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“Pre-America: Education During the Colonial Period”

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“Pre-America: Education During the Colonial Period”

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Amid the colonial period of America, large towns in New England were the only places required to have schools for children, however, they were not free. Teachers were paid by the community via resources such as a cow or bushels of wheat.

During this time children were given a hornbook (a form of children’s primer) which contained a copy of the alphabet and a short prayer for them to recite and memorize. Unlike public schools today, curriculum was closely tied to the Protestant bible. The most commonly used primer during this time was the “New England Primer”.

Older boys went to grammar school where they studied math and science, and only the privileged were able to attend college.

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American Dictionary of The English Language by Noah Webster shown above

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“The Great Change: Education During and After the Revolutionary War” 

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“The Great Change: Education During and After the Revolutionary War” 

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During the Revolutionary War, most Americans were educated enough to read the newspaper and the Bible. Education became an important tool for people to judge systems of power and gauge which system were taking advantage of them or their community.

In 1776, the average lifetime school attendance was less than 82 days.

After the Revolutionary War, many citizens maintain the idea that education played a prominent role in forming the new country. One of those people were Noah Webster, also referred to as the “School Master of America”. Webster felt that British textbooks should be removed from American classrooms and a national curriculum surrounding US history be taught to children in schools across the nation.

In 1783, Noah Webster published the Blue Back Speller, a primer that quickly became “America’s textbook” to be taught is classrooms. Today Webster is most known for his dictionary, Webster’s Dictionary, arguably the most trusted place to find definitions for words to date.

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“Education for All: The Formation of Public Education Post Revolutionary War”

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“Education for All: The Formation of Public Education Post Revolutionary War”

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Thomas Jefferson, most known for his role as a founding father who served as the 3rd President of the United States, was a strong believer in public education across the country.

In 1778, Jefferson drafted a proposal that guaranteed three years of public schooling for all children, and advanced education for a select few.

The first three years were meant to give the average citizen the knowledge of what democracy was, as well as the history of the US. If you were allowed to continue into higher education, you were thought to be a future aristocrat who could assist in running the country.

Unfortunately, women and people of color (specially enslaved Africans) were not included in Jefferson’s plan of higher education. Only three years of education were given to girls and were then expected to marry and take on household obligations. For enslaved Africans, pursing education was dangerous and people often risked their lives to obtain it.

Furthermore, there were members of higher society that viewed education as a privilege that only a select few should be allowed to obtain. Some felt that farmers and the working class did not “deserve” free education.

Later on, The University of Virginia became the first state supported university.

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“1830s & Beyond: The Pursuit of Public Education in Developed America” 

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“1830s & Beyond: The Pursuit of Public Education in Developed America” 

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Horace Mann was an education reformer and abolitionist who is known for his commitment to public education. He is often referred to as the “Father of American Education”.

In 1837 Mann sat as secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education. Public schools were funded by taxes and by fees charged to parents. Wealthy children could afford to attend school but less fortunate children did not attend whatsoever.

Teachers often had no training and the turnover rate was rapid. 40-60 children were placed in one classroom with one teacher. Multiple age ranges were grouped together and teachers were expected to be “ring masters”, somehow properly educating all of these children while keeping control of the classroom.

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“The Push For Secular Education: Irish Catholic Children in NYC”

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“The Push For Secular Education: Irish Catholic Children in NYC”

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Irish Catholics were largest immigrant groups to settle in New York, outside of the Protestants that controlled the school systems. Schools remained non-secular and heavily influenced by the Protestant Bible during this time.

Irish Catholic children were expected to attend Protestant public schools where catholicism and the Irish as a whole were demonized. Their textbooks were filled with anti-Irish rhetoric that portrayed Irish immigrants as unintelligent and lazy. As a result, 20,000 kids Irish Catholic children were kept home and out of the public education system.

After the New York Board of Education was founded, anti-Irish passages were painstakingly hand removed from textbooks across the city. As a result Irish families began to enroll their children in schools to receive education.

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“The Freedom Route: African American’s Strive For Education Pre & Post Civil War”

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“The Freedom Route: African American’s Strive For Education Pre & Post Civil War”

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Before the Civil War, two-thirds of African Americans lived in the South in states such as Texas, Alabama, Virginia, and the Carolinas. In the North, schools were segregated and African American children attended school that were highly underfunded and understaffed for the amount of children in attendance.

After the Civil War ended there was a major surge in African Americans seeking education. Literacy was seen as a pathway towards freedom and a better life.

During the 1840s, African American children only had 2 schools in which they could attend, both being segregated. Members of the Boston School Committee defended segregation stating that White children were “intellectually superior” from Black children and that the separation actually benefited the latter.

In 1849, Benjamin Roberts, an African American man living in Boston, attempted to register his five year old daughter, Sarah Roberts, into three “white” schools where she was denied because of her race. In one instance, Sarah was physically removed from the building by a teacher.

Benjamin vowed to sue the city and receive justice for his daughter and in 1849, his case reached the Massachusetts Supreme Court. Robert Morris, one of the first black lawyers in the country, and abolitionist, Charles Sumner represented them in the landmark case. Sadly, the judge ruled against them and they lost the case. However, the issue was brought to state legislature and in 1855, segregation in Massachusetts public schools were banned. This was first anti-segregation law in the nation that allowed children of all races to attend the same school.

By 1890, the US was providing more schooling to children than any nation. Literacy among the African American population rose from 5% to 70% in the decades after the Civil War.