Date of Award

2024

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in History

Department

History

First Advisor

Rod Mather

Abstract

The Morrill Act of 1862 granted states thousands of acres of federal land, or land scrip for those states that did not have sufficient available public land, for the development of higher education institutions throughout the United States. Rhode Island was granted 120,000 acres of scrip to be located, sold, and then invested in stocks to create an endowment. The mismanagement of this allocation caused Rhode Island to earn the lowest cents/acre payout from the scrip lands. Land dispossession occurred on many levels, over many years, and the scars of these historic policies are still seen and felt today. However, some scars remain invisible in public acknowledgement and understanding, such as the Indigenous land dispossession that funded land-grant institutions through the Morrill Act. Contemporary land-grant colleges and universities must go beyond simple land acknowledgements in order to partially remedy these injustices.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Available for download on Wednesday, May 21, 2025

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