The Homestead Act which was signed into law by Abraham Lincoln on May 20th 1862, enabled people who had no money to get free land. The main reason for the Act was to prevent monopolies from owning most of the land assets and allow people to be more self-reliant and independent. This is part of our new section of Smart Mobs/ Flash Mobs which now includes groups that rally around causes or more serious objectives. Land Runs like the Oklahoma Land Run of 1889 were organized events that allowed mobs of people to pursue their dream of land ownership.