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Schooling in Colonial America

Schooling in Colonial America. 1600-1800. The Purpose of Education. What does a person need to know to be a productive citizen? Religious training Upper class College Working classes Apprenticeships Farm labor “on the job” training. Harvard 1726.

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Schooling in Colonial America

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  1. Schooling in Colonial America 1600-1800

  2. The Purpose of Education • What does a person need to know to be a productive citizen? • Religious training • Upper class • College • Working classes • Apprenticeships • Farm labor • “on the job” training Harvard 1726

  3. Education was neither free, public, nor secular in the Colonies • Educational opportunities were stratified • Class • Gender • Race • Religion • Region • Education served to retain the status quo • Children were educated to take their parent’s place in society • Tension • American ideal of equal opportunity for all

  4. Southern Colonies • A sharply defined class structure • Dispersed population • Anglican church did not put an emphasis on religious indoctrination • Belief that education was a private matter and not the concern of the state

  5. Middle Colonies • A diverse population • English, Dutch, German, French, Swedish • Catholics, Mennonites, Calvinists, Lutherans, Quakers, Presbyterians, Jews • Commercial interests • An emphasis on vocational education

  6. Northern Colonies • A fairly uniform population • Puritan New England • “Children are vipers and infinitely more hateful than vipers.” • Jonathan Edwards • A Theocracy

  7. The Construction of Childhood • For the Puritans, Children were miniature adults • Born in sin, they were vulnerable to Satan’s ploys • Thus, they need to be closely monitored • The Childhood in History

  8. The Construction of Childhood • High child mortality led to more “objectification” than today

  9. The Construction of Childhood • By the mid-19th century, childhood began to be thought of as a unique time in life. • “Adolescence” had not yet been invented, however.

  10. The Emergence of Higher Education • Harvard College • The purpose was to prepare young men, 13-18, in Biblical and classical studies • The goal was to produce a new generation to assume leadership in the church and commonwealth

  11. College Life • Greek, Latin, Scripture • Moral development was as important as intellectual development • College was a “rite of passage” for colonial gentlemen. “Caning” at Harvard

  12. Colonial Schooling • Private Tutors • Upper Class • Dame Schools • Boys & girls • Grammar School • Upper & Merchant Class • Mission or Charity School • The poor • Private Academies • Upper Class • College • Upper Class

  13. Dame Schools • Taught by women in their homes • Open to girls • Colonial “Day Care”

  14. Education For The Wealthy • Private tutor • Grammar school • Academy • College

  15. What was a colonial education like? • One-room log or clapboard cabins • Students aged 3-20 • Teachers would “cite,” students would “re-cite.” • Corporal punishment • Mr. Dove’s One-Room Schoolhouse

  16. Hornbook • Paddle shaped board with paper sheet attached • Usually contained the ABC's in both small and capital letters • Some Scripture

  17. Hornbook • They had been used in Europe • Their use continued in the colonies because printed books and pamphlets were harder to come by.

  18. New England Primer • Calvinist Theology • Combined hornbook with authorized catechism

  19. Secular materials • Almanacs • Franklin’s • “Poor Richard’s Almanack” • Chapbooks • Most were imported from England

  20. The National Era 1780-1830

  21. The Educated Citizen“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, it expects what never was and never will be.” - Thomas Jefferson • The Founders were deeply influenced by Enlightenment thought • They believed that a republic could survive only if its citizens were educated

  22. European Thinkers who influenced American Education • John Locke • 1632 – 1704 • Tabula Rasa • Children should learn through their five senses (Empiricism) • Children learn through imitation • Children are rational creatures

  23. European Thinkers who influenced American Education • Jean Jacques Rousseau • 1712-1778 • Critical of educational practice • Education should be consistent with the natural conditions of a child’s growth • They are not ready to deal with abstract ideas imposed upon them through books

  24. Educating a New Nation • Literacy prior to the revolution • White men (90%) • White women (60%) • Blacks • Slave • Free • Native Americans

  25. After the Revolution • Economic changes • Commercial economy • Improved transportation • A more mobile society meant a need for improved communication

  26. After the Revolution • Political changes • Political, economic theory • Locke • Rousseau • Calls to action • Pamphlets • Common Sense • Broadsides • Newspapers

  27. A Republic demands an educated citizenry • The task was to build a nation out of 13 colonies • Eliminate all things British

  28. Thomas Jefferson • History instead of Scripture • “Geniuses raked from the rubble” • “The people are the only safe depositories” • University of Virginia

  29. Noah Webster • Connecticut teacher • Goal- eliminate British textbooks

  30. Noah Webster • Blueback speller • Became America’s greatest lexicographer • The first American Dictionary

  31. Benjamin Rush • Founder of Dickenson College • “Thoughts upon the mode of education proper in a republic” • “Thoughts upon female education” • Among the first to advocate education for females • But, separate, not equal

  32. Benjamin Rush • Jefferson’s personal physician • Gave medical advice to Meriwether Lewis prior to the Lewis and Clark expedition • Thunderclappers • Invented “the tranquilizing chair”

  33. The Impact of Immigration and Industrialization • The Lancastrian system • A course of study • Units of work • Textbooks • McGuffy readers • Blueback spellers

  34. The Lancasterian System • System of education in which children could be educated very cheaply • One teacher was in charge of large numbers of students • Monitors were used as a method of "crowd control," hence the schools came also to be known as monitorial schools. • More advanced students had the responsibility of assisting in teaching those students below them

  35. The McGuffy Reader • The most popular schoolbook in the nineteenth century was the McGuffey Reader, introduced in 1836. • Based on landmarks of world literature, the set of six readers, which increased in difficulty, were the basis for teaching literacy, as well as basic values such as honesty and charity. • The readers gave the teacher flexibility she lacked before, allowing her to more easily teach a classroom of pupils of different ages and levels. • Tens of millions of copies were sold in the nineteenth century. • In rural America the McGuffey Reader was often the only exposure people had to world literature.

  36. The Common School 1830-1890

  37. A Time of Unprecedented Change • Territorial expansion • Dramatic Population Growth • Civil War • Industrialization • Urbanization • Social Reform

  38. Jacksonian Democracy • The era of the Common Man • Universal Manhood Suffrage • Local Control

  39. A new Working Class • Immigration • Urbanization • Industrialization

  40. Social Problems • Industrial revolution • Textile industry • Lowell Massachusetts • Immigration • Potato famine in Ireland • Gap between classes

  41. Reform Movements • Abolition of slavery • Concord Mass. • Henry Ward Beecher

  42. Reform Movements • Women’s Suffrage • Susan B. Anthony • Lucretia Mott • The Grimke Sisters • Elizabeth Cady Stanton

  43. Reform Movements • Temperance • WCTU

  44. Reform Movements • Reform of Prisons • Mental Institutions • Dorothea Dix

  45. Reform Movements • Was the Goal . . . • Social Justice? • Social Control? • Both?

  46. The Common School Movement • New England Beginnings • Ralph Waldo Emerson • Transcendentalism • Every human has a “Spark of the Divine” • We have a moral obligation to help others • Education is liberating

  47. Monitorial (Lancasterian) System • Becomes the standard in Urban areas among working class/immigrant students • Economical • 1 teacher and up to 300 students • Rote memorization

  48. Catherine Beecher and the Common School • Daughter of Henry Ward Beecher • Sister of Harriet Beecher Stowe • Founded • Hartford Female Seminary • Western Institute for Women

  49. Horace Mann and the Common School

  50. Horace Mann • First state Secretary of Education in Massachusetts • He was a reformer. • Led the fight for: • Railroads • Insane asylums

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