U.S. Public Education1776-1826
Chapter 3The Educational Reality:
Pluribus
Pluribus still the dominate reality
Very little movement toward common schools between1776-1826
Early 1800’s saw momentum for education channeled throughnew state governments
Schools often intertwined with private, philanthropic, or religious efforts
Often aimed at the poor or the under-privelidged
Competing Claims on Education
Movement toward National Identity
Education seen as a way to instill a national identity and sense ofpluralistic “we” in midst of all the diversity and self-interest from vast immigration
New school books written to aggrandize the U.S. and its newworld status after the Revolution
New books in geography, math, and history written following NoahWebster’s reading, spelling, and grammar books
Schools, both public and private, were to promote spirit ofnationalism but diversity from immigration caused conflict between public vs. private schools
Economic Modernization
Class distinction and religious diversity contributed to conflictbetween 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 roamedstreets 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 fundsto public schools under government control
Political Modernization
U.S. was developing a modern political system as well as themodern 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 tocommon 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 infrastructurewith 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 religiousinfluence in the country, led by Protestant ministers trying to regainauthority diverted from them to the “Patriot” cause during theRevolution
Sparked a sense of mission that sent preachers to remote parts ofthe country as well as to the cities, prompted churches to establishcharity schools and colleges and sparked first U.S. missionary
Religion more influential than republicanism
This affirmed the belief that morality and religion were major focusand 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
efforts to Asia and Africa
Religious revival slowed growth of public schools, in Pa., NY, andVa. religious interests were slow to accept idea of public shoolsunder state auspices
Slavery and Anti-Slavery Movements
Slavery was an immoral affront to the Revolutionary idealsof 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 bothNorth 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 asJefferson had wanted
Federal Government outlawed slavery in Northwest Territoriesyet 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 policyand regulation, these decisions and divisions seriously affectedpublic 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 publiceducation in 1954 by the Supreme Court
Legislative Steps toward Public Education
Mass., Conn., and NY led the way in modernizing education in anincreasingly urbanized society
Southern states, while having lots of plans, focused efforts on charityeducation 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 publicinstitutions.
Even so, the quality, performance, and length of schooling remained very diverse
Educational pluribus still reigned, but a little less certainly
Massachusetts1780’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. charteredsome private academies and supported Harvard College
1789 passed law that all towns of 50 householders hire an elementaryteacher 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 ofgood 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 Christianbelief 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 age7-14 and be located in convenient parts of the city (the start of neighborhood schools?)
Required school committee be elected by ballot and members mustvisit 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 publicSchools
1817 gave them full corporate power to run schools
Opponents felt the charity and church schools could accommodate thepoor, but studies showed the students were not learning well
Public school proponents eventually won out over private schoolsupporters and established a public school board
Neighborhood schools appealed to many , not just for conveniencebut as means to improve neighborhoods
1826-27 Ma. legislature passed new laws electing special school
committes, required support of public schools by taxes, establishedreligious neutrality in curriculum and text books, deprived the clergyof supervisory or visiting powers, but asked them to join selectmenand committee members in urging attendance at the public schools
Connecticut1796 law provided mixed means of public school support from localtaxes to special fees, and proceeds from some sale of public land
Rhode Island passed first common school law in 1800
New York State1795-1820 NY moved from almost non-existent school system to onerivaling Ma.
1784 created University of the State of New York to build a unifiedschool system from elementary to college level
1812 comprehensive school law enacted provided for state matchingfunds 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 reportingstatus of entire system to legislature
1830-1850 all Northern and some Southern states adopted samepractice
PennsylvaniaSlow in moving from a pluralist and charitable approach to a public and govenmental approach
Benjamin Rush proposed a voucher system for use of public taxfunds by some religious communities to adopt “alternatives” tocommon school system
By 1790’s he was promoting free education for the poor, in 1802Pa. legislature passed law supplying public funds for free educationfor 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 StatesPublic 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 completesystem of organized education, with the legislature having final say inany 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 thenthe 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 thenext 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, NJIn 1816, and Delaware in 1817
Education for Blacks: The Major Blind Spot
Post Revolutionary period gave little consideration for education ofblack 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 Ohioauthorized local districts to provide separate schools if at least 20Negro pupils taken care of, and New England regularly assignedNegros to separate schools
1787 Negroes asked Mass. legislature for separate funds to establishblack school system, feeling discriminated against in the publicschools,... the legislature refused
1798 they demanded a separate system, which was established
Separate schools for blacks were widespread in the North, with ideaof common school coming to the forefront as abolition movementgrew
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 otherBlacks or sympathetic religious groups (Quakers)
By 1800 regression set in and not much improvement in the educational opportunities for blacks until Reconstruction
Jefferson’s DilemmaJefferson, a leading proponent of liberty, equality, and publiceducation, did not apply those principles to slaves, blacks, orIndians
He never campaigned for abolition, nor seek equal rights to education for slaves or freedmen, and he never freed his ownSlaves
Public education was caught in the struggle between differentgroups with different ideals
Jeffersonian Republicans were for the common people and commoneducation , but only as long as those people were white
They were for state control of education, but proponents of statesrights to control slavery and prohibit black education
Federalists were for abolition of slavery and a strong federal govern-ment, 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 privateEducation
Both agreed that that if any sort of education was to be providedfor blacks and whites in public or in private schools, that educationshould 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 Laws1789 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 office of 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
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 office of 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
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 office of 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