act declared that any citizen or intended citizen could claim 160 acres, one quarter square mile, of surveyed government land. Claimants had to improve the plot with a dwelling and grow crops. After five years, if the original filer was still on the land, it became his or her property, free and clear other than the $10 filing claim fee.