Education in the New Republic

Presentation by:

Audrey Perry, Kelli Fisher, James Horne, Pam Earnest, Robin Huebner

1647

The General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony decrees that every town of fifty families should have an elementary school and that every town of 100 families should have a Latin school. The goal is to ensure that Puritan children learn to read the Bible and receive basic information about their Calvinist religion.

1720’s

Pennsylvania attempts “cultural Anglicization” of Germans.

1749

Benjamin Franklin’s academy proposal.

1769

Dartmouth College founded to educate “youth of Indian tribes” and Christianize “children of pagans.”

1790

Naturalization Act excludes Native Americans from U.S. citizenship

1779

Thomas Jefferson proposes a two-track educational system, with different tracks in his words for "the laboring and the learned." Scholarship would allow a very few of the laboring class to advance, Jefferson says, by "raking a few geniuses from the rubbish."

Jefferson’s “A Bill for the more General Diffusion of Knowledge” advocates education to provide a natural aristocracy for the U.S.

1783-1784

Webster completes spelling book, reader, and grammar text designed to unify a multicultural society.

1785

The Continental Congress (before the U.S. Constitution was ratified) passes a law calling for a survey of the "Northwest Territory" which included what was to become the state of Ohio. The law created "townships," reserving a portion of each township for a local school. From these "land grants" eventually came the U.S. system of "land grant universities," the state public universities that exist today. Of course in order to create these townships, the Continental Congress assumes it has the right to give away or sell land that is already occupied by Native people.

1786

Benjamin Rush, a leader in the new science of psychology, argued that a moral faculty is a natural part of the human mind, and that the moral faculty had the function of distinguishing and choosing good and evil.

1790

Pennsylvania state constitution calls for free public education but only for poor children. It is expected that rich people will pay for their children's schooling.

1790-1809

Presidents Washington and Jefferson advocate education and civilization of Native Americans as a peaceful means of acquiring of tribal lands.

1800

Boston establishes segregated school for African Americans.

1800 – 1835

By this time, most southern states have laws forbidding teaching people in slavery to read. Even so, around 5 percent become literate at great personal risk.

1805

New York Public School Society formed by wealthy businessmen to provide education for poor children. Schools are run on the "Lancastarian" model, in which one "master" can teach hundreds of students in a single room. The master gives a rote lesson to the older students, who then pass it down to the younger students. These schools emphasize discipline and obedience, qualities that factory owners want in their workers.

1817

A petition presented in the Boston Town Meeting calls for establishing of a system of free public primary schools. Main support comes from local merchants, businessmen and wealthier artisans. Many wage earners oppose it, because they don't want to pay the taxes.

1819

Civilization Fund Act to change Native American cultures into Anglo-American culture.

1820

First public high school in the U.S., Boston English, opens.

1821

Sequoyah provides Cherokees with a written language.

1824

New York House of Refuge founded to educate youth away from a life of crime.

1827

Massachusetts passes a law making all grades of public school open to all pupils free of charge.

Beginning of workingmen’s parties campaigns to replace charity schools with common schools.

1830

Indian Removal Act and beginning of the Trail of Tears.

1820-1860

The percentage of people working in agriculture plummets as family farms are gobbled up by larger agricultural businesses and people are forced to look for work in towns and cities. At the same time, cities grow tremendously, fueled by new manufacturing industries, the influx of people from rural areas and many immigrants from Europe. During the 10 years from 1846 to 1856, 3.1 million immigrants arrive, a number equal to one eighth of the entire U.S. population. Owners of industry needed a docile, obedient workforce and look to public schools to provide it.