LAND GRANT COLLEGES; In 1857 there was political movement calling for the creation of agriculture colleges, one in every state and territory, in order to promote practical education of industrial classes. Prior to 1857 and before the Civil War, American colleges primarily trained students in classical studies and liberal arts. The United States expropriated land from 245 Tribal nations and allocated 17,400,000 acres of these Public lands to states and territories to provide colleges for the benefit of agriculture, military tactic, mechanics and industrial arts with less focus on classical and liberal arts. The United States first Land Grant Agriculture College was the Agriculture College of the State of Michigan known today as Michigan State University. 