Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act

Morrill Land-Grant Acts

Other short titles	Land-Grant Agricultural and Mechanical College Act of 1862
Long title	An Act donating Public Lands to the several States and Territories which may provide Colleges for the Benefit of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts.
Nicknames	Morrill Act of 1862
Enacted by	the 37th United States Congress
Effective	July 2, 1862
Citations
Public law	37-130
Statutes at Large	12 Stat. 503
Codification
Titles amended	7 U.S.C.: Agriculture
U.S.C. sections created	7 U.S.C. ch. 13 § 301 et seq.
Legislative history
Introduced in the Senate as S. 298 by Justin Smith Morrill (R–VT) on May 5, 1862 Passed the Senate on June 10, 1862 (32-7) Passed the House on June 17, 1862 (91-25) Signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on July 2, 1862
Major amendments
Pub.L. 51–841, 26 Stat. 417, enacted August 30, 1890

The Morrill Land-Grant Acts are United States statutes that allowed for the creation of land-grant colleges in U.S. states using the proceeds of federal land sales. The Morrill Act of 1862 (7 U.S.C. § 301 et seq.) was enacted during the American Civil War and the Morrill Act of 1890 (the Agricultural College Act of 1890, (26 Stat. 417, 7 U.S.C. § 321 et seq.)) expanded this model.

For 20 years prior to the first introduction of the bill in 1857, there was a political movement calling for the creation of agriculture colleges. The movement was led by Professor Jonathan Baldwin Turner of Illinois College.

For example, the Michigan Constitution of 1850 called for the creation of an "agricultural school", though it was not until February 12, 1855, that Michigan Governor Kinsley S. Bingham signed a bill establishing the United States' first agriculture college, the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, known today as Michigan State University, which served as a model for the Morrill Act.

On February 8, 1853, the Illinois Legislature adopted a resolution, drafted by Turner, calling for the Illinois congressional delegation to work to enact a land-grant bill to fund a system of industrial colleges, one in each state. Senator Lyman Trumbull of Illinois believed it was advisable that the bill should be introduced by an eastern congressman, and two months later Representative Justin Smith Morrill of Vermont introduced his bill.

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