“Sun-Burnt Sons of Toil”
Arkansas and the Agricultural Wheel
Lesson Plan by Ashley Ralston
Hands-On History Coordinator, Historic Arkansas Museum
Butler Center for Arkansas Studies
2007-2008 School Year
Utilizing 2006 Arkansas Social Studies Frameworks
Plus Other Curriculum Frameworks Including 2007 School Library Media Frameworks
Students will analyze primary and secondary sources to gain an understanding of
The Agricultural Wheel and the role it played in the life of Arkansas farmers.
Students will take this information and create visuals and scenarios detailing the
different stages in the Wheel’s creation. Students will use resources for a
predetermined task.
Grades: 9th -12th
Objectives: 1. Students will be able to analyze various sources to
understand the role of The Agricultural Wheel in Arkansas history.
2. Students will be able to use primary sources to gain perspective
about individuals in specific time periods.
3. Students will be able to organize information in various ways to
show understanding of new information.
Arkansas Curriculum Frameworks:
Arkansas History Student Learning Expectations
RP.6.AH.9-12.4 - Describe the economic challenges Arkansas farmers faced
during the post-Reconstruction period.
Social Studies Student Learning Expectations:
Civics
USC.5.C.1
Discuss the meaning of constitution and constitutional government
PPE.11.C.1
Analyze the development and growth of political parties
American History
PO.9.AH.5
Discuss problems faced by farmers (e.g., bonanza farms, railroads, economic
depression, and overproduction)
PO.10.AH.1
Summarize the cooperative efforts of farmers in solving agricultural issues
PO.10.AH.2
Discuss the rise and fall of the Populist Party
English Language Arts Student Learning Expectations:
OV.1.10.2
Prepare and participate in informal discussions and activities, such as
presentations, group discussions/work teams, and debates…
OV.3.9.2
Articulate personal response to such media as editorials, news stories and
advertisements
W.4.9.1
Generate, gather and organize ideas for writing
School Library Media Student Learning Expectations:
I.1.9.9, I.1.10.9, I.1.11.10, I.1.12.10 – Distinguish between primary and
secondary sources
I.2.9.2, I.2.10.2, I.2.11.2, I.2.12.2 – Evaluate primary and secondary sources
A.4.9.1, A.4.10.1, A.4.11.1, A.4.12.1 – Use resources and/or technology tools for
a predetermined task
NCSS Thematic Standards:
Culture
People, Places and Environment
Individuals, Groups and Institutions
Power, Authority and Governance
Production, Distribution and Consumption
Civic Ideals and Practices
Related Encyclopedia of Arkansas Entries:
Agricultural Wheel; Cotton
Introduction:
The teacher will select the appropriate student learning expectations for his or
her class, review the key terms, and make copies of selected activities included
in the lesson. Collaboration with the school library media specialist for
assistance with the utilization of the technology resource tool for Arkansas
History is suggested. See above links or visit the online Encyclopedia of
Arkansas History and Culture at http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net.
Key Terms:
The
Agricultural
Wheel
Anaconda
Mortgage
Constitution
Credit
Key Terms Defined:
The Agricultural Wheel - A grass roots organization created by the frustrations
of farmers. The Agricultural Wheel eventually evolved into a short lived political
party whose platform focused on issues concerning farmers.
Anaconda Mortgage -The process where banks require farmers to pledge the
following year’s crops to acquire supplies needed to farm their current year’s
crops.
Constitution - A document which is written to establishes the rules, policies and
beliefs of an organization or political entity.
Credit - An arrangement for deferred payment of goods or services.
Materials Needed:
Notebook
Writing Utensils, Markers, etc.
Poster Board
Agricultural Wheel Sections 1-10 Activities (included)
Assignment Critique (included)
Suggested Timeline:
One to Two Fifty Minute Classes
The first class for preparation, the second for presentations
Background:
By the late 19th century the distress farmers felt about their life and business had
come to a point where the only recourse was to act. This began at a meeting with
nine attendees, eventually leading to the creation of The Agricultural Wheel. The
Wheel gained in momentum by championing the importance of agrarian
prosperity, including the rightful treatment of the farmers who made it possible.
The Wheel began to turn to the political sphere for answers and opening up a
platform for the voices of the “sun-burnt sons of toil.”
Resources:
The Encyclopedia of Arkansas
http://encyclopediaofarkansas.net
“Arkansas Farmers Organize for Action: 1882-1884”
http://www.rootsweb.com/~arprairi/History/agwheel.html
Procedure:
* All discussion questions may substitute as journal entries in history notebooks
Have students react to a “provocative statement.” Write the following on the
board:
“Only the wealthy and the educated should be able to govern.”
Ask students to write a paragraph in support of or against that statement.
When writing their paragraph, ask students to consider the following
Discussion questions:
•
•
•
What role does government play in people’s lives?
How does an individual become an active participant in government?
What changes can be made through government?
Allow students enough time to complete the assignment, and then ask them to
share their answers as a class.
Next, introduce students to the topic of The Agricultural Wheel in Arkansas (see
background). Let students know that they will be reenacting the Wheels
foundation and accomplishments in Arkansas’s history.
Activity #1:
Place students in sections (groups) from one to ten. After the groups are formed,
give each section the corresponding activity for their group. Have the members
read the activities and assign each member a job. The main readings and/or
primary sources and accompanying discussion questions should be done as a
group. Afterwards, the assignment is broken into sections labeled Create, where
students create a visual representation of their task, and one labeled Activity,
where students are responsible for creating and acting out a scene which
represents their topics. Students may self-assign these tasks to match abilities
within the group.
Activity #2:
Place groups around the room in ten sections, the shape should represent a
wheel. Each section should display their Create assignment beside them, while
acting out the Activity assignment. Give each student a handout of the
Assignment Critique, so that they may participate by analyzing each section’s
presentation. Have students list additional comments on the back side of their
paper.
Closing:
Have students create a eulogy for the Agricultural Wheel. Students should use
the information they learned from activity one, as well as the notes they took on
the presentations during activity two. The eulogy should sum up the role of the
Agricultural Wheel in Arkansas. Have students answer the following discussion
question:
• How does the Agricultural Wheel fit within the paragraph written during the
introduction?
The Agricultural Wheel
Sections 1-10
Activities
Section One
“…After the Civil War, Arkansas (and Southern) farmers returned to growing
primarily cotton, in part because bankers had insisted on farmers raising a cash
crop as a condition for providing them with financing. Cotton acreage therefore
increased, but prices fell due to overproduction, leading farmers to compensate
by planting yet more cotton, which led in turn to even lower prices. As farmers
saw their own incomes steadily falling, they realized that those who handled their
product—the shippers, warehouses, buyers, and middlemen—were continuing to
profit from cotton.”
Discussion Questions:
•
•
•
•
How is a cash crop different from other types of crops?
Why would bankers insist on financing only cash crops?
Why was this a problem for farmers?
Why would those who handled “their product” continue to profit
Create:
On a large sheet of paper, recreate and complete the diagram showing the
relationship between cotton production and prices:
Decrease
___________________
Increase
___________________
Increase
___________________
Decrease
___________________
Activity:
Create a dialogue between a farmer and banker discussing the cash crops
and the problems the farmers are having because of them. Hang the
diagram behind you, so that you may refer to it while discussing the
problem.
Section Two
“Arkansas farmers also found it difficult to obtain credit: the 1874 state
constitution prohibited the taking of a homestead to satisfy debt, and an 1879 law
deferred the sale of foreclosed property unless it brought at least two-thirds of its
appraised value and allowed redemption within one year of sale. These
conditions made lenders reluctant to deal with farmers, and those who did felt
justified in charging high rates of interest for their risk, a practice dubbed by
farmers as “anaconda mortgages” because of their having to pledge the following
year’s crops in order to obtain the current year’s supplies, which they felt was
squeezing the life out of them…”
Discussion Questions:
•
•
•
What is the value of credit?
Why were lenders reluctant to deal with farmers?
Describe the problems associated with “anaconda mortgages”?
Create:
On a large sheet of paper, create a pictoword for the term “Anaconda Mortgage.”
A pictoword is a symbolic representation which shows the meaning of the word.
Activity:
Compose a dialogue between the banker and farmer about the issues
concerning credit and anaconda mortgages. As you speak, refer to the
discussion questions about why it is hard to find a solution.
Section Three
Primary Source: Agricultural Wheel Song
There are ninety and nine that mortgaged a way
In want and hunger and cold
To the one merchant Every Day
And be happy with goods and Gold.
The ninety and nine in their homes so bar
The one in Merchandice so fair
They toil in their fields- the ninety & nine
For the fruit of our Mother Earth
They did and drive in rain and shine
To gain their treasures of Earth
And the Wealth of other Sturdy hands
Goes to the hands of one in Merchandice
It flows from the sweat of their brow
The cotton does bloom
The merchant says come farmer
In my books there is Room
And the ninety and nine their crops is short in the fall
And the one Merchant sayes
Come farmer I must have t’all
They stand firm and true
I must have it boys I’ve carried you through
Discussion Questions:
•
•
Who do the “ninety and nine” represent?
Read the following verse:
“If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray,
Does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains
To seek the one who is straying
And when he finds it, assuredly, I say to you,
He rejoices more over that sheep
Than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray”
Mt 18.12-13
•
•
•
•
•
Why would farmers identify with the ninety-nine in this passage?
How do they compare to the “merchant?”
Describe the life of the “ninety and nine.”
Who receives the benefits of their hard work?
In which lines, does the song refer to the anaconda mortgage?
Create:
Create a sensory figure of a farmer and a merchant referring to the ninetynine. A sensory figure is a simple drawing of a figure with descriptions of
what they might be seeing, hearing, saying, feeling or doing, to show the
thoughts feelings, and experiences of that figure. When creating this
figure, refer to your answers from the discussion questions.
Activity
As you read Agricultural Wheel Song out loud to the class, have two class
members reenact the parts of the farmer and merchant. Include a discussion
about the verse from Matthew 18.12-13 and how it applies to the farmer’s
identity.
Section Four
“This shared victimization led to the formation of agrarian unions, beginning in
the late 1860s and continuing into the twentieth century, for the purposes of
advancing their social, educational, economic, and political interests. Among the
many unions to emerge from this shared experience was the Agricultural Wheel,
which originated at a meeting of farmers on February 15, 1882…eight miles
southwest of Des Arc (Prairie County).”
Discussion Questions:
•
•
•
Why would farmers come together to change their situations?
What were their goals?
What symbolism lies behind the name “The Agricultural Wheel?”
Create:
Create a poster providing information on the upcoming meeting of the
Agricultural Wheel. The poster should have factual information, as well as the
purpose behind the meeting and why farmers should attend.
Activity:
Hang the poster behind you and try to persuade your fellow farmers to come to
your meeting.
Section Five
“The nine men who met there were small farmers, two of whom were from
nearby Lonoke County. They agreed to form a farmers’ club…These men had
the same concerns of other small farmers…According to its constitution, the
club’s purpose was ‘the improvement of its members in the theory and practice of
agriculture and the dissemination of knowledge relative to rural and farming
affairs…”
Discussion Questions:
•
•
•
How did the farmers feel victimized?
How would it be easier for individuals to advance their situation by
creating unions?
What is the purpose of a constitution?
Primary Source:
Constitution of the Grand Agricultural Wheel of the State of Arkansas
Preamble
“Whereas, The general condition of our country imperatively demands unity of
action on the part of the laboring classes, reformation in economy, and the
dissemination of principles best calculated to encourage and foster agricultural
and mechanical pursuits, encouraging the toiling masses, leading them in the
road to prosperity, and providing a just and fair remuneration for labor, a just
exchange of our commodities, and the best mode and means of securing to the
laboring classes the greatest amount of good.”
•
•
•
According to the constitution, what is the general condition of the country?
What is mean by the term “toiling masses?”
What is the stated goal?
Create:
On a large sheet of paper, draw a road map of prosperity representing the
Wheel’s goals as stated in the constitution. Begin the map with the state of the
country, ending with the goals of the union.
Activity:
With your map hung behind you, form a discussion as though you were at the
first meeting. Create a dialogue discussing the need for a constitution.
Afterwards, read the preamble and describe what it will mean to you as farmers.
Section Six
Primary Source:
The Agriculture Wheel
Come all ye sun-burnt sons of toil,
Arise from thine oppression;
‘Tis true we till the stubborn soil,
But a highway to progression,
Which enemies cannot conceal,
Is opened by this mighty Wheel
Come, let us join our hearts and hands,
And set this Wheel a-going;
Perhaps ‘twill roll to other lands,
Its seeds of fortunate sowing,
‘Till all the world its power may feel,
And let’s bless the Agriculture Wheel.
Heed not the idle words of those
Who would our march to freedom stay.
They get their money, food and clothes
From us who labor day by day;
And if they could, I guess they’d steal
The power and glory of the Wheel
Discussion Questions:
•
•
How does this song differently than the previous Agricultural Wheel
Song?
How have the farmers been empowered?
Create:
Create a CD Cover to The Agricultural Wheel which represents the feelings
and lyrics to the song.
Activity:
Hang the cover behind your group as you read/sing the song aloud. Be sure
to emphasize the feeling of empowerment felt by the members of the Wheel.
Section Seven
“The Wheel was also committed to ending the business and banking monopolies that
oppressed them, as they viewed it. Some members of the Wheel saw political action as
a means of achieving those goals, and in 1884, local Wheels ran candidates in several
counties and won some offices in Prairie and White counties.”
Discussion Questions:
•
•
Why would political action be the most affective way of reaching their goals?
Make a list of issues you think would be important to the campaign.
Create:
On a large sheet of paper, create a mosaic of the issues you will represent. The mosaic
should be in both words and pictures, and represent the full needs of the people.
Activity:
Create a speech, announcing your intent to run as a candidate in the Wheel party. In the
speech, list the problems facing the country and how you would change these.
Section Eight
“The Wheel members also decided to drop the word “white” from their membership
requirements and to provide for separate black Wheels, if the various state Wheels
wanted them. The admission of black farmers was an indication that the white Wheel
members recognized that black farmers shared the same economic and social problems
as white farmers.”
Discussion Questions:
•
•
Why would this be a big step forward in the post-reconstruction south?
How might this change the look of the Agrarian Wheel?
Create:
Write an acrostic using the word Wheel to describe the impact it will have in the lives of
African Americans. An acrostic is a poem, where each letter represents another word,
thought or sentence.
Activity:
Write a monologue as though you were a black farmer, freed after the Civil War, and
have recently joined the Wheel. Describe what your membership to the wheel means to
you.
Section Nine
“In 1889, the national Wheel met at Birmingham, Alabama, where it voted to merge with
the National Farmers’ Alliance and Cooperative Union of America, with Evan Jones of
the Alliance as president and Isaac McCracken as vice president. As part of the merger
agreement, black farmers were now denied membership, thus eliminating almost half of
all Southern farmers from its organization. This merger also marked the end of the
Agricultural Wheel as an independent group.”
Discussion Questions:
•
•
What effect did the Wheel’s merger have on the organization?
Why would this be especially devastating in the south?
Create:
On a large sheet of paper, create a “T chart,” listing the pros and cons of merging the
Wheel with larger organizations.
Activity:
Create a dialogue between someone on the pro side of the merger and someone who is
against. This should include factual information, as well as the perspective of the
individual.
Section Ten
“Although the Agricultural Wheel failed to gain much for farmers in Arkansas’s political
arena, the group made a big difference in the lives of Arkansas farmers, both socially
and economically. The local monthly meetings broke the monotony of farm work and
made the previously isolated farmers feel that they were an important part of society.
The meetings also had programs on literary topics and on the issues that affected
farmers in politics. The Wheel also sponsored educational programs to help farmers
achieve a higher level of productivity.”
Discussion Questions:
•
•
List the positive influences the Agricultural Wheel made in farmer’s lives.
How would these achievements have a long lasting affect on the farming
society?
Create:
Create a metaphorical representation to explain the impact the Agricultural Wheel made
in farmers lives. Example: “The Agricultural Wheel was like…” complete by choosing one
of the following analogies or creating one of your own: an alarm clock going off, placing
a bandage on a wound, or learning a new language. Make a simple drawing of the
analogy and label the historical comparisons.
Activity:
With the poster hung behind you, create a monologue as though you were a farmer
discussing how the Wheel has changed your life.
Name:
Assignment Critique
Directions: As each group presents their material, rate the performance from one
to five, one being lowest and five being the highest.
Section _______
• Were group members prepared?
• Did every member participate?
• Was the information informative?
• What I learned from this group was:
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
Section _______
• Were group members prepared?
• Did every member participate?
• Was the information informative?
• What I learned from this group was:
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
Section _______
• Were group members prepared?
• Did every member participate?
• Was the information informative?
• What I learned from this group was:
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
Section _______
• Were group members prepared?
• Did every member participate?
• Was the information informative?
• What I learned from this group was:
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
Section _______
• Were group members prepared?
• Did every member participate?
• Was the information informative?
• What I learned from this group was:
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
For Further Reading: See Race Relations in the Natural State by Grif Stockley.
The textbook has been adopted by the ADE as social studies resource. Order
information is available at http://www.butlercenter.org/publication/books.html
Mr. Stockley has written several articles for the online Encyclopedia of Arkansas
History and Culture. Students can use the advanced search feature in the online
encyclopedia to access these articles.
The Taylor Foundation (Little Rock, Arkansas) makes Butler Center lesson plans possible.
Contact the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, Central Arkansas Library System, 100 Rock St.,
Little Rock, AR, 72201. 501-918-3056 www.butlercenter.org and www.cals.lib.ar.us