Frederick D. Drake and Lynn R. Nelson

Main Ideas

The activities here involve students in the analysis of far-reaching social changes that Americans faced in the mid-nineteenth century. Scientific developments in the United States and abroad transformed societies. Agriculture was mechanized, larger numbers of people were engaged in commercial and industrial activities, and the population of the United States shifted westward. To help meet these demographic and technological changes, Congress passed the Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862. This act attempted to alter the purposes and practices of higher education in the United States. Throughout the lesson, students should consider two questions: How does the Morrill Land-Grant Act reflect changes in society? And, how did the Morrill Act initiate additional changes in society?

Connection with the Curriculum
These activities connect such topics as changes in the purpose and importance of education in the nineteenth century and the growth of the market economy. The topics relate well to two of the National Council for History Education's Vital Themes and Narratives: Patterns of Social and Political Interaction and Values, Beliefs, Political Ideas, and Institutions. The activities engage students in "History's Habits of Mind," also developed by NCHE. The specific habits of mind emphasized in these

lessons are for students to (1) understand the significance of the past to their own lives, (2) comprehend the interplay of change and continuity, and (3) recognize the importance of individuals who have made a difference. The habits of mind serve as an entry point into the important events and actions that surrounded decisions about education in the mid-nineteenth century. The activities also help students analyze and interpret information in printed documents and tables. These activities are appropriate for United States history and Illinois history courses.

Teaching Level
These activities are appropriate for Grades 10-12, and they are adaptable for younger students.

Materials for Each Student

• A copy of this article's content portion

• Documents and tables provided

Objectives for Each Student

• Explain the relationship between education and changes in society. Interpret information from demographic data.

• Analyze documents related to the Morrill Land-Grant Act.

• Analyze the contributions of an Illinois citizen, Jonathan B. Turner, toward the creation of the Morrill Land-Grant Act.

• Evaluate the effect of the Morrill Land-Grant Act on the focus of higher education in the United States.

Opening the Lesson
Ask the students to list reasons for going to college. Write their responses on the board, and have the students categorize their reasons according to the following possible headings: intellectual pursuits (knowledge for knowledge sake), social events, athletics, practical purposes (pursuing a job). Discuss the percentage of the class responses that are practical versus those that are intellectual or social. Point out to students that colleges have long sought to balance a variety of purposes in their programs. Inform students that they will find out about changes in the purposes of higher education during the nineteenth century and the leading role that Illinois played in the establishment of land-grant colleges.

Developing the Lesson
The lesson is divided into three activities:

Activity 1 has two parts.
Part 1 helps students analyze documents related to the Morrill Land-Grant Act. Part 2 helps students understand the purposes of the Morrill Act. Students draw conclusions regarding the association of social changes with the establishment of land-grant colleges.

In Activity 2, students interpret demographic information concerning the nineteenth century: regional population, economic output, labor force, farm production, and manufacturing. Among the five tables for students to examine, three tables provide students with a national picture. Two tables provide information about Illinois.

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In addition, students are provided a time line of events concerning Illinois in the nineteenth century. Students examine the information and use it as a foundation to write a letter to their congressman. In their letter they refer to the changing conditions that necessitate the establishment of land-grant colleges.

For Activity 3, students read documents and determine the motives of two individuals—Justin Smith Morrill and Jonathan Baldwin Turner—in proposing the establishment of land-grant colleges. Students decide who should hold the distinction of "father" of the Morrill Act, Morrill or Turner. Students have a choice of three alternative strategies to express their decisions.

Concluding the Lesson
As a summary, have the students discuss how the Morrill Land-Grant Act affects both college education and their high school education today. For the effects on college education, students might consider the impact land-grant colleges had on other types of higher education institutions. Students might also consider the influence the Morrill Act has had upon vocationalism as an emphasis in high school education.

Extending the Lesson

• Have students examine the growth in English agricultural output in the nineteenth century and the relationship that growth had to scientific knowledge.

• Have students find out the immediate and long-term effects of the Morrill Act. For example, were land-grant colleges able to maintain themselves easily or did they require additional funds? How did Justin S. Morrill play a role in securing additional money for land-grant colleges? (2) Were students immediately applying for courses of study in agriculture and in the mechanic arts? Did it take a long time to organize a new curriculum?

• Have students identify land-grant colleges and locate them on a map.

• Have students calculate percentages of population so that students understand that though the South lost influence in percent of population and that the West made dramatic gains. Also, students also can convert information from tables into graphs.

Assessing the Lesson
Several alternative assessment strategies are suggested in this unit of study. These assessment strategies will help reveal students' historical knowledge, reasoning, and communication skills.

Analyzing Documents: What Were the Purposes of the Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862?

Part 1: Analyzing a Document

Historians read many types of printed documents—letters, diaries, memoranda, newspapers, public statements, and government records. When historians analyze a document they ask such questions as who wrote the document, when was it written, and what was the document's purpose. On the pages that follow are three types of documents. Answer the questions for each of the three documents.

1. What type of document is this?

2. Who is the author of this document?

3. When was this document written?

4. What was the purpose of the document?

5. Who was the intended audience?

6. How might a reader of this document react to the author's ideas at the time they were expressed?

7. What additional questions do you have about this document?

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continued

In 1862, the Land-Grant Bill passed both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. The author was Justin S. Morrill of Vermont. This bill was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln.

Section 4. And be it further enacted, That all moneys derived from the sale of the lands... shall be appropriated [set aside]... to the endowment [income from donations], support and maintenance of at least one college where the leading object shall be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies, and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and mechanic arts ... to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life.

And be it further enacted. That the grant of land ... shall be made on the following conditions....

Fourth. An annual report shall be made regarding the progress of each college, recording any improvements and experiments made ....

Sixth. No State while in a condition of rebellion or insurrection against the Government of the United States shall be entitled to the benefit of this Act.

Seventh. No State shall be entitled to the benefits of this act unless it shall express its acceptance thereof by its legislature within two years from the date of its approval by the President.

And be it further enacted, That land scrip [paper tokens] issued under the provisions of this act shall not be subject to location until after the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.

Source: Henry Steele Commager, Documents of American History (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1962), pp. 412-413.

continued

In 1874, the author of the Morrill Land-Grant Act, Justin S. Morrill, gave five reasons why he wrote the land-grant act. This writing was found among his papers as a record of his contribution to education. Which of his reasons suggest a change in the purpose of education? Which reasons are part of the Morrill Land-Grant Act?

Such institutions [of higher education] had already been established in other countries and were supported by their governments, but they were confined exclusively to agriculture, and this for our people, with all their industrial aptitudes and ingenious inventions, appeared to me unnecessarily limited. [My] purpose ... was supported by ... constant reflections upon the following points:

First, that the public lands of most value were being rapidly dissipated by donations to merely local and private objects ....

Second, that the very cheapness of our public lands ....

Third, being myself the son of a hard-handed blacksmith ... I could not overlook mechanics in any measure intended to aid the industrial classes in the procurement of an education that might exalt their usefulness.

Fourth, that most of the existing collegiate institutions and their feeders were based upon the classic plan of teaching those only destined to pursue the so-called learned professions, leaving farmers and mechanics and all those who must win their bread by labor....

Fifth, that it was apparent, while some localities were possessed of abundant instrumentalities for education ... many of the States were deficient and likely so to remain unless aided by the common fund of the proceeds of the public lands....

Source: Justin Smith Morrill Papers, 1874, William B. Parker, The Life and Public Services of Justin Smith Morrill (New York: Da Capo Press, 1971), pp.262-263.

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continued

In 1894, Justin S. Morrill wrote a letter to the President of Pennsylvania State College. In his letter to President Atherton, he described how social changes were not confined to the United States.

My Dear Sir:

My service began in the House of Representatives in 1855. I soon noticed (first) that large grants of lands were made for educational as well as for other purposes, and that the older States [states in the East] were receiving little benefit from this large common property. Second, that the average product of wheat per acre in the Northern and Eastern States was rapidly diminishing, while in England, under more scientific culture, it was doing far better. Some institutions of a high grade for instruction in agriculture and the mechanic arts, I knew had been established in Europe. Third, the liberal education then offered at our colleges appeared almost exclusively for the instruction of the professional classes, or for ministers, lawyers, and doctors, while a far larger number, engaged in production and industrial employments, would be greatly benefited by appropriate higher education. Few of the then existing colleges surrendered much time to practical sciences, which deserved greater prominence, and offer a larger field to liberal education.

Source: Justin Smith Morrill Papers, 1894, as found in William B. Parker, The Life and Public Services of Justin Smith Morrill (New York: Da Capo Press, 1971), p. 277.

Part 2- Social and Educational Change

Prior to the Civil War, colleges existed primarily to educate young men for the ministry and to prepare leaders in service to their country. By the middle of the nineteenth century, the growth of commercial markets linking the Midwest with eastern cities and the increased demand for agricultural and industrial products created a demand for scientific knowledge. Business and political leaders viewed technology, or applied science, as essential to economic growth and prosperity.

The focus of colleges established after the Civil War changed. There was an emphasis on practical knowledge, with science replacing religion as the foundation for developing leaders and educating the public. The creation of scientific knowledge was becoming more important in all aspects of life, and applied scientific knowledge was especially important in the fields of agriculture and engineering.

Re-read the excerpts from Documents 1, 2, and 3. The Morrill Act and the accompanying documents reflect changes in American society and thoughts regarding the purposes and curriculum of higher education. The Morrill Land-Grant Act was written in Congress by Justin S. Morrill, who represented the state of Vermont in the House of Representatives. Morrill began drafting his bill as early as 1856. An initial version was vetoed by President James Buchanan in 1859, however Abraham Lincoln signed the bill into law three years later.

As you read the excerpts from the documents, do the following:

1. Underline passages that describe a new purpose for education.

2. Find words or phrases that indicate the purposes for college education implied in the documents. What words and phrases indicate a purpose of education before the Civil War? What words indicate the new direction and purpose of college education after the Civil War?

3. What conclusions can you draw concerning the Morrill Land-Grant Act and the international economy, the exchange of ideas among countries, and the importance of scientific knowledge during the middle of the nineteenth century?

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Changes in American Society: How Does the Morrill Land-Grant Act Reflect Demographic and Economic Changes in Illinois?

Assignment

Imagine it is 1861. You have just listened to a speech by Jonathan B. Turner, a professor from Illinois College in Jacksonville, Illinois. His ideas regarding the need for a practical education are consistent with your experience and observations in the last decade. You have witnessed many changes in the Illinois economy, and you are concerned about the future of your family and your state. Use the accompanying information and tables to convince your congressman to support a bill pending in Congress, the Morrill Land-Grant Act. Write a letter or prepare a speech to convince the congressman.

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Table 1: United States Population By Region, 1810-1860

Year	South*	West*	Northeast*
1810	2,314,556	61,407	3,939,895
1820	2,918,198	1,845,863	4,836,722
1830	3,744,405	2,980,294	6,066,169
1840	4,749,875	4,960,580	7,309,186
1850	6,271,237	7,494,608	9,301,417
1860	7,993,531	11,796,680	11,393,533

*South—Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia

*West—Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Tennessee, Wisconsin, California, Nevada, and Oregon

*Northeast—Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, A Compendium of the Ninth Census, June 1, 1870, by Francis A. Walker, Superintendent of Census (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1872), pp. 8-9 as found in Douglass C. North, The Economic Growth of the United States, 1790 to 1860 (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1961), p. 257.

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Table 2: Economic Output of the U.S. Economy, 1839-1859

	Agriculture	Manufacturing	Construction	Mining
1839	72%	17%	10%	1%
1844	69	21	9	1
1849	60	30	9	1
1854	57	29	13	1
1859	56	32	11	1

Source: Robert E. Gallman, "Commodity Output, 1839-1899," in Conference on Research in Income and Wealth, National Bureau of Economic Research, Trends in the American Economy in the Nineteenth Century: Studies in Income and Wealth, Vol. 24 (Princeton, NJ.: Princeton University Press, 1960), p. 16 as found in W. Elliot Brownlee, Dynamics of Ascent: A History of the American Economy (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1979), p. 125.

Table 3: Farm Production in Illinois, 1850-1860

Item	Unit	1850	1860	% Increase
Farmers		141,000	19,600	39%
Improved Acres		5,039,545	13,251,473	163%
Total Farm Value	$	96,133,000	432,531,000	350%
Land Price/Acre	$	19.20	31.85	65%

Production of Commodities
Item	Unit	1850	1860	% Increase
Wheat	bu.	9,414,000	23,837,000	114%
Corn	bu.	57,646,000	115,175,000	101%
Hay	ton	601,952	1,834,265	205%
Butter	lbs.	12,256,000	28,337,000	126%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census of 1850 and Census of 1860 as found in Douglass C. North, The Economic Growth of the United States. 1790 to 1860 (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1961), p. 152.

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Table 4: U.S. Labor Force in Farming and Non-Farming Activities

Year	Farming	Non-Farming
1800	73.7%	26.3%
1810	80.9%	19.1%
1820	78.8%	21.2%
1830	68.8%	31.2%
1840	63.1%	36.9%
1850	54.8%	45.2%
1860	52.9%	47.1%

Source: Stanley Lebergott, Manpower in Economic Growth: The United States Record Since 1800 (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964), p. 510 as found in W. Elliot Brownlee, Dynamics of Ascent: A History of the American Economy (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1979), p. 125.

Table 5: Changes in Illinois, 1850-1860

	1850	1860
Total Population	846,034	1,711,950
Acres of Improved Farm Land	5,039,545	13,096,374
*Cash Value of Farm Implements	6,405,561	17,235,472
*Capital Invested in Manfacturing	6,385,387	27,548,563
*Annual Value of Manufacturing	17,246,073	57,580,886

* Measured in dollars. Not adjusted for inflation or deflation.

Source: Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research. Study 00003: Historical Demographic, Economic, and Social Data: U.S., 1790-1970. Ann Arbor: ICPSR. See: http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/ for more information. Some calculations added based upon the enumeration in the ICPSR data set.

1787	Northwest Ordinance of 1787 carved no less than three and no more than five states out of the Northwest Territory

1809	Illinois Territory, which includes the area of Wisconsin, was created.

1818	Illinois became a state, with a population of about 40,000 people and Kaskaskia as the first capital. State Constitution allowed slaveholders to retain slaves already in state, but prohibited slaves from being brought into state.

1819	Federal land was sold for $1.25 an acre with a minimum sale of 80 acres.

1820	State capital was relocated to Vandalia. Its centralized location was on the National Road and made it an important resting stop.

1829	Illinois College was founded in Jacksonville by a group of young Yale graduates interested in bringing higher education to the Midwest.

1836	Building of Illinois & Michigan Canal began. The canal was completed in 1848. The canal's port towns included LaSalle, Peru, Joliet, and Lockport. The canal provided a shipping link with the Great Lakes for Illinois agricultural products.

1837	John Deere invented the first successful self-scouring steel plow. His factory would open in Moline in 1848. That same year Chicago was incorporated as a city with a population of 4,170.

1839	State capital was moved to Springfield.

1847	Cyrus McCormick moved to Chicago to begin production of reapers.

1851	Illinois Central Railroad was chartered. It was the first railroad to receive a grant of public lands. It was completed in 1856.

1853	Illinois State Agricultural Society was chartered, and the first state fair was held in Springfield.

1855	State legislature approved the state's first free public school system.

1860	Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States.

1861-

Civil War involves more than 250,000 Illinoisians, with over 34,000

1865	killed or dying of disease.

1862	Congress passed the Morrill Land-Grant Act, and President Lincoln signed the bill into law.

1867	University of Illinois founded. George Pullman started a company to build sleeping cars. Phillip Armour's meat-packing company opened in Chicago.

Source; Adapted from "Time Line: 1800-1850" as found in http://www.museum.state...l800/timeline/index.html/

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Who Was the "Father" of the Morrill Land-Grant Act?

Over 100 years ago, the United States Bureau of Education reported that the Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862 was "the most important educational enactment in America" next to the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. Some historians consider Justin S. Morrill of Vermont as the "father" of the Morrill Act. Other historians believe the real "father" of the Morrill Act was Jonathan Baldwin Turner, who graduated from Yale University and taught at Illinois College in Jacksonville, Illinois.

Beginning in 1853, Turner rallied people to the cause of establishing agricultural and mechanical colleges through land-grants. He organized the Industrial League of Illinois and proposed a program to create "a system of Industrial Universities, one in each state." His program consisted of three parts: (1) the federal government was asked for donations in land not money; (2) all states would be treated alike in proportion to their population; and (3) the movement was popularized by emphasizing education for industry and agriculture. Turner created a pamphlet, Industrial Universities for the People, to promote a general state industrial university instead of existing private institutions. Was Turner, a midwesterner, the real "father" of the Morrill Act, or was the "father" of the land-grant act easterner Justin S. Morrill, for whom the land-grant act was named?

Assignment
Read the essay "The People's College." Consider criteria such as the motives of both Morrill and Turner and the time each man spent on establishing land-grant colleges to determine who deserves the distinction as "father" of the Morrill Land-Grant Act. In addition, read the following documents, which provide information about the Morrill Land-Grant Act and the contributions of Morrill and Turner toward the land-grant act's creation. Decide if these documents give credit to Justin S. Morrill or Jonathan B. Turner as "father" of the Morrill Act. Then, complete one of the three assignments:

1. Decide who is "father" of the Morrill Land-Grant Act. Then write a letter to the U. S. Speaker of the House of Representatives proposing that the person you chose should be commemorated as the "father" of the Morrill Land-Grant Act. Defend your choice.

2. Create a pamphlet advertising a debate over the "father" of the Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862. Your pamphlet should advertise where and when the debate will be held, identify the speakers who will represent Morrill's and Turner's claims as "father" of the Morrill Land-Grant Act, and list major reasons why Morrill and Turner respectively have a claim to this status.

3. Create a political cartoon that illustrates the issue of the "father" of the Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862.

Document 1
Andrew D. White, President of Cornell, rated Justin S. Morrill's work. What is White's view of Morrill?

[Mr. Morrill's] service . . . deserves to be ranked . . . with those of Hamilton in advocating the Constitution, of Jefferson in acquiring Louisiana, and of Clay in giving us a truly American policy. Mr. Morrill's service in this respect is all the more noteworthy when we consider the time when it was rendered. It was the darkest period of the Civil War, and yet, full of confidence in the future of the Republic ... he introduced and carried this great measure.

Source: New York Daily Tribune, Saturday, March 25, 1899, as found in William B. Parker, The Life and Public Services of Justin Smith Morrill (New York: Da Capo Press, 1971), p. 259.

Document 2
Congressman Justin S. Morrill of Vermont wrote Professor Jonathan B. Turner in 1861. This is the only communication from Morrill to Turner.

Dear Sir:
I am delighted to find your fire, by the letter of the 15th inst., had not all burned out. I presume I recognize Professor Turner, an old pioneer in the cause of agricultural education. I have only to say that amid the fire and smoke and embers I have faith that I shall get my bill into a law at this session.

I thank you for your continued interest, and am

Very sincerely yours.

Source: University of Illinois Bulletin, p. 28 as found in William B. Parker, The Life and Public Services of Justin Smith Morrill (New York: Da Capo Press, 1971), p. 283.

Document 3
Congressman Morrill explained in 1874 his role in bringing about the passage of the Morrill Land-Grant Act.

The idea of obtaining a land grant for the foundation of colleges I think I had formed as early as 1856. I remember to have broached the subject to Hon. William Hebard . . . and he observed that such a measure would be all very well, but that of course I could not expect it to pass. Where I obtained the first hint of such a measure, I am wholly unable to say.

Source; Justin Smith Morrill Papers, 1874, as found in William B. Parker, The Life and Public Services of Justin Smith Morrill (New York: Da Capo Press), p. 262.

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Document 4
Edmund J. James, President of the University of Illinois, wrote the 1910 pamphlet The Origin of the Land Grant Act of 1862. The University of Illinois was one of 69 land-grant colleges created by the Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862. Who does the President of the University of Illinois believe is the "father" of the act?

It is proposed to prove in this paper that Jonathan B. Turner, at one time professor in Illinois College at Jacksonville, Illinois, was the real father of the so-called Morrill Act of July 2, 1862, and that he deserves the credit of having been the first to formulate clearly and definitely the plan of a national grant of land to each State in the Union for the promotion of education agriculture and the mechanic arts, and of having inaugurated and continued to a successful issue the agitation that made possible the passage of the bill.

Source: Edmund J. James, "The Origin of the Land Grant Act of 1862 (The So-Called Morrill Act) and some Account of its Author Jonathan B. Turner" as found in William B. Parker, The Life and Public Services of Justin Smith Morrill (New York: Da Capo Press), p. 278.

Document 5
In 1894, Justin S. Morrill wrote a letter to the President of Pennsylvania State College. The following is an excerpt from Morrill's letter to President Atherton.

Washington, D.C. Feb. 5,1894
My Dear Sir:
My first bill. . . was introduced, and passed both houses, in 1858. I do not remember of any assistance prior to its introduction. After that Colonel Wilder of Massachusetts, Mr. Brown, President of the People's College, New York, and others, encouraged members of Congress in its support. My own speech was about all it had in its favor, but there was talk as well as a report of a committee against it. Cobb of Alabama and Spinner (?) of New York were opposed to it. In the Senate it had the earnest support of Senators Wade and Crittenden and Pearce.

It was vetoed by Buchanan, who suggested that he might have approved a bill providing for a professor of agriculture in some college of each State.

Of course I had then to wait for a change of administration, and in 1862 again pushed through the bill, amended so as to endow the colleges with more land. Senators Harlan and Pomeroy there aided its passage. There was never any doubt about the approval of President Lincoln.

Source: Justin Smith Morrill Papers, 1894, as found in Wlliam B. Parker, The Life and Public Services ofJustin Smith Morrill (New York: Da Capo Press), p. 277.

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