For week two of National Native American Heritage Month 2026, here is a reading on the Land Grant Act of 1862, also known as the Morrill Act, for its namesake, United States Representative Justin Morrill of Vermont, and its attendant vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet.
This legislation is what gave us our excellent system of public colleges and universities, which is why these institutions are sometimes called land-grant universities. It also, more passively, expanded the reach of the federal government into new lands in North America, lands where, alas, indigenous people would be displaced–if they weren’t killed in what was by any measure a genocidal public policy against them. It’s probably no coincidence that the Homestead Act of 1862 (for which subject you can find materials here) was passed the same year as the Land Grand Act.
If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.
