An Endowment for Education: Nebraska & the Morrill Act 1862-1890
Description
The federal government, under the auspice of the Morrill Act, endowed the state of Nebraska with 90,000 acres of land to create a state agricultural college. The profit from land sold allowed for the creation of the University of Nebraska. Yet the correlation of federal land and physical university is not one of spatiality, but rather of ink and paper. This thematic archive collection traces the origins of the University through laws from Congress to the Board of Regents.
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Alex Wheeler
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The federal government, under the auspice of the Morrill Act, endowed the state of Nebraska with 90,000 acres of land to create a state agricultural college. The profit from land sold allowed for the creation of the University of Nebraska. Yet the correlation of federal land and physical university is not one of spatiality, but rather of ink and paper.
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Federal
Throughout the 19th century, a movement among the American people and politicians began to take root. A system for educating the country's youth in agricultural sciences was an idea gaining popularity. The first federal introduction of this idea was in 1857, introduced by Representative Justin Smith Morrill. In 1859 Congress passed by the bill only to vetoed by President James Buchanan. Morrill again submitted the bill in 1861, which faced little opposition as southern states seceded. Finally on July 2, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed into law the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act.True to any piece of congressional legislation, the Morrill Act was full of compromises. In order to get the vote of approval from eastern states, the amount of land given to the state was reflected by federal representatives. 30,000 acres per representative was to be awarded. By default this awarded a minimum of 90,000 acres to each state, two senators and one Representative.
State
During the second half of the 19th century, there were two model universities; agricultural colleges and technical colleges. More often than not, states would elect to keep the two colleges separate. This can be seen with a number of state universities today. In the Midwest alone, FIVE states did this. Kansas created a University of Kansas and Kansas State. Iowa has the University of Iowa and Iowa State. Oklahoma, Texas and Colorado all also created separate state colleges. Nebraska would instead elect to create one monolithic school.
The intent of the Morrill Act was to create agricultural colleges. This was the implied intent; it was not explicitly stated in the language of the law. Thus Nebraska’s decision to use federal land to create both an agricultural and technical school was perfectly legal. Nebraska’s decision to create one-school likely stems from their circumstances. Being a new state that lied far west of the populous east meant resources were limited. Nebraska only had three federal representatives in Congress, meaning the state received the smallest amount of land possible, 90,000 acres. A limited population meant a limited number of potential students. To spread thin such a finite amount of resources would have been foolhardy. Nebraska arguably made the better decision to consolidate all resources into one University.