Historedia
Episode 1 of 2

Establishment of the Department of Agriculture

When
15 May 1862
Where
Washington, D.C.
Part of
Lincoln signs the Department of Agriculture and Homestead Act into law

Lincoln established the independent Department of Agriculture as a bureau headed by a commissioner without Cabinet status.

On May 15, 1862, Lincoln established the independent Department of Agriculture through the Morrill Act. The agency was headed by a commissioner without Cabinet status. This legislative act, recorded as Sess. 2, ch. 72, 12 Stat. 387, created a distinct federal entity for agricultural oversight.

Sources

  1. United States Department of Agriculture Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-06
  2. 37th United States Congress Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-21

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.