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Why did America need the Morrill Act?
Justin Morrill "believed that the classical education offered at most colleges was incapable of meeting the practical, roll-up-your-sleeves demands of a growing, industrializing nation. Morrill's first effort to enlist federal support for "colleges for the Benefit of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts" was vetoed by President James Buchanan, a Democrat, in 1859. Buchanan agreed with the Southern wing of his party that education was a state matter, not a federal one (Loss, 2012)." -
Land Grant College Act of 1862
The Land Grant College Act of 1862, also known as the Morrill Act, was signed into law on July 2nd by President Abraham Lincoln. The law was introduced by Justin Morrill was a major boost to higher education in America by ensuring that it was available to all social classes (Lightcap, n.d.) -
What was the Morril Act?
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. -
How did the Morrill Act come to be?
After initially being vetoed by President Buchanan on the terms of education being a State matter, not a federal one, Justin Morrill had to wait for a more favorable political climate. When the civil war began and President Lincoln took office, a new sense of pride for the Union came into play. Lincoln agreed with Morrill that each loyal state to the Union should be given land to form these new colleges (Loss, 2012). -
The 2nd Morrill Act
Less known than the original Morrill Act, a 2nd Morrill Act was created and aimed towards the Confederate States. The purpose of the 2nd Morrill Act was to encourage Confederate States to show that race was not an admissions criterion, or else to designate a separate land-grant institution for persons of color (1890 Land-Grant Universities, 2015). Many historically black colleges and universities spurred from the created of this act. -
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How did the Morrill Act impact the future?
In the era of the Great Depression, Land Grant Institutions across the country were positively impacted by Roosevelt's New Deal. Over 600 new campus buildings were created while Federal Work-Study programs helped 620,000 students stay in college (Loss, 2012). -
Tribal Colleges
Since the early 1900's, Native American's wanted institutions that catered to their way of life, but it never came to fruition. In the Civil Rights era of the 1960's, Native American rights were becoming more important and gaining more spotlight. During the 70's and 80's, there was a boom of Tribal Colleges, 32 being created in that time span. In 1994, Congress declared these colleges as having "land-grant" status (Hill, n.d.). -
The Morrill Act's Impact on the Present
Today, according to the Association of Public Land-Grant Universities, the member institutions have over 4.6 million students, employ 645,000 faculty, and nearly 2 million administrators and staff (Loss, 2012). The majority of attending students use some sort of federal aid, and often these institutions are some of the main employers of their state or region. Land-Grant institutions receive two-thirds of all federal research dollars, topping $34 billion annually (Loss, 2012). -
The Future of the Morrill Act (1/2)
Today, there are 106 land-grant universities in the United States and its territories. The newest land-grant universities came in 1994 in the form of 35 tribal colleges, members of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium. The Morrill Act is responsible for countless students' educations since it's inception and is a driving force in the economy of the United States. In the future, it is possible that more land-grant institutions could be created if the need arises. -
The Future of The Morrill Act Cont. (2/2)
If the needs of the United States change, it is possible that more land-grant universities could be created in order to satisfy those needs. As in the 1860's when Justin Morrill believed the US needed more colleges focusing on Mechanics and Agriculture, perhaps the future will see the US creating colleges to fill the gap for computer engineering and science. There are currently no talks of changing policy for land-grant universities, -
References (1/2)
Lightcap, B. (n.d.) www3.nd.edu. Retrieved 13 September 2017, from https://www3.nd.edu/~rbarger/www7/morrill.html 1890 Landgrant Universities. (2015). The Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890. 1890universities.org. Retrieved 14 September 2017, from http://1890universities.org/history Loss, C. (2012). Why the Morrill Act Still Matters. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved 16 September 2017, from http://www.chronicle.com/article/Why-the-Morrill-Act-Still/132877 -
References Cont. (2/2)
Hill, J. (n.d.) Tribal Colleges: A Success Story (pp. 1-20). Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED370623.pdf