U.S. Public Education 1776-1826

U.S. Public Education1776-1826 Chapter 3 The Educational Reality: Pluribus

Competing Claims on Education Pluribus still the dominate reality Very little movement toward common schools between 1776-1826 Early 1800’s saw momentum for education channeled through new state governments Schools often intertwined with private, philanthropic, or religious efforts Often aimed at the poor or the under-privelidged

Movement toward National Identity Education seen as a way to instill a national identity and sense of pluralistic “we” in midst of all the diversity and self-interest from vast immigration New school books written to aggrandize the U.S. and its new world status after the Revolution New books in geography, math, and history written following Noah Webster’s reading, spelling, and grammar books Schools, both public and private, were to promote spirit of nationalismbut diversity from immigration caused conflict between public vs. private schools

Economic Modernization Class distinction and religious diversity contributed to conflict between public and private schools Economic modernization drew factories to the cities This brought new workers, mostly laboring poor, to the cities Many under-privileged children of the factory workers roamed streets of NY, Philly, and Boston, creating mixed feelings of fear, contempt, pity among the more well-to-do folk Educational solutions ranged from charity schools backed by religious societies to philanthropic schools aided by public funds to public schools under government control

Political Modernization U.S. was developing a modern political system as well as the modern economic system just discussed Jeffersonian Republications, formed in the late 1790’s, created a recognizable competitive political party to Federalists Political competition brought increased suffrage among white males, by changing previously restrictive property requirements, thus involving many more people in the political process 1770-1790’s Jeffersonian’s pushed for public schools Federalists pushed for private, religious, and charity schools

The two party political system , through partisanship and self- interest, created gridlock regarding any forward movement to common schools Concept of “public good” waned as private enterprise, namely business people seeking advantage, dominated the politicians U.S. government was weak, and not able to coordinate the pluralisms veering off in all directions at this time Thus little movement toward common schools

Religious Revival Weak federal government led to growth in social infrastructure with various groups organizing themselves to get things done, i.e. religious, political, cultural, philanthropic, professional Religious organizations were most influential in education Second Great Awakening was a vast expansion of religious influence in the country, led by Protestant ministers trying to regain authority diverted from them to the “Patriot” cause during the Revolution Sparked a sense of mission that sent preachers to remote parts of the country as well as to the cities, prompted churches to establish charity schools and colleges and sparked first U.S. missionary

efforts to Asia and Africa Religion more influential than republicanism This affirmed the belief that morality and religion were major focus and goals of all education , both public and private Predominate view was that all children should be grounded in Protestant fundamentals, i.e. The Bible. Textbooks should reflect biblical lessons as basic to good conduct and good citizenship Interdenominational (Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist) Protestantism was the rule in public schools until mid-1800’s

Religious revival slowed growth of public schools, in Pa., NY, and Va. religious interests were slow to accept idea of public shools under state auspices

Slavery and Anti-Slavery Movements Slavery was an immoral affront to the Revolutionary ideals of civil liberty and civic equality It contradicted the idea of religious equality and was a traditional and anti-modern custom It divided a nation that had recently fought a war for a free, equal, and just society. 1770’s-1780’s saw increase in anti-slavery sentiment in both North and South, to bring into practice Revolutionary ideals and preachings of both secular and religious leaders

Federal government was ambiguous on slavery Declaration of Independence did not condemn it per se as Jefferson had wanted Federal Government outlawed slavery in Northwest Territories yet allowed slave owners to recover escaped slaves This ambiguity by federal government let the issue devolve to the states, where division between North and South occurred Since public education was, by definition, a matter of state policy and regulation, these decisions and divisions seriously affected public education of both blacks and whites Connecticut outlawed slave trade 1771, and Rhode Island 1774

1780 Pennsylvania abolished slavery within its borders 1788 New Jersey required slave owners to teach slaves to read 1799 New York enacted gradual abolition act 1830 legal slavery all but wiped out in the North Social discrimination and prejudice toward Negroes remained But the new laws went a long way toward reflecting the Revolutionary ideals of liberty and equality to blacks & whites The Fourteenth Amendment in 1868, guaranteeing due process

and equal protection under the law evolved from these early state laws Stipulations of the Fourteenth Amendment were applied to public education in 1954 by the Supreme Court Legislative Steps toward Public Education Mass., Conn., and NY led the way in modernizing education in an increasingly urbanized society Southern states, while having lots of plans, focused efforts on charity education for the poor or higher education for the well-to-do Consensus was that private or voluntary efforts were not going to be sufficient to educate growing number of poor in cities

Growing movement toward public control and public support (money) Numerous independent schools, i.e. charity schools, religious schools, academies, and proprietary schools, began to receive public funds, or lose their private character and transform themselves into public institutions. Even so, the quality, performance, and length of schooling remained very diverse Educational pluribus still reigned, but a little less certainly Massachusetts 1780’s Revolutionary war coming to a close, Colonial tradition of public schooling in Ma. faced severe test, money was scarce and many towns did not open their public schools

To comply with legislative edict to promote education, Ma. chartered some private academies and supported Harvard College 1789 passed law that all towns of 50 householders hire an elementary teacher to teach the “3 R’s” and “decent behavior” 6 months a year 100 household towns required elementary school 12 months a year 200 household towns to provide a grammar school teacher for English, Latin, and Greek All teachers needed college education and certificate of qualification of good morals from a religiously established minister or selectman

Law allowed towns to divide into smaller districts to receive tax funds Elementary teachers needed certificates of good morals All teachers had to be U.S. citizens Assumption was that all teacher would be of Protestant Christian belief and stress those ideals in the schools Boston passed its own city laws, in addition to the state law, requiring grammar schools to accommodate boys and girls age 7-14 and be located in convenient parts of the city (the start of neighborhood schools?) Required school committee be elected by ballot and members must visit schools, examine students and generally supervise operations

Public control of schools was thus established 1800 Ma. gave local districts power to levy taxes to support public Schools 1817 gave them full corporate power to run schools Opponents felt the charity and church schools could accommodate the poor, but studies showed the students were not learning well Public school proponents eventually won out over private school supporters and established a public school board Neighborhood schools appealed to many , not just for convenience but as means to improve neighborhoods 1826-27 Ma. legislature passed new laws electing special school

committes, required support of public schools by taxes, established religious neutrality in curriculum and text books, deprived the clergy of supervisory or visiting powers, but asked them to join selectmen and committee members in urging attendance at the public schools Connecticut 1796 law provided mixed means of public school support from local taxes to special fees, and proceeds from some sale of public land Rhode Island passed first common school law in 1800 New York State 1795-1820 NY moved from almost non-existent school system to one rivaling Ma. 1784 created University of the State of New York to build a unified school system from elementary to college level

1812 comprehensive school law enacted provided for state matching funds to districts who raised their own monies Districts responsible for maintenance and repair of schools NY was first state to really develop a centralized school organization Created first state office of Supt. Of Common Schools, tasked with preparing improvement plans, overseeing school funds, and reporting status of entire system to legislature 1830-1850 all Northern and some Southern states adopted same practice Pennsylvania Slow in moving from a pluralist and charitable approach to a public and govenmental approach

Benjamin Rush proposed a voucher system for use of public tax funds by some religious communities to adopt “alternatives” to common school system By 1790’s he was promoting free education for the poor, in 1802 Pa. legislature passed law supplying public funds for free education for the poor Next 20 years saw much forward movement in Pa. toward truly public schools, and in 1828 Pa. Society for Promotion of Public Schools was formed Southern States Public participation in education was focused on pauper and charity Schools 1785 Georgia established a state university modeled after NY’s,

establishing an academic senate at the school to oversee a complete system of organized education, with the legislature having final say in any actions taken All officers of the institution required to be Christians (Protestants), However, the U of Ga. did not start to function until 1800 and by then the idea of a state school system got lost Public funds continued to be directed toward higher education for the few and lower education for the poor 1810 Virginia legislature established a literary fund for the encourage- ment of learning, funded by fines, penalties, and forfeitures, but the next year fund was limited to education of the poor in each county 1828 districts could use funds for education of all white children

State school funds established in SC in 1811, Maryland in 1813, NJ In 1816, and Delaware in 1817 Education for Blacks: The Major Blind Spot Post Revolutionary period gave little consideration for education of black freemen or slaves between 1790-1810 Revolutionary fervor and anti-slavery sentiment had waned Negros went to separate schools or had no schools at all NY permitted local districts to segregate Negro pupils, Pa. and Ohio authorized local districts to provide separate schools if at least 20 Negro pupils taken care of, and New England regularly assigned Negros to separate schools

1787 Negroes asked Mass. legislature for separate funds to establish black school system, feeling discriminated against in the public schools,... the legislature refused 1798 they demanded a separate system, which was established Separate schools for blacks were widespread in the North, with idea of common school coming to the forefront as abolition movement grew No such movement in the South SC and Ga. passed laws in 1740 and 1770 making it illegal to teach a slave to read, although some slaves learned to read, mostly through teachings of white women and white children

Blacks established a few schools in some areas, taught by other Blacks or sympathetic religious groups (Quakers) By 1800 regression set in and not much improvement in the educational opportunities for blacks until Reconstruction Jefferson’s Dilemma Jefferson, a leading proponent of liberty, equality, and public education, did not apply those principles to slaves, blacks, or Indians He never campaigned for abolition, nor seek equal rights to education for slaves or freedmen, and he never freed his own Slaves

Public education was caught in the struggle between different groups with different ideals Jeffersonian Republicans were for the common people and common education , but only as long as those people were white They were for state control of education, but proponents of states rights to control slavery and prohibit black education Federalists were for abolition of slavery and a strong federal government, and for public education of the poor, but more concerned with favoritism for the elite and private enterprise, which usually excluded the common good Two points of agreement between the two factions:

Both believed in some kind of public education over private Education Both agreed that that if any sort of education was to be provided for blacks and whites in public or in private schools, that education should be provided separately

History of Education Chapter 3 summary Pluribus still dominant reality Early 1800’s saw momentum for free public schools channeled through new state laws Schools were to promote nationalism but diversity from massive immigration caused conflict New two party political system formed in late 1790’s, created gridlock on common schools progress because of partisanship and self-interest

summary cont. Religion (mostly Protestantism) very influential in schools Modernization-Urbanization brought more people to cities for jobs This created problem with their children, either running loose or working in the factories---child labor Early school laws designed to get children out of factories and into schools New State Laws 1789 Mass. passed laws establishing elementary school systems and qualification requirements for teachers 1798 established separate school system for Blacks

1784 NY created University of State of NY to build unified school system from elementary level to college 1812 NY established matching funds system of funding for districts created first state officeof Superintendant of Common Schools 1810 Virginia established literary fund for schools for the poor both sides believed any schools provided for Blacks and Whites should be separate

U.S. Public Education 1776-1826