Agriculture and Education in Colonial America

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Agriculture and Education in Colonial America
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Colonists

• The first colonists came from Europe
• Therefore, we need to know about European Society
  and Agriculture to understand the first colonists.

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European Society

• Four classes of people
• Gentleman - owned estates called manors
• Citizens - merchants and city dwellers

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Classes of people continued

• Yeoman - small farmers
• Laborers - worked for land owners

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European Agriculture

• Primitive - not far removed from middle ages
• Manors were farmed using the three field system

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Farming the Manor

• Each manor was divided into three great fields
  which in turn were divided into strips. One man
  was assigned to each strip
• one field lay fallow
• one field had wheat or rye
• one field had barley, oats, vetch, beans or peas

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European Agriculture, cont.

• Large cumbersome wooden plows were pulled by oxen
• Iron or wooden tooth harrows were pulled over the
  land
• Crops were seeded by hand

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European Agriculture, cont.

• Grain crops were cut with scythes and threshed
  with flails
• Hoes, mattocks, spades and forks were also used.

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European Settlers
Plymouth (1620)
Jamestown (1607)
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Jamestown (1607)

• Settlers were gentleman and fortune seekers
• Came to find riches -
• gold, spices, furs
• Didnt know farming, land was owned by the
  company

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Jamestown . . .

• European crops failed in 1607 1608
• 1609 - Two Indian captives taught corn
  production, crop was successful but not big
  enough. Governor then ordered every settler to
  plant corn.

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Jamestown. . .

• 1610 - Adequate corn supply
• 1612 - John Rolf introduces a new type of
  tobacco, a milder tobacco and cross bred it with
  native tobacco
• Tobacco became very profitable

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Jamestown . . .

• 1616 - Governor orders each family to plant two
  acres of corn otherwise only tobacco would be
  grown

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Plymouth (1620)

• Pilgrims came seeking religious freedom
• Some knowledge of farming
• No plows during the first 12 years

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Plymouth. . .

• 1620 - Found a cache of maize and beans, survived
  the winter
• 1621- Squanto taught how to grow corn. Crop was
  a success, English grain failed

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Early Agricultural Exports

• Furs (Pilgrims paid off their sponsors in 21
  years from fur, traded corn for furs)
• Timber
• Tobacco
• Flour and wheat
• Rice
• Indigo

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The Georgia Experiment

• 1733 - Oglethorpe colonizes Georgia
• Made immediate use of Indian agricultural
  practices
• Tomochici Mico taught corn production

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Georgia. . .

• established an experimental farm
• 10 acres in Savannah
• oranges, mulberry
• silkworms
• many other plants

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Georgia. . .

• provide special instructors and training in
  agriculture for all the colonists
• 1733- Three Italians were engaged to go and
  settle in Georgia and instruct the people in
  producing raw silk.

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Georgia . . .

• Success was expected if experienced persons are
  at first sent to teach the people how to perform
  the new tasks.
• 1738 - Three Portuguese were hired to teach
  indigo and grape production/wine making.

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Georgia . . .

• First systematic attempt at real agricultural
  and extension education in the New World

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Indian Agriculture

• No domesticated animals (other than dogs)
• No metal tools
• deer antlers and shoulder blades
• wooden tools
• stone tools
• Garden culture

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Indian Agriculture

• Trees were girdled or burned to create clearings
  for farming
• Indians moved to new fields when fertility played
  out or returned to abandoned fields
• Used intertillage extensively
• Also used fertilizer

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Indian Agriculture

• Domesticated Crops
• Corn (maize)
• White potato
• Tobacco
• Peanuts

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Indian Crops, cont.

• Cotton
• Avocados
• Kidney beans
• Lima beans
• Chili peppers

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Indian Crops, cont.

• Pumpkins
• Squashes
• Sweet Potato
• Tomatoes

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Indian Crops, cont.

• Gathered Crops
• Cranberries
• Pecans
• Various other berries

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Indians

• Left clearings for settlers
• Taught settlers how to clear land
• Taught settlers how to plant corn
• Taught settlers how to fertilize
• Taught settlers intertillage
• Taught land rotation (not crop rotation)

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Education in Colonial America

• Apprenticeships
• Dame Schools
• Latin Grammar Schools
• Higher Education

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Apprenticeships

• 1642 - Massachusetts Bay Colony law
• If children were notbeing educated properly,
  the town leaders wouldapprentice the child
• 1646 - Virginia passed similar law

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Old Deluder Satan Act

• 1647 - Massachusetts
• Towns with 50 familieshad to have a teacherto
  teach reading andwriting

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Old Deluder Satan Act

• Towns with 100 familieshad to establish a
  grammar school(college prep)

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Latin Grammar Schools

• For the elite
• Teachers were ministersor transients
• Curriculum
• Latin, Greek
• Rote memorization
• Strict discipline

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What is it?
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What is it?

• A whipping post. These wereoutside the school
  house and students were tied to it to receive
  whippings.

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Dame Schools

• Reading and writing was often taught in dame
  schools, especially for females. Dame schools
  were often conducted in kitchens. Students
  learned only the rudiments while thehomemaker
  worked.

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Dame Schools

• Women were expected to stick to their knitting
  and not meddlein such things as are proper for
  men, whose minds are stronger.

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Higher Education

• Colleges were established to train ministers and
  government leaders
• Some proficiency in Latin and Greek was needed
  for admission
• Curriculum emphasized classics and the liberal
  arts
• No sciences or practical subjects were taught

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Higher Education . . .

• Harvard - 1638
• William and Mary - 1693
• Yale - 1701
• Princeton - 1746 (Presbyterian)
• Columbia - 1754 (Episcopal)

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Higher Education. . .

• Brown - 1764 (Baptist)
• Rutgers - 1766 (Dutch Reformed)
• Dartmouth - 1769 (Congregationalists)