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Show 300 HISTORY OF PUBLIC LAND LAW DEVELOPMENT of the United States, appears the "equal footing" statement found in all previous measures for admission of states.44 Texas . . . shall be admitted into the Union ... on an equal footing with the existing States. . . . The State of Texas ... is hereby declared to be one of the United States of America, and admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original States in all respects whatever. Wisconsin Meantime, Wisconsin Territory was adding population much faster than Iowa or Florida and at the time of its admission had a larger population (280,000) than all but three states -Maine, South Dakota, and Hawaii-when they entered. Yet its admission was delayed, not so much over controversies with Congress as because of its internal disputes and its dissatisfaction over boundaries. On August 6, 1846, Congress offered it an enabling act with boundaries defined, section 16 for schools, 46,080 acres for a seminary of learning, 6,400 acres for public buildings, 46,080 acres at salt springs and 5 percent of the net returns from land sales for canals and roads, while insisting on the usual ordinance.45 Wisconsin was not happy about the boundaries separating it from Illinois and Michigan that Congress proposed. Like Michigan earlier, Wisconsin maintained that the boundaries of the territories as defined by the Northwest Ordinance should be held inviolate when they became states. This would have given Wisconsin one or two tiers of counties in Illinois. The alternate reserve sections along the proposed Milwaukee and Rock River Canal, which had been priced at the double minimum, were not worth $2.50 and the people of Wisconsin wanted the price lowered 44 5 Stat. 798; 9 Stat. 108. The Supreme Court held in 1949 that when Texas entered the Union it relinquished a part of its sovereignty and became equal in all respects to the older states and on this basis Texas, like California, had no right to the tide-lands, 339 U.S. 718. 45 9 Stat. 56. to the usual minimum and preemption rights granted to settlers with improvements. In 1841 Congress had granted the public land states 500,000 acres of land for internal improvements. Wisconsin asked for the right to select these reserved sections as part of the state's improvement grant. Finally, Wisconsin preferred to have the 500,000-acre grant and the 5 percent of the net proceeds from the sale of public lands allocated for the support of schools. These propositions were presented to the Federal government by the convention. Congress was willing to make only a slight concession to Wisconsin on boundaries, conceded to it the right to use the 500,000-acre grant and 5 percent of the net proceeds for schools, even though the intention of both grants was to aid in building roads and canals that would make the public lands more marketable, and agreed that the alternate even sections along the canal route should be priced at $1.25 an acre and that settlers on them who had made improvements should have the right of preemption. Wisconsin had done well in bargaining with the Federal government but perhaps its most important contribution to Federal-state negotiations over sharing public lands resulted from its deep concern for public schools. John A. Rockwell, Representative from Connecticut, touched by that concern and the willingness of the people to put schools above internal improvements, said that he favored enlarging the grant for the public schools and proposed an amendment to the final act for the admission of Wisconsin to add section 36 to section 16 for schools in each township. The amendment was ruled out of order though support for the move came from the Acting Commissioner of the Land Office who said in his annual report for the same year, "The expedience of making further provision for the support of common schools in the land States had attracted much attention, and certainly is worthy of the most favorable consideration." In 1848 Rockwell revived the move to grant section 36 in addition to 16 for schools and succeeded in getting such a pro- |