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Contribution #259 of 365
Isaac Wright
Homesteader, Farmer and Missouri Landowner
1865–1870s
The contribution
How this work helped shape America
Born enslaved in Tennessee, Isaac Wright pursued independent landownership almost immediately after emancipation. On December 22, 1865, he filed a federal homestead application for 80 acres in Newton County, Missouri, adjoining the farm of his former enslaver. Wright's claim represented a direct economic transition from enslavement to the pursuit of family-controlled agricultural land during the first months following the abolition of slavery.