 Two days after the charter was issued , the first battle of the Civil War broke out . After a long delay through the war years , MIT 's first classes were held in the Mercantile Building in Boston in 1865 . The new institute was founded as part of the Morrill Land @-@ Grant Colleges Act to fund institutions " to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes " , and was a land @-@ grant school . In 1863 under the same act , the Commonwealth of Massachusetts founded the Massachusetts Agricultural College , which developed as the University of Massachusetts Amherst . In 1866 , the proceeds from land sales went toward new buildings in the Back Bay . 
