Auburn University

In 1872, control of the institution was transferred from the Methodist Church to the State of Alabama for financial reasons. The Reconstruction-era Alabama government placed the school under the provisions of the Morrill Act as a land-grant institution, the first in the South to be established separately from the state university, which in this case was the University of Alabama. This act provided for 240,000 acres (971 km2) of Federal land to be sold to provide funds for an agricultural and mechanical school. As a result, in 1872 the school was renamed to the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama.
Under the act's provisions, land-grant institutions were also supposed to teach military tactics and train officers for the United States military. In the late 19th century, most students at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama were enrolled in the cadet program, learning military tactics and training to become officers. Each county in the state was allowed to nominate two cadets to attend the …