Thursday, June 20, 2013

July 2, 1862---Land-Grant Colleges



JULY 2, 1862:              

President Lincoln signs the Morrill Act into law. Sponsored by Vermont Congressman Justin Morrill, the Morrill Act was officially titled "An Act Donating Public Lands to the Several States and Territories which may provide Colleges for the Benefit of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts." 

The Morrill Act provided each state with 30,000 acres of Federal land for each member in their Congressional delegation. The land was then sold by the states and the proceeds used to fund public colleges that focused on agriculture and the mechanical arts. 

Sixty-nine colleges were funded by these land grants, including Cornell University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Wisconsin at Madison.


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