How did the homestead Act and the transcontinental railroad impact the economic development of the united states?

The Homestand Act was a series of laws which motivated people to expand the US territory, in the first version of the law the applicant, any American and even freed slaves, could ask for up to 160 free acres of federal land. As a result, America could expand and explore lands to the west. The last patch of land granted by the law was in 1988, it was 80 acres in southeastern Alaska.