AEE 501
Foundations
of Agricultural and Extension Education
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Class 1: Sources of
Agricultural & Domestic Arts Knowledge in America Prior to 1862
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Introduction: |
What would it be like not having the Extension Service to call on when you had a question? What if agricultural classes were not taught in the local high school? The early settlers in America did not have these resources. Yet, a knowledge of agriculture was critical to their survival. So who did they rely on for agricultural knowledge? Was this knowledge accurate? What was done to promote the study of agriculture? Did formal education have any role in agricultural education? Which colony had a plan for agricultural education/extension? In this lesson we will learn more about the forerunners of agricultural and extension education prior to 1862. |
Lesson Objectives:
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At the completion
of the
lesson you should be able to:  Describe
the level of agricultural knowledge possessed by colonists at Jamestown
and
Plymouth Identify
sources of agricultural knowledged utilized by settlers in Jamestown
and
Plymouth Discuss the process
of formal schooling in the Massashusetts Bay Colony Explain the three
components of the agricultural education/extension plans used in the
Georgia Colony. Define Lyceum and
explain how they contributed to the development of agricultural and
domestic arts knowledge in early America. Identify
the origins of the agricultural fair and how it was involved in
education. Describe
how agricultural societies promoted the development of new knowledge in
agriculture. Identify
early agricultural periodicals and assess the accuracy of the
information
they presented. Differentiate
between academies and high schools in the early days of American
education. Describe
the role of higher education in promoting scientific knowledge prior to
1862. |
Learning Activities:
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Take the Sources of
Agricultural Knowledge pre-test
to see how much you need to learn. The first
European settlers to the New World came to Jamestown. Watch this video
about the Jamestown Colony to see how prepared the settlers were
for the new world. What was the turning point? Read Thomas
Wessel's article "Agriculture,
Indians, and American History" from the January, 1976 issue of Agricultural
History. Focus on the first part of the article. Visit the Jamestown Fort to learn
more about the first people and crops grown at Jamestown.
A Brief History of
Jamestown may shed additional light on how well prepared the first
settlers were for the new world. Visit the Colonial
Education section of the History of American Education
web site. Read William
Brewer's article "Agricultural
Societies, What They Are and What They Have Done.". This article
was
published in the Annual Report for 1880-81 of the Connecticut Board of
Agriculture. A review
of the Table of Contents of some early agricultural society yearbooks
may
help you understand their interests.
The oldest
agricultural society in the United States is the Philadelphia
Society for Promoting
Agriculture. It is still in existence today. Agricultural
Societies still exist in some countries. Check out this modern day
Agricultural Society from Great Britain on YouTube. John
Hillison of
Virginia Tech believes agricultural societies might be the forerunner
of
the FFA. Read the paper he presented at the Southern Agricultural
Education Research Conference in 2001 titled Agricultural
Societies as Antecedents of the FFA (you will need Adobe
Acrobat to view this file). The
early fairs often served an educational purposes. Learn more about
the first
fairs. George Washington
was first in many things, including agriculture. Visit his Pioneer
Farm site and learn more about agricultural practices in the New
Republic. Monticello is the name of Thomas
Jefferson's farm. You can make a virtual visit to it. View a PowerPoint
presentation on Sources of Agricultural
& Domestic Arts Knowledge in America Prior to 1862. If you have
PowerPoint you can download the
presentation. |
Assignments:
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Complete Worksheet 1.
This worksheet is an image
(crossword puzzle) and you cannot easily load it a computer program and
work
on it. The best thing to do is print it and then use a pencil to
complete
it. Then type up your answers as a list Across 2 - answer, Across 6
answer,
etc.) and submit that to me.
For the fun of it,
go to www.ebay.com and search for
"agricultural society" to see if you can find any historic items for
sale. |
