The Morrill Act of 1862 granted federal land to states to establish colleges specializing in agriculture, engineering, and military sciences. Each state received 30,000 acres of land for each congressional seat. The act was first introduced in 1857 and passed in 1862, excluding Confederates. A second Morrill Act was passed in 1890 for former Confederate states. The act significantly affected US education and society, and 69 land grant colleges were founded, including Michigan State University, MIT, and the University of California.
The Land-Grant College Act of 1862, also known as the Morrill Act, was legislation enacted by the United States Congress to assist states in funding colleges specializing in “agriculture and the mechanical arts,” meaning agriculture, engineering, and military sciences. It did so, initially, by granting land to the states. The states, in turn, were directed to sell the land and use the funds generated to establish the new colleges. This act is named after Justin Morrill, a Congressman from Vermont, who is its author.
Under the Morrill Act, each state was granted 30,000 acres (12,140 hectares) of federal land for each congressional seat it had, as determined by the 1860 census. The U.S. Constitution guarantees each state a minimum of two Senators and one rep, so no state received less than 90,000 acres (36,420 hectares). Some states used land grant funds to create new colleges, but others gave the money to existing colleges to establish agricultural and engineering schools. These schools became known as “A&M” colleges.
The Morrill Act was first introduced in Congress in 1857 in response to a 15-year political movement calling for agricultural colleges. Early 19th-century colleges traditionally taught classical studies and general science rather than practical or applied fields of interest. The Morrill Act was passed by Congress in 19, but President James Buchanan vetoed it.
Morrill amended the act to include the teaching of military tactics in addition to agriculture and engineering, and reintroduced it to Congress in 1861. The act was passed and signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862. At the time of its passage, the act excluded Confederates due to their secession from the U.S. The Morrill Act was extended to include those states after the end of the American Civil War.
In 1890, Congress passed a second Morrill Act that was directed at the former Confederate states. It required states to demonstrate that race was not a criterion for admission or to establish separate land-grant colleges for blacks. In lieu of land, this Morrill Act gave money to the states so they could establish new colleges.
The Morrill Acts, by forcing the inclusion of applied and technical fields of study such as agriculture and engineering in colleges, fueled industrialization and significantly affected US education and society. In total, 69 land grant colleges were founded. Some examples of land grant schools are Michigan State University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the University of California.
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