Armed Occupation Act

The Florida Armed Occupation Act of 1842 () was passed as an incentive to grow the population of Florida.

The Act granted 160 acres (0.6 km²) of unsettled land south of the line separating townships 9 and 10 South
(an east–west line about north of Palatka and about south of Newnansville) to any head of a family as long he satisfied the following conditions:

*be a white male resident of Florida and not having 160 acres (0.6 km²) of land in Florida when asking for the permit;
*get a permit from the Lands Office;
*he or his heirs reside for five consecutive years on the grant;
*clear, enclose and cultivate of land during the first year;
*build a house on the lot during the first year;
*the land should be two or more miles away from a garrisoned military post.

The total land to be granted should not be more than under the act.

See also

* Frederick Weedon – the first person to receive a permit for land under the Act
* Mosquito County

References

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.

1842 in American law
1840s in Florida
United States federal public land legislation
Pre-statehood history of Florida
Settlement schemes in the United States
Florida Territory

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