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Document 1 – An Act Granting Federal Land for Canal Purposes
 

March 2, 1827
 


Document 1
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Transcription

"An act to grant a quantity of land to the State of Illinois
 for the purpose of aiding in opening a canal to connect
  the waters of the Illinois River with those of Lake Michigan."

"Be it enacted by the Senate and house of Representatives of the United
  States of America in Congress assembled,"
Sec
1




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"That there be, and hereby is, granted to the State of Illinois, for
the purpose of aiding the said State in opening a canal to
unite the waters of the Illinois river with those of Lake Michigan
a quantity of land equeal to one half of five sections in
width, on each side of said canal, and reserving each alternate
section to the United States, to be selected by the com—
missioners of the Land Office, under the direction of the President
of the United States, from one end of said canal to
the other, and the said lands shall be subject to the
disposal of the Legislature of said State, for the purpose
aforesaid and no other: Provided that the said
Canal when completed shall be and forever remain
a public highway for the use of the Government of the
United States, free from any toll, or other charge, whatever,
for any property of the United States or person in
their service passing through the same: Provided
that said canal shall be commenced within five
years, and completed in twenty years or the State shall
be bound to pay the United States the amount of
any lands previously sold and that the title to purcha
sers under the State shall be valid"
Sec 2.







Sec 3

"And be it further enacted, That, so soon as the
rout of said canal shall be located and agreed on by
the said State, it shall be the duty of the governor thereof
or such other person or persons as may have been, or shall
hereafter be, authorized to superintend the construction of said
canal, to examine and ascertain the particular sections to
which the said State will be entitled, under the provisions of
this act and report the same to the secretary of the United States
"That the said State, under the authority of the Legislature thereof
after the selection shall have been so made, shall have power
to sell and convey the whole, or any part of the said land
and to give a title in fee simple therefor, to whomsoever
shall purchase the whole or any part thereof"

Approved 2d March 1827

Explanation

This facsimile is of a copy of an act passed by the United States Congress, approved by President John Quincy Adams, and transmitted to the State of Illinois. An earlier federal act passed in 1822 had provided the state the actual canal route and ninety feet of public lands on each side of it as an inducement for Illinois to undertake this important internal improvement. A canal connecting the Great Lakes to the Illinois River and thus the Mississippi River and then the Gulf of Mexico had the potential of profoundly affecting national and international trade and commerce as well as affording the United States military a means by which it could reach and defend much of the nation’s northwestern border.

This 1827 act was significantly more generous in the land grant it offered in that it provided the state alternate sections of land extending five miles out from each side of the proposed canal. In all this was to amount to some 284,000 acres of public lands. The donation was considered generous at the time it was made and it proved to be a precedent in the federal government’s commitment to the project.

For a map of the completed canal route, see Exhibit A.

Points To Consider

Why was the United States Congress granting land to the State of Illinois?

Ultimately which two major bodies of water would have been linked by this proposed canal?

Which benefits was the canal expected to afford and to whom?

Provide arguments for and against the involvement of the United States government and the State of Illinois in canal construction.

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