How did the federal government use land grants in the west in the 1860s

A) The government gave land to the railroads to spur the development of a transcontinental railroad.

The government gave land to the railroads to spur the development of a transcontinental railroad. ... The government slowed settlement of the West by withholding land grants until the Civil War was over.

answer; i believe the two groups were irish immigrants and chinese immigrants;

the passage of a strict fugitive slave law