Land-Grant of 1862

For any person who has viewed the documentary titled the "Civil War", that was directed by Ken Burns, they may recall a comment by pro-southern writer Shelby Foote who noted that the north entered the engagement with"one hand tied behind its back." While the north, after a long, bloody and protracted war would claim victory, Foote was referring to other actions that were authorized by the Republican congress and a near like-minded Lincoln administration during the first few years of the 1860's.  Most readers will recall the passage of the 1862 Homestead Act which gave a person, or family,who had not taken up arms against the nation, a grant of 160 acres of land in the west in exchange for settlement of the property for at least five years. The land-grant was usually only the cost of a minimal filing fee.  Yet, 1862 was also notable for another land-grant--The Morrill Act of 1862.  Its formal name is much longer--"An Act Donating Public Lands to the Several States and Territories which may provide Colleges for the Benefit of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts,"

Vermont Congressman Justin Morrill

Justin Morrill was a Republican congressman from the state of Vermont, and he proposed during the 1862 legislative session that the nation supply a grant of 30,000 acres for each Senator and Representative to the states for them to sell and fund the establishment of schools of agriculture and mechanic arts.  Some states would fund new schools, others turn the funds over to existing colleges, and some would even help fund private colleges.  His goal was to assure that college was affordable to all classes of people.   Interestingly, given its design to applied endeavors, it would start a shift in education away from the classics and liberal arts to the applied sciences.  The library of Congress website notes that the act would end up funding 69 institutions of higher learning.  Interestingly the website calls out three of primary note that received such funding--Cornell, MIT, and the University of Wisconsin. Cornell is privately charted institution, but three of its colleges receives, to this day, substantial public subsidy.  MIT is also a private institution.  However, the University of Wisconsin at Madison is the standard bearer of publicly owned land grant institutions. Why else would it be recognized by the Library of Congress with two institutions that are privately held?  Not only is it a public institution, it is also the flagship of the now University of Wisconsin system.

Record of the US Senate Approving Morrill Act

In fact, much of the Big Ten is comprised of land-grant colleges.  Michigan State and Pennsylvania State University are recognized as the first land-grant institutions in the nation to  be funded under the Morrill Act. In addition, to the three already noted, the list of land-grant institutions in the Big Ten also includes Illinois, Purdue, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, THE Ohio State University, and Rutgers.  Michigan State, established in 1855, was the basis for the Morrill Act.  While Iowa was the first state to accept the grant, the funds were used for Iowa State University, not the University of Iowa.

US Capitol Building, 1861
A symbol of a nation under construction

Author David Van Drehle, notes in his work Rise to Greatness:  Abraham Lincoln and America's Most Perilous Year, that the "laws passed in 1862 would create fountains of wealth, the only questions were how large the fortunes would be and who would get them."  1862 was also the year of the passage of an act to fund the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad, of which graft and greed were plenty.  Yet, the Homestead Act and the lesser known Morrill Act were important pieces of legislation intended for those below the top one or ten percent.  The Morrill Act was the brainchild of a Republican Congressman, passed by a Republican Congress, and signed into law on July 2, 1862 by the first Republican President, Abraham Lincoln.

Statute of Lincoln in front of Bascom Hall on the University of Wisconsin Campus

In his book, Van Drehle also comments that "the Union faced the flames of destruction, yet Congress was looking beyond the disaster to a future of hardworking homesteaders and an educated middle class."  1862 would plant the seeds for the rise of an American educational and industrial system that would propel the nation forward to be a leader among nations.  The 1862 Republican Congress understood the importance of an educated population.  It understood the importance of providing funding for higher education that would not only advance agriculture and mechanics, but also assist in growing the liberal arts. It understood the role of higher education.  Perhaps they understood the Wisconsin Idea, before it became the Wisconsin Idea.  The University of Wisconsin is the standard bearer of great public land-grant institutions, but yet, the current Republican administration and legislature in Wisconsin have seemingly lost the history of 153 years ago.  On July 12, 2015 (153 years and ten days after Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Act) Governor Walker signed into law the biennial budget bill for the State of Wisconsin.  This budget cuts UW-System funding by $250 million (although this is less than the $300 million dollar cut in the budget Governor Walker presented to the state legislature), and also alters the tenure and shared governance provisions that have helped to create a strong university. If Governor Walker wants to grow the state economy perhaps he should look back to the reasoning behind the Morrill Act.

On Wisconsin?