FREE ESSAY ON MORRILL ACT

MORRILL ACT

The Morrill act was written in 1862 and named after the act's sponsor, Vermont congressman
Justin Smith Morrill. Morrill was from then on called the "father of the agricultural
colleges." Under the provisions of the act, each state was granted 30,000 acres of
federal land for each member of Congress representing that state. (Altogether, the states
and territories received 11,367,832 acres). The lands were sold and the resulting funds
were used to finance the establishment of one or more school to teach "agriculture and
the mechanic arts." Thought the act specifically stated that other scientific and
classical studies need not be excluded, its intent was clearly to meet a rapidly
industrializing nation's need for trained technicians. Military training was required to
be included in the curriculum of all land-grant school, and this provision led to the
establishment of the Reserve Officers Training Corps, an educational program for future
army, navy, and air force officers.
Some states established new schools with their land-grant funds; others turned the money
over to existing state or private schools to be used for the establishment of schools of
agriculture and mechanics (these came to be known as "A&M" colleges). Altogether, 69
land-grant schools were founded offering programs in agriculture, engineering, veterinary
medicine, and other technical subjects. Cornell University in New York , Purdue in
Indiana, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ohio state University, The University of
Illinois (Urbana), and the University of Wisconsin (Madison) are among the best-known
land-grant schools.
With the second Morrill Act (1890), Congress began to make regular appropriations for the
support of these institutions, and these appropriations were increased through subsequent
legislation. Since the act withheld funds from states that refused to admit nonwhite
students unless those states provided "separate but equal" facilities, it encouraged the
foundation of black colleges. (This practice was ended by the Supreme Court decision that
declared " separate but equal" schools to be unconstitutional.) Acts in 1847 and 1914
appropriated funds to the land-grant colleges to promote the development of scientific
methods of agriculture.
The influence of the land-grant colleges on American higher education has been
formidable. In recent years almost one-fifth of all students seeking degrees in the
United States were enrolled in land-grant institutions. Pioneering research in physics,
medicine, agricultural science, and other fields has been done at land-grant colleges.
Because their admissions policies were more open than most other institutions of the day,
land-grant schools made it possible for women, working-class students, and students from
remote areas to obtain undergraduate and professional education at low cost. Today, all
states and Puerto Rico received federal grants to help support land-grant universities.
The educational value of the land-grant idea has been priceless. As a result of this
program, old colleges have been able to expand, and new colleges have been created