Free Republic

On June 5, 1967, the Alianza Federal de Mercedes – which translates to Federal Land Grant Alliance – led by Reies Lopez Tijerina stormed the courthouse in Tierra Amarilla with the intention of freeing nearly a dozen members of their group who had been arrested two days earlier and to make a citizens’ arrest of prosecuting District Attorney Alfonso Sanchez. The two-hour confrontation resulted in a prison guard being shot through the cheek and a sheriff’s deputy severely beaten. It ended when the 20 or so raiders escaped with two hostages. The famous raid was inspired in part by ill...

On this day in 1890, President Benjamin Harrison (R-IN) signed into law the Second Land-Grant College Act. The law, written by Senator Justin Morrill (R-VT), made African-Americans eligible to attend land-grant colleges. Specifically, the law required any state that banned African-Americans from attending land-grant colleges to establish land-grant colleges for those students. Back then, there was no legal or judicial means for the federal government to compel state governments to cease racial discrimination, so this law was actually a big step forward.