Public Lands of the United States.
Prior to 1781 but six of the original thirteen States--New Hampshire,
Rhode Island, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware--had
exactly defined boundaries. The others claimed lands of various extents,
stretching to the Mississippi River, or even to the Pacific Ocean. The
title to all this land was then in the individual States, and the
National Government, as such, had no land of its own. This question of
the ownership of the western land was one of the subjects of controversy
and discontent between the States. It delayed the adoption of the
Articles of Confederation for some time. Those States with little or no
land regarded with jealousy their more fortunate neighbors, and would
not consent to a union until a settlement or understanding was reached.
The Articles of Confederation were adopted only after assurance was made
that all the public lands would be ceded to the Federal Government. This
was finally done by the States.
The Government formed under the Constitution succeeded to all this land,
and in addition, to further cessions made by the States, the last being
that of Georgia in 1802. The subsequent additions of territory were made
directly to the United States, and not to the States, and all land thus
gained was held as public land to be disposed of by Congress.
While the area of the United States is 3,603,884 square miles, the
public domain which has been acquired by cession, purchase, or conquest,
to be disposed of by the Government as it desires, has amounted to
2,708,388 square miles, or about two-thirds of the total area of the
country.
The absolute title to this land, as before stated, became vested in the
United States Government. The disposal of these lands has always been
under the sole power and control of Congress.
This land was all thinly populated by Indian tribes, who merely hunted
over it, leaving unimproved its natural fertility and vast mineral
resources. These tribes, being actual occupants, were recognized to have
a sort of half interest in the land. This half ownership was always
first extinguished by the United States by purchase for small sums, or
by the granting of certain privileges, etc., before it was opened up for
settlement and occupation by the white man. Land is still held, to a
considerable extent, in this way by the Indians. This right of the
Indians can be extinguished only by the United States, as they are not
allowed to sell or treat at all with individuals or States or foreign
nations.
Until 1812 the affairs of the public domain were managed by the
Secretary of the Treasury. In that year the office of Commissioner of
the General Land Office was created, which remained a bureau under the
Treasury Department until 1846. On the creation of the Interior
Department in that year, Indian affairs were transferred to it, and have
remained under the same management until the present time. This bureau
has complete charge of all matters relating to the management and
disposal of the public lands, subject to the direction of Congress.
Almost every conceivable method of disposing of this land has been
followed. The Government has, however, never assumed the position of
landlord and rented the land, except in one case of some mineral land,
and this experiment resulted disastrously. Before the land could be
disposed of, it was necessary that it should be surveyed by the
Government. To do this there was adopted as early as 1776, the so-called
rectangular system, which, with slight changes, has been continued
until the present time. By this system there are first surveyed a base
and a meridian line, crossing each other at right angles, running north
and south and east and west. From these fixed lines the land is surveyed
and marked off into rectangles of six miles square, each thus containing
thirty-six square miles. This is called a township. This is again
divided up into sections of one square mile each or 640 acres, and this
again into quarter sections of 160 acres each. In some cases these are
still further subdivided.
The regulation and disposition of the public lands has been one of the
chief duties imposed upon Congress.
The chief methods by which the public lands have been disposed of are as
follows:
1. _#Educational Grants.#_--Congress from the very first provided
liberally for the establishment of common schools through grants of
public lands for this purpose. As each township is surveyed one quarter
section of 640 acres is set apart for common schools. This has continued
from the beginning down to the present time. In addition, large grants
have been made specially for the endowment of universities. Within later
years land has been given to every State to found State military and
agricultural colleges. Up to the year 1888, there had thus been granted
for educational purposes 77,448,192 acres.
2. _#Land Bounties for Military and Naval Service.#_--There have been
granted by different acts bounties of public land, in the nature of
pensions, to the soldiers and sailors of the United States Army, on
their honorable discharge, for their service to the Government. The
amount of land thus granted (1880) has been 61,028,430 acres.
3. _#To the States for Internal Improvement.#_--There was granted to the
States during the years from 1828 to 1846, for the improvement of
rivers, building of canals, wagon roads, railroads, etc., 162,230,099
acres.
4. _#Sale of Public Land.#_--Under this head there are two classes of
public land--first, that which may be bought for the minimum rate of
$1.25; and, secondly, the alternate sections along the railroads (the
other alternate sections being granted to the railroads), the minimum
price of which is $2.50. There have been sold in all 192,584,116 acres,
realizing $233,000,000.
5. #_Under the Pre-emption Acts._#--These acts, passed at various times,
provide that where a man, a citizen of the United States, settles upon
and cultivates for a certain length of time, a tract of land not greater
than 160 acres, the United States will give him such tract.
6. #_Under the Homestead Acts._#--The homestead laws have created a
better and more certain manner for settlers to acquire land than under
the pre-emption acts. By these acts it is provided that any citizen who
will select either 160 acres of the $1.25 land, or 80 of the $2.50 land,
can then get a permit from the land office, settle on his land, and
acquire a title to it.
7. _#Under the Timber Culture Act.#_--This act gives to any one the
right to 160 acres of the $1.25 land if he will plant 10 acres in
timber, or 80 acres of the $2.50 land if he will plant 5 acres in
timber.
8. _#Certain Lands to States.#_--Quite a large quantity of the public
land has been given to the States on account of its quality, as swamp or
overflowed land, and for various reasons, to the extent of 158,417,514
acres.
9. _#Grants to Pacific and other Railroad Companies.#_--The nature of
these grants have already been spoken of in another chapter. From 1850
to 1872 a total of 150,504,994 acres was given for railroad
construction.
XX.
Reconstruction.
The conclusion of the civil war in 1865 did not relieve the United
States Government of its extraordinary difficulties. There was the whole
South, a conquered territory, occupying the anomalous position of a
district, still within the Union, yet possessing no legal state
governments. The Confederate government had now been destroyed by the
North, and the South was thus without a government. Four million slaves
had been liberated, who were uneducated, without money, and living among
people hostile to them. Congress had to provide for and protect these
freedmen in their rights. The work to be done by Congress, was then:--1.
To decide upon what terms and upon what conditions the seceded States
should be re-admitted into the Union, and to provide for them a
government until such re-admission. 2. To protect the negro.
The South, though in the Union, had at this time, of course, no
representation in Congress, and consequently, the Republicans were in
great majority. Unfortunately, Johnson, who succeeded to the Presidency
at the death of Lincoln, though a Republican, disagreed with his party,
and legislation upon this subject was only secured by passing all acts
over his veto by a two-thirds vote.
After much discussion, the first Reconstruction Bill, "to provide for
the more efficient government of the rebel States," was passed in 1867,
vetoed by the President, and passed over his veto. Its principal
provisions were--1. The insurrectionary States were to be put under
United States control, and for this purpose divided into five military
districts, over each of which the President was to appoint a commanding
officer. 2. The people of the various States might hold a delegate
convention, elected by the citizens who had not been deprived of the
right to vote for participation in the rebellion. The convention was to
prepare a new constitution, which constitution was to be then submitted
to the vote of the people, and when ratified by them and approved by
Congress, should go into force, and the State be entitled to
representation in Congress. Before approval by Congress the
constitutions adopted by the rebel States had to agree in all the
following particulars: (1) abolishing slavery; (2) declaring null and
void all debts created by States in aid of the rebellion; (3) renouncing
all right of secession; (4) declaring the ordinance of secession which
they had passed null and void; (5) giving the right to vote to all male
citizens, without regard to color; (6) prohibiting the passing of any
law to limit or abridge the rights of any class of citizens.
In 1868 the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted by a sufficient number of
States, and was declared a part of the Constitution.
In 1871 all the States were, for the first time since 1861, represented
in both houses of Congress. Reconstruction by Congress was then
completed.