1. Schooling in the American Colonies before the Civil War Thomas Jefferson The Common School Era and Horace Mann Focus on Political Economy, Ideology and Schooling

2. Must be able to put what is happening today in education into context Better understanding of the forces and issues that help shape American Public education Knowledge of the main themes in contemporary education that were shaped by the history of education in the U.S. Why is the History of Education Important to Know? Main Themes Universal education Local Control Curriculum and Instruction Aims of Education Continuation and enforcement of democratic ideals Religion Save souls

3. Thomas Jefferson 1743-1826 Member of the Continental Congress –(1775-1776), (1783-1784) Served in the Virginia Legislature (1776-1779) Wrote the Declaration of Independence (1776) Governor of Virginia (1779-1781) Minister to France (1784-1789) Secretary of State (1790-1793) Vice President of the United States (1796-1800) President of the United States (1800-1809) Founded the University of Virginia (1819) Believed that Democracy could only be sustained through education Died on July 4, 1826, the 50 th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence

4. Jeffersonian Era POLITICAL ECONOMY Decentralized Republican government “Communities” were like local government. Nation separated into 3 regions –New England –Mid Atlantic –Southern States Agrarian Economy Family Government IDEOLOGY 6 Central and Fundamental Ideas of Classical Liberalism  Faith in Reason  Natural Law  Virtue  Progress  Nationalism  Freedom

5. SCHOOLING Through education, reason and virtue would develop Mind was made up of faculties---memory, reason and imagination Mind was a muscle which needed exercise for development and was an empty vessel which needed filling through education Democracy could only be sustained through education Jefferson’s Plan for Education TIER ONE Districts/wards Overseer 3 year curriculum Free for all children Smartest boys were then chosen to continue grammar school—screened for future leaders TIER TWO Grammar schools/district colleges or schools 6 year curriculum Ages 10-15 were the best for memorization and learning language Graduates provided leadership in business, transportation, surveying, the militia and local government Where teachers for the elementary schools would be drawn

6. Jefferson’s Plan for Education cont… TIER THREE University Believed education was a prerequisite for leadership Original Plan-Professorships Private tuition in religion, gymnastics, military, manual arts, dancing, music and drawing TIER FOUR Self-education…lifelong learning Plans for libraries Provide annual allotments for the purchase of books, paintings and statues for the libraries

7. GOALS FOR ELEMENTARY EDUCATION Information sufficient to transact business Writing skills Calculation skills Reading skills Improved morals Understanding of duties Knowledge of rights Ability to vote intelligently Ability to judge office holder’s conduct Ability to fulfill social relationships GOALS FOR UNIVERSITY EDUCATION Political Leaders Knowledge leading to political freedom Understanding to improve the economy Reason, morals, virtue and order Understanding of science and math to promote the general health, security and comfort Habits of reflection and correct actions in students which render them examples of virtue to others and bring happiness to themselves

8. Curricula in colonies mostly based on interpretation of the Old and New Testaments and the three Rs. Arithmetic was learned from resources around them Books studies in school were what they were sent with by their parents (if at all) Hornbook first reader New England Primer Geography Made Easy textbook, 1784 Webster’s American Spelling Book, (a.k.a. Blue-Backed Speller), 1783 Mcguffey Readers (still produced and sold) Curricula

9. The Common School Era Massachusetts in the 1830’s Focus on: Demographics Politics Economics Ideology Horace Mann

10. Demographic Changes Settlers went from the coastal states to the interior territories Irish immigrants--settled in the northeast mainly Urbanization stimulated by industrialization. Political Changes 1789 fewer than 1 in 7 could vote 1824, 4 in 7 white men could vote Upper class supported the Whig party. Upper class was alarmed at how many “uneducated” voters there were. Upper class supported education so that theses voters could make informed and educated voting decisions Economics Transportation improvements increased people, goods and produce movement Expansion of commerce centered in port cities Cottage Industries Rise in commerce and industrialization presented the need for schooling

11. Ideology Early in the period, Puritanism was still influential Later in period more belief in a benevolent God who created a rational universe and endowed human nature with rationality –New Englanders began to believe that God had given them the power for improvement Prisons were Hospitals for mentally ill were built Youthful offender institutions were developed—Reformatories Women’s suffrage movement received support Abolitionists believed African-Americans should be free More government involvement and centralization of authority Laissez Faire now meant the government should step in when necessary to assist economic development Classic Liberalism spread from government to citizens now –Faith in human reason –Newton’s conception of Natural Law –Continuing progress Politics, newspapers and churches became vehicles for new ideas State power over education began to overpower local self- government. Literacy was needed to read the Bible

12. HORACE MANN 1796-1859 “The Father of American Education” “Education, then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of the conditions of men -- the balance- wheel of the social machinery.” “Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.”

13. SCHOOLING Believed that schooling should be: –Free –State financed and controlled –Universal –Compulsory Common School –Great equalizer –Poverty would disappear as popular intelligence would tap new treasures of natural material and wealth –Crime would decline as well as violence and fraud –Social good was infinite Schools must teach appropriate set of morals. State school would lead to moral and political consensus Educating the masses would result in increased economic benefits for the nation. Common schools would need teachers so he supported the Normal Schools.

14. Popular and Arsitocratic Education Tier System Tozer, p. 64-Exhibit 3.1 Teacher Education Teachers needed special preparation Opposed recitation teaching methods as well as corporal punishment. Academic portion of the curriculum be limited to the subjects taught in the common schools. Wanted institutions that would teach only teacher education Teachers needed to be moral exemplars Women were cheaper labor and naturally better suited for the instruction of children: “Is there not an obvious, constitutional difference of temperament between the sexes, indicative of a prearranged fitness and adaptation, and making known to us, as by a heaven imparted sing, that women, by her livelier sensibility and her quicker sympathies, is the fore chosen guide and guardian of children of a tender age.”

15. Reforms placed control in a centralized government vs.local control. Exclusion of religion from schooling Conflicts between the Whig Party (Mann) and the Democratic Party. Democrats thought Normal Schools would teach Whig values Public Tax support for only non-sectarian Protestant vs. Catholic schools Iinstituting a system of schooling for social control. Minority groups had little active participation in the fundamental decision making about their education. Criticisms of Mann