Passed on July 2, 1862, this act made it possible for new western states to establish colleges for their citizens. The new land-grant institutions, which emphasized agriculture and mechanic arts, opened opportunities to thousands of farmers and working people previously excluded from higher education.
Sponsored by Senator Justin Morrill of Vermont, “An Act Donating public
lands to the several States and [Territories] which may provide colleges for the
benefit of agriculture and the Mechanic arts” marked the first Federal aid
to higher education. But the government’s recognition of its obligation
to provide schools for its future citizens dates from the beginning of the republic.
“Knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind,
schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.” So wrote
the Continental Congress in the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. With this ordinance, Congress established a precedent for the support of public education that would grow to substantial commitments in later years.
Land was the key to the Federal Government’s early involvement, for this
was the most readily available resource in the unopened continent. As public
lands were surveyed into 6-mile square townships, a 1-square-mile section in
each township was reserved for the support of public schools. The land itself
was rarely used for school construction but rather was sold off, with proceeds
used to fund the school program. The system invited misuse by opportunists,
and substantial portions of the educational land-grants never benefited education.
Nevertheless, land-grant support became a substantial factor in providing education
to most American children who could never hope to attend private or charity-supported
schools.
The Morrill Act committed the Federal Government to grant each state 30,000
acres of public land issued in the form of “land scrip” certificates
for each of its Representatives and Senators in Congress. Although many states
squandered the revenue from this endowment, which grew to an allocation of over
100 million acres, the Morrill land grants laid the foundation for a national
system of state colleges and universities. In some cases, the land sales financed
existing institutions; in others, new schools were chartered by the states.
Major universities such as Nebraska, Washington State, Clemson, and Cornell
were chartered as land-grant schools. State colleges brought higher education
within the reach of millions of students, a development that could not help
but reshape the nation’s social and economic fabric.
(Information excerpted from Milestone Documents in
the National Archives. [Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration,
1995], p. 57.)
