How we cite our quotes: (Section)
Quote #4
[…] That no person who has served, or may hereafter serve, for a period of not less than fourteen days in the army or navy of the United States, either regular or volunteer, under the laws thereof, during the existence of an actual war, domestic or foreign, shall be deprived of the benefits of this act on account of not having attained the age of twenty-one years. (Section 6)
Manifest Destiny rears its head here, too. There was a domestic war on when the Homestead Act was signed, but the inclusion of foreign wars is highly suggestive of a Congress who felt the U.S. was going to become a major player on the world stage. After all, if they had all that land, what was to stop them from taking over the whole continent?
The Mexican-American War was proof that land could be gained from their neighbors. It was nice of them to look after their younger soldiers and sailors in wars that hadn’t even been conceived of yet. Weren’t they a little busy militarily already?
Quote #5
[… ] That the fifth section of the act entitled 'An act in addition to an act more effectually to provide for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States, and for other purposes,' approved the third of March, in the year eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, shall extend to all oaths, affirmations, and affidavits, required or authorized by this act. (Section 7)
It was jumping the gun a bit to be setting up the penal code and its enactment in the territories (and future states). Congress knew there would be more states to the Union eventually, so they slipped in a bit of a rider clause that didn’t really have much to do with homesteading, but enabled a set treatment of federal crimes within states and territories. They were that sure about Manifest Destiny that they covered the whole of U.S. lands…even before there was a solid Union.