The 1890 Land-Grant Colleges

The 1890 Land-Grant Colleges

The 1890 Land-Grant Colleges ideas began in 1862, to democratize higher education. The first Morrill Act was passed during that time when most Blacks Americans were in slavery. Agriculture was the main economic activity, and the Land Grant College of Agriculture (LGCA) were tasked with teaching branches of agriculture, mechanical arts and military studies. They were meant to serve the underprivileged Black people working in the agricultural fields. However, discrimination and segregation resulted in Black people being deprived of higher education. This led to the expansion of the Morrill Act later in 1890. The second Morrill Act was passed as a post-Civil War national philosophy for higher education. The 1890 Land-Grant Colleges brought about equality and opportunity for black students to access higher education and develop their knowledge in agriculture, military tactics and mechanical science through teaching research and extension.

The 1890 Land-Grant Colleges mandated that each state in the southern and border states had to establish one black and one white institution. This was a time when higher education was considered to be a privilege of the white people while Black Americas had to be contented with working on the farms. It gave rise to a total of 17 universities that came to be known as the 1890 institutions. Sixteen of them were public state colleges while 1 was Tuskegee University. These institutions joined 59 other land-grant colleges that had been built in 1862 following the Morrill’s First Act. They were referred to as the 1862 colleges and were in every state and territory. This was to ensure that African American students had equal opportunity to access higher education, just like their white counterparts (Williams, 2020).

The 1890 Land-Grant Colleges continue to serve their purpose to date, 130 years after their construction. Despite the development of other universities around the original colleges, LGCA institutions have managed to maintain their unique relationship with the federal government and the public. They continue to hold up their Missions which is teaching, research and extension. Extensions were meant to link colleges through academics and research programs that addressed societal needs. Public service function included extended education and technology transfer. The colleges were motivated by the need to bring together each state and territory into education that was related to agriculture and supported science. Land grand legislation was a federal-state partnership that was created in agricultural research and technology transfer. This partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture had a financial agreement that each state and territory were to receive federal funding to facilitate agricultural research and extension programs. In return, the institutions were able to deliver solutions to problems affecting society.

The 1890 Land-Grant Colleges have led to dramatic changes in the national farming business. This is attributed to their contribution to agricultural knowledge and farming technology. Farming has become a scientific industry that is made up of science and technology. The modern farm technology caused improved productivity and quality of the product and reduced labour. It also changed the profile of a farm. Contemporary family farms became complex business entities. Farms range in size from specialized small scale farms to vast large scale commercial organizations. Farming is a highly concentrated industry such that a relatively small piece of land can produce significantly large output. The success of agriculture in the U.S. is attributed to the presence of farmers with different levels of education, research capacities, backgrounds and information needs (Nash, 2019).

The 1890 Land-Grant Colleges caused an evolution in food and agricultural systems such that they reflect a wider array of public expectations. Modern systems are able to encompass primary production, processing, marketing, retailing and consumption. These chain of activities provides 18% of America’s employment and 16% value-added to domestic production, which creates a substantial contribution to America’s export earnings.

The food and agricultural systems also interact with the environment in ways that affect the well-being of human communities through safety, ethics and consumer health (Brevik, 2019). The impact of these interactions is seen in the contemporary society in the form of the ever-expanding global population, constraints of the global resources, and in environmental and food safety concerns. There is a need for continuous improvement of productivity and sustainability of food and agricultural systems through scientific research and technological development in LGCAs.

Conclusion

The Land-Grant College Act of 1890 was able to achieve its goal. The institutions managed to overcome historical barriers and provide higher education to thousands of African American students for more than 130 years that they have been in existence. They have produced some of the greatest minds in America and critical personnel who made significant contributions to the economy. An extension was achieved through collaboration across disciplines, institutions, states as well as students and faculty exchanges. Scientific research conducted at the institution led to technological advancement and evolution of agriculture. Their contribution to agriculture has far-reaching results in generating income, creating employment opportunities, providing quality products for domestic consumption as well as foreign exchange, thus generating a lot of income for economic growth.