# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Education in Early America

There used to be a popular bumper sticker out there that said 'If you can read this, thank a teacher.' Ironically, thanks to modern educational developments, you probably aren't reading this lesson at all - you're just watching it. But you are trying to get a college education, which means you are still a product of the same educational movement born 200 years ago.

Public schools, as we know them today, were few and far between in the early American republic. The Puritans believed literacy was a religious duty (so that everyone could read the Bible), and most children learned basic math and reading at home.

In the 1700s, elite, private, grammar schools opened in New England to prepare boys to enter the Ivy League colleges, many of which are among America's most prestigious college prep schools today. Throughout the Middle Colonies, individual communities sometimes opened schools to instruct boys in their language, religion and traditions. And Southern plantation owners might hire a teacher to educate their children at home. Wealthy families from every region sometimes sent their sons back to England for school.

During the Revolution, many Americans (like Thomas Jefferson) believed strongly that education was a necessary component of , but despite their arguments, not many of the Founding Fathers thought it was a good idea for the federal government to be involved in such matters. The Constitution places schools squarely in the hands of the states. Some towns, cities, territories and states began enacting laws providing education for local children around the turn of the 19th century. For example, St. Louis, Missouri opened a school in 1808, and many other localities opened their own one-room schoolhouse. But children in outlying areas couldn't always attend and poor kids might need to help provide for their families. Other places, like Georgia, began closing public schools after 1800, and it was illegal almost everywhere to educate a slave. A free, public education was still out of reach for most American children.

The Educational Reform Movement

That began to change in the 19th century. The Second Great Awakening launched many reform movements, including a push for mandatory, free, public education. Reformers taught traditional school subjects as well as moral principles and civics. In 1837, Horace Mann, the Secretary of Education in Massachusetts, began reforming the state's school system, creating grade levels, common standards and mandatory attendance to ensure that all citizens could become virtuous, educated voters. Others states copied his system, and by 1870, all states had tax-supported, locally controlled elementary schools, though attendance was usually not required. A census report indicates that little more than half of all girls attended school in the mid-19th century. But still, it was a step in the right direction. Of course, a lot of students today complain about going to school, but most Americans - even the teenagers - recognize the benefit of having a literate population.

An American Literary Tradition

The education reform movement gave a voice to American authors as well. Poets and journalists emerged during the Colonial era, but most authors were still rooted in the English literary traditions. But American schools needed American textbooks. The two most successful - McGuffey Readers and Noah Webster's 'blue-backed' spellers - both took a uniquely American approach to education, mimicking the factory system: break the subject down into its most basic parts and build it from the bottom up. And both of these textbooks systematically taught cultural and religious virtues. Noah Webster is also credited with standardizing American spelling through his 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language. It was also during this era that America finally produced authors that received attention in Europe. Washington Irving is best remembered for his short stories, such as 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.' James Fenimore Cooper is most famous for his novel The Last of the Mohicans. Though their works are nearly two centuries old, Americans, obviously, still enjoy these stories, considering they were both made into popular movies.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
education in early america: birth of public schools and universities - video & lesson transcript | study.com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Education in Early America: Birth of Public Schools and Universities - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
There used to be a popular bumper sticker out there that said 'If you can read this, thank a teacher.' Ironically, thanks to modern educational developments, you probably aren't reading this lesson at all - you're just watching it.

# data[].attributes.body
- Mann promoted locally controlled, often one-room “common schools” in which children of all ages and classes were taught together; later he introduced the age-grading system.
-Each state used federal funding from the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Acts of 1862 and 1890 to set up “land grant colleges” that specialized in agriculture and engineering.
-Many of what are now called “Historically Black Colleges and Universities” (HBCUs) had their origins in the Morrill Act of 1890.

# data[].attributes.body
Dorothea Dix led the way for treatment of the mentally ill. She created the first generation of American mental asylums. During the Civil war she served as a superintendent of Army nurses.

# data[].attributes.body
- Free public education was common in New England but rare in the South, where most education took place at home with family members or tutors.
In the 1800's, Horace Mann of Massachusetts led the common-school movement, which advocated for local property taxes financing public schools.

# data[].attributes.body
Woman were expected to teach at these public schools. This was the first real occupational opportunity for woman!

# data[].attributes.body
Up until know, the opportunity for education was only provided at private schools or from mentors at home. Mann had the successful idea to provide a common school. This included free elementary education, teacher training programs, and curriculum reforms.

# data[].attributes.headline
Key Figure: Horace Mann - "The Father of Public Education"

# data[].attributes.subject
Key Figure: Horace Mann - "The Father of Public Education"

# data[].attributes.body
Whig politician

"If we want to compete with other countries we need to change schooling"

"to save Republic, we need to educate individuals at least until the 8th grade"