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    A History of American Agriculture  
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17th-18th Centuries

18th century
Civic and intellectual leaders in colonial and revolutionary America copy the aristocratic and fashionable Europe interest in agriculture, science, and commerce, and form societies to promote these interests
1785
The Philadelphia Society for the Promotion of Agriculture and other rural concerns are organized
1794
Whiskey Rebellion, a farmers' revolt against taxes on grain in whiskey


1800

1810
First American agricultural periodical, the Agricultural Museum, begins publication
1819
The American Farmer and the Plough Boy periodicals begin publication







1820
1820s
Agricultural periodicals begin to express rural issues
1822
First issue of the New England Farmer
1825-50
Some schools and colleges begin to offer courses in agriculture and in sciences helpful to agriculture
1826
Lyceum movement begins in Massachusetts
1828
First issue of the New York Farmer; Southern Agriculturist
1830s
Public school movement gains momentum
1830-60
Popular and agricultural education is the most prominent rural issue of this period, especially in the North
1831
First issue of the Genesee Farmer
1834
First issue of the Cultivator
1840

1840
Agricultural journalism becomes permanently established, with about 30 farm journals and a total circulation of more than 100,000
1841
Union Agriculturist and Western Prairie Farmer start publication
1850
Jonathan Turner begins to campaign for industrial universities
1855
Michigan and Pennsylvania pass legislation providing for establishment of Michigan Agricultural College and the Farmers High School, later Pennsylvania State College

1860

1862
The drive for agricultural education culminates in the passage of the Morrill Land Grant College Act
1870s
Many State colleges of agriculture begin experimental work
1874
Chautauqua system founded in New York
1875
Agricultural experiment stations established in Connecticut and California


1880

1887
15 States have formally organized experiment stations; Hatch Experiment Station Act
1890s
Development of secondary agricultural education in local areas and by State
1890
Second Morrill Act broadens land-grant program and sets up funding for Black land-grant schools
1893
49 experiment stations exist under the Hatch Act


1900


1900
First corn club for boys, forerunner of 4-H clubs
1903
Seaman Knapp begins boll-weevil demonstration project, an inspiration for extension education




1910


1914
Smith-Lever Extension Act passed. Establishment of the federal-state Extension Service was a major step in direct education for farmers
1917
Smith-Hughes Vocational Education Act passed




1920
1920
31,000 students enrolled in agricultural courses
1924
Clark-McNary Act provides for forestry extension work
1925
Purnell Act provides for economic and sociological research to be carried out by the experiment stations
1925-45
Basic research done in land-grant colleges lays groundwork for second agricultural revolution
1928
Future Farmers of America founded
1930




1935
Bankhead-Jones Agricultural Research Act more than doubles Federal support of extension work
1940

1940
584,000 students enrolled in agricultural courses
1941
Extension agents work in every rural county in the country, including Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico
1946-54
Land-grant college enrollment increases greatly as veterans enroll under G.I. bill




1950




1958
National Defense Education Act
1960



1964
Antipoverty programs lead to expansion of extension education programs in inner cities
1970



1970
853,000 students enrolled in agricultural courses
1974
Agreement between USDA and land-grant
colleges establishes Council
on International Science and Education



1980

1980s
Enrollments in colleges of agriculture drop in wake of the farm crisis
1985
USDA scientists indicate that agricultural chemicals infiltrate ground water more than previously thought






1990-2000



1990s
Distance education becomes an increasingly important way to make cooperative research and extension resources accessible



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