ABSTRACT
The landmark legislation passed by the United States Congress in 1862 supporting a national system of agricultural and technical colleges is commonly known as the Morrill Land-Grant Act. The reference to Justin Smith Morrill in the title of the enactment is appropriate because the Vermont congressman prepared the bill and its successful passage was in large measure the result of his persistence, political acumen, and parliamentary skill. The 1862 legislation would eventually be widely acclaimed for the transforming influence it had upon higher education, and Morrill would receive much deserved recognition for his legislative achievement. Morrill would recollect a dozen years after the passage of the bill that the idea of founding colleges based on land grants had occurred to him no earlier than 1856, and that he alone conceived and formulated the measure.1 Nevertheless, it is clearly apparent that the roots of the 1862 legislation reach well back into the nineteenth century and that many reformers interested in education helped to prepare the way for Justin Morrill’s inspiration and subsequent legislative success.2 That success would prompt a succession of vigorous claims, often inspired by institutional, state, or regional pride, asserting that the idea for land-grant legislation did not originate from Justin Morrill. The most serious contender with Morrill for meriting the title of “father” of the concept was Jonathan B. Turner, author of an 1851 plan for an industrial university in Illinois.3
