On Jul. 2, 1862, the U.S. Land-Grant College Act of the U.S. Congress was enacted which provided grants of land to states to finance the establishment of colleges specializing in ‘agriculture and the mechanic arts.’ The Act, sponsored by Vermont Congressman Justin Smith Morrill, expropriated more than 10 million acres of land from 245 tribal nations and divided it into roughly 80,000 parcels for redistribution.

In 1855, the state of Michigan passed legislation that established the first agriculture college in the nation. The Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, now known as Michigan State University, served as a model for the Morrill Act.