ag history

  • jamestown settled

    jamestown settled
    All forms of livestock were transported(not turkey) to jamestown.They grew crops like sweet potatoes, tomatoes, pumpkins, gourds, squashes, watermelons, beans, grapes, berries, pecans, black walnuts, peanuts, maple sugar, tobacco, and cotton.
  • jamestown saved by tabaco

    jamestown saved by tabaco
    During the winter of 1609-1610 (the starving time) 80-90% of the settlers died due to diseases and starvation. In 1612 Sir John Rolfe brought tobacco seeds with him to the colony which turned the settlement into a profitable endeavor for the Virginia Company.
  • first slave brought to virginia

    first slave brought to virginia
    In 1619, the first African slaves were brought to Virginia from Angola in West Central Africa.
  • Colonial Farming Technologies

    Colonial Farming Technologies
    During the early 1700s agricultural technology consisted of the following: oxen and horses for power, crude wooden plows, all sowing by hand, cultivating by hoe, hay and grain cutting with a sickle (one-handed tool with short handle and curved blade), and threshing with a flail (a tool made with two long sticks attached by a strip of leather).
  • Parliamentary Acts

    Parliamentary Acts
    During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, England adopted a series of laws known as “Parliamentary Acts.” These laws regulated trade from the American colonies by requiring that goods exported to England be sent on British ships. One section of these laws, the Navigation Acts, required that the colonies transport their most expensive products back to England and pay costly import taxes for this right.
  • declaration

    declaration
    Declaration of Independence is signed. This was put into effect partly because of the British taxes on agricultural products.
  • The First Mule Breeder

    The First Mule Breeder
    George Washington experimented with crop rotation and with new seeds and plants. He also became the Nations first mule breeder, using animals given to him by Charles III, the king of Spain in 1785.
  • shay's rebellion

    shay's rebellion
    Shay’s Rebellion was a revolt led by farmers for high taxes and deflation. This resulted in the first national bank being created, to help with debt.
  • The Morrill Act

    The Morrill Act
    The Morrill Act gave each state thirty thousand acres of public land per seat held in Congress, to help build and maintain agricultural colleges.
  • The Homestead Act

    The Homestead Act
    The Homestead Act offered 160 acres of free land to settlers who would farm it for five years, making the Great Plains a land of opportunity. Homesteaders rushed to fill the open lands. Homesteading also brought fresh waves of immigrants in pursuit of their dreams.
  • Post-war Agriculture

    Post-war Agriculture
    The Civil War destroyed much of the South and its plantations. More dramatically, four million slaves were suddenly freed with no land, no money and little opportunity.
  • The Hatch Act

    The Hatch Act
    The Hatch Act of 1887 granted additional lands and funds to universities for agricultural research and experimentation.