Morrill Act of 1862

E218438

The Morrill Act of 1862 is a landmark U.S. federal law that created the land-grant university system by granting public lands to states to fund colleges focused on agriculture, science, and engineering.

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All labels observed (4)

Label Occurrences
Morrill Act of 1862 canonical 6
First Morrill Act 1
Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862 1

Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf United States federal law
land-grant act
administeredBy United States Department of the Interior
surface form: United States Department of the Interior (initially, for land disposition)
alsoKnownAs Morrill Act of 1862
surface form: First Morrill Act
appliesTo Union states
beneficiaryClass industrial classes
condition fund principal must remain undiminished
land or proceeds must form a perpetual fund
only interest of the fund may be used for colleges
country United States of America
surface form: United States
createdSystem United States land-grant university system
dateSigned 1862-07-02
educationLevel higher education
effect creation of many state universities
expansion of public higher education in the United States
promotion of practical and vocational curricula
enactedIn 37th United States Congress
focusArea agriculture
engineering
mechanic arts
military tactics
scientific and classical studies as related to agriculture and mechanic arts
fundingMechanism sale of granted public lands
fundingUse endowment of colleges
support and maintenance of colleges
grantedTo U.S. states
United States territories
surface form: U.S. territories
grantType federal land grants
historicalContext American Civil War
influenced development of American research universities
introducedBy Justin Smith Morrill
jurisdiction United States government
surface form: United States federal government
landAllocationRule 30,000 acres of land for each Senator and Representative
legalCitation 12 Stat. 503
longTermImpact broadened access to higher education across social classes
namedAfter Justin Smith Morrill
policyArea agricultural policy
education policy
public lands policy
precededBy earlier failed Morrill land-grant bill vetoed by James Buchanan
primaryPurpose to create land-grant colleges
to promote education in agriculture and the mechanic arts
to support practical higher education for the industrial classes
relatedAct Hatch Act of 1887
Morrill Act of 1890
Smith–Lever Act of 1914
surface form: Smith-Lever Act of 1914
requires at least one college per state to receive benefits
states to submit acceptance to the federal government
signedBy Abraham Lincoln

Referenced by (9)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Presidency of Abraham Lincoln significantEvent Morrill Act of 1862
this entity surface form: Morrill Land-Grant Acts
Colorado State University landGrantDesignation Morrill Act of 1862
Justin Smith Morrill notableWork Morrill Act of 1862
this entity surface form: Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862
Morrill Act of 1862 alsoKnownAs Morrill Act of 1862
this entity surface form: First Morrill Act
Smith–Lever Act of 1914 relatedTo Morrill Act of 1862
SDSU landGrantAct Morrill Act of 1862
subject surface form: South Dakota State University
UW landGrantDesignation Morrill Act of 1862
subject surface form: University of Wyoming