Movement Sprung Up by Taking Word 'Shall' Out of Context

A whole movement has sprung up, and survived for decades based on the misuse of the word "shall."
I speak of the Sagebrush Rebellion.

Those folks got reading a portion of the Utah Enabling Act, which establishes Utah statehood, and, they read a part that says 5 percent of the proceeds from any sale of federal lands "shall" go to the state.

They took that to mean the federal government must sell the land.

I say they are wrong. The word "shall" should not be taken out of context. It does not say the land shall, of requirement, be sold, but rather, it says 5 percent of the proceeds from the sale of the lands shall go to the state. This means only what it says, that 5 percent of any sales will go to the state. No more. Reading more into it can be done, as is evident that a whole movement has not only been established, but has survived for decades. Still, if the words of the contract are taken for what they actually say, and not given extended meaning beyond what they say, the Sagebrush Rebellion is amiss, founded on a false premise. Rather than giving the state the right to these lands, the Enabling Act says Utah relinquishes right to them.

For, the Enabling Act also says, "That the people inhabiting said proposed State do agree and declare that they forever disclaim all right and title to the unappropriated public lands lying within the boundaries thereof."

Should they be twisting one part of the act into saying something it doesn't, and then ignoring the part that says exactly the opposite of what they want?

I say, No.

For your perusal, though, I give you the exact wording from Section 9, which they use to justify the demand that the federal government give up right to BLM and other federal lands:

"That five per centum of the proceeds of the sales of public lands lying within said State, which shall [SHALL} be sold by the United States subsequent to the admission of said State into the Union, after deducting all the expenses incident to the same, shall be paid to the said State, to be used as a permanent fund, the interest of which only shall be expended for the support of the common schools within said State."

They also quote from a part of the act that says, "and that until the title thereto shall have been extinguished by the United States" without quoting the words that come just after that, which say, "the same shall be and remain subject to the disposition of the United States,"