AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION AND THE 1862 LAND-GRANT INSTITUTIONS: THE REST OF THE STORY

Abstract

Agricultural Education has had a close working relationship with land-grant universities since they were started in 1862. Many teacher educators refer to the 1862 Act as the Morrill Act. However, others besides Justin Morrill deserve credit for the Act and its passage. There were many false starts along the road to passage of the Act. One of the most fundamental decisions was whether agricultural education teachers should be prepared at land-grant universities or at normal schools. While many agricultural education teacher educators have taught the history of the land-grant act, few have taught the total history because only a few have known it. Jonathan Baldwin Turner of Illinois deserves credit for creating the concept of the land-grant university and advocating its establishment over a 20 year period. After several attempts, including one Presidential veto by James Buchanan, the bill finally became law. One important part of the passage was the Civil War which took several conservative and state rights Senators and Congressmen out of Washington and permitted the Northern legislators to pass the bill. Advocates of normal schools decided they would like to train agricultural education teachers and even got a provision in one of the predecessors to the Smith-Hughes Act to require it. However, land-grant universities had more clout and became the main source of teacher preparation. This decision placed agricultural education teachers administratively closer to agriculturalists than pedagogical specialists.