Final answer:
The Rectangular Survey System is also known as the Public Land Survey System, involving a grid pattern to divide land systematically for sale by the government.
Step-by-step explanation:
Another name for the Rectangular Survey System is the Public Land Survey System. This method, spurred by the Ordinance of 1785, involved dividing land into rectangular plots to prepare for government sale.
It constituted a logical and orderly replacement for the metes and bounds system that was introduced by English settlers during the colonial period. The basic unit in this grid system is the township, a six-mile square piece of land, which is further divided into 36 one-square-mile sections, and these sections can be further divided, depending on the requirements of the homesteaders and the environment.