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The '''Morrill Act''' was one of two important pieces of legislation (along with the [[Homestead Act]]) passed in 1862 that spurred on economic growth in newly added states in what was then the western [[United States]].  

The '''Morrill Act''' was one of two important pieces of legislation (along with the [[Homestead Act]]) passed in 1862 that spurred on economic growth in newly added states in what was then the western [[United States]].  

President [[Abraham Lincoln]] signed it into law. It was proposed by Rep. Justin Morrill of [[Vermont]], and gave federal land to every state that remained in the [[Union]] during the [[Civil War]] for the purpose of the creation of "land grant" colleges.<ref>http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/27.htm</ref> The law used the number of congressmen allocated to each state by the 1860 census times 30,000 acres to set the amount of land awarded to each state.  This land, or the proceeds from its sale, was to be used toward establishing and funding educational institutions with the purpose of:

President [[Abraham Lincoln]] signed it into law. It was proposed by Rep. Justin Morrill of [[Vermont]], and gave federal land to every state that remained in the [[Union]] during the [[Civil War]] for the purpose of the creation of "[[Land-grant college]].<ref>http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/27.htm</ref> The law used the number of congressmen allocated to each state by the 1860 census times 30,000 acres to set the amount of land awarded to each state.  This land, or the proceeds from its sale, was to be used toward establishing and funding educational institutions with the purpose of:

<blockquote> without excluding other scientific and classical studies and including military tactic, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in such manner as the legislatures of the States may respectively prescribe, in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life.<ref>{{USC|7|304}}</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote> without excluding other scientific and classical studies and including military tactic, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in such manner as the legislatures of the States may respectively prescribe, in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life.<ref>{{USC|7|304}}</ref></blockquote>

The schools were also to teach "military tactic" which lead to ROTC programs in colleges. If a state did not have enough federal land within its borders to meet that state's land grant, the state was issued "scrip" which authorized the state to select federal lands in other states to fund its institution.<ref>{{USC|7|302}}</ref> For example, [[New York]] carefully selected valuable timber land in [[Wisconsin]] to fund [[Cornell University]].<ref>http://www.cornell.edu/landgrant/resources/Land_Grant_Univ_Whalen.pdf p. 9</ref> The resulting management of this scrip by the university yielded one third of the total grant revenues generated by all the states, even though New York received only one-tenth of the 1862 land grant.<ref>http://www.cornell.edu/landgrant/resources/Land_Grant_Univ_Whalen.pdf p. 10</ref> Overall, the 1862 Morrill Act allocated 17,400,000 acres of land, which when sold yielded a collective endowment of $7.55 million.<ref>http://www.cornell.edu/landgrant/resources/Land_Grant_Univ_Whalen.pdf p. 8</ref> The state of [[State of Iowa|Iowa]] was the first to accept the terms of the Morrill Act which provided a needed financial boost for the fledgling Ames College (now [[Iowa State University]].)

The schools were also to teach "military tactic" which lead to ROTC programs in colleges. If a state did not have enough federal land within its borders to meet that state's land grant, the state was issued "scrip" which authorized the state to select federal lands in other states to fund its institution.<ref>{{USC|7|302}}</ref> For example, [[New York]] carefully selected valuable timber land in [[Wisconsin]] to fund [[Cornell University]].<ref>http://www.cornell.edu/landgrant/resources/Land_Grant_Univ_Whalen.pdf p. 9</ref> The resulting management of this scrip by the university yielded one third of the total grant revenues generated by all the states, even though New York received only one-tenth of the 1862 land grant.<ref>http://www.cornell.edu/landgrant/resources/Land_Grant_Univ_Whalen.pdf p. 10</ref> Overall, the 1862 Morrill Act allocated 17,400,000 acres of land, which when sold yielded a collective endowment of $7.55 million.<ref>http://www.cornell.edu/landgrant/resources/Land_Grant_Univ_Whalen.pdf p. 8</ref> The state of [[State of Iowa|Iowa]] was the first to accept the terms of the Morrill Act which provided a needed financial boost for the fledgling Ames College (now [[Iowa State University]].)

==References==

==References==

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[[Category:United States Law]]

[[Category:United States Law]]

[[Category:Universities]]

[[Category:Universities]]

[[Category:Agriculture]]

[[Category:Agriculture]]