The Early History of
Education in America
The Early History of
Education in America
• History of education in America
– explains how schools developed
– is characterized by historical events and
social trends
– explains much about today’s schools
• The Origins of the American Public
Education System: Horace Mann & the
Prussian Model of Obedience (8:19)
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The American Colonial
Period (16001776)
• Before an educational system existed,
education took place in the home
• Parents taught
– basic reading and arithmetic skills
– practical learning for life and work
• Some elementary schools were established in
well-populated areas
• Many older children became apprentices
continued
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New England Colonies
• Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island,
Connecticut and New Hampshire.
• Inhabitants were very similar in faith and
culture being Puritan and predominantly
from England.
• They disagreed with the Church of England.
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New England Colonies
• Dame Schools, early elementary schools in
homes of widows who received little formal
education.
• Dame schools were common, students
learned basic reading, writing and arithmetic
skills with a religious context.
• Girls also received education focused on
homemaking.
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New England Colonies
• Latin Grammar Schools: established in 1635,
similar to modern high schools.
• These schools were available for white males
only and prepared them for Harvard
University (1636).
• Those who could not afford Latin Grammar
Schools went into apprenticeships.
• White females, African Americans, and
Native Americans were not given further
educational opportunities.
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New England Colonies
• Massachusetts Act of 1642: first compulsory
education law, required all white children to
attend school.
• This law did not specify how the children
were to be educated or provide funding, first
unfunded mandate.
• Old Deluder Satan Act (Mass. Act of 1647),
towns with 50+ households were required to
provide a school because school was the best
way to fight the devil.
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Middle Colonies
• New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and
Delaware.
• Extremely diverse population, immigrants
from: Sweden, Netherlands, Germany,
France and other parts of Europe, along with
people from the Quaker Faith who
predominantly settled in Pennsylvania.
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Middle Colonies
• No one school could satisfy the religious
diversity with consisted of: Lutherans,
Presbyterians, Jews, Mennonites, Catholics,
Quakers, Baptists, Huguenots.
• Schools were mostly private or parochial,
associated with religion where a greater
diversity of subjects were taught such as
business, bookkeeping and navigation.
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Southern Colonies
• Virginia, Maryland, Georgia, and the
Carolinas.
• Social and economic class divisions were
rigid
– Boys were educated at home by tutors
– Girls and the middle class had few opportunities
for formal education
– Slaves were only taught useful skills
• Settlers were separated by great distances.
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Southern Colonies
• Children of plantation owners and wealth
merchants attend private schools or were
taught at home by tutors, some continued
their education in northern Universities or
Europe.
• Children from small farms or children of
laborers experienced whatever education
was available through charity school,
apprentice programs, or church schools.
• Children of slaves received no formal
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The Role of Teachers
• Expected to be examples of moral behavior
• Could not drink, smoke, or marry
• Required to attend church regularly and
participate in civic events
• Expected to perform charitable acts
• No formal system of teacher preparation.
• Men who taught often did so for very short
periods of time before training for the
ministry or law.
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The Role of Teachers
• Many were indentured servants who taught
in exchange for their passage to the New
World.
• Many were not successful in other careers.
• Some were even of questionable character or
conduct.
• Teachers in secondary school received more
status, often having more education and
college training.
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The Role of Teachers
• To save money, town would board teachers
in homes of families for a week at a time.
• Pay was low, comparable to farm laborers.
• No permanent homes and considered parttime laborers.
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Review Questions: Colonial
Period
• 1. Why were children educated in the 17th century?
• 2. What were dame schools and who ran them?
• 3. 1635, what type of school was established in New
England?
• 4. What is the relationship between the Massachusetts Act of
1642 and the Old Deluder Satan Act?
• 5. Why was formal education difficult in the Middle and
Southern Colonies?
• 6. What were the 3 subjects offered in the Middle colonies
that were not available in New England grammar schools?
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The American Early National
Period (17761840)
•
•
•
•
History of American Education 1770-1890 Part 1
History of American Education 1770-1890 Part 2
Educational changes began in cities and spread to rural areas
Education became a priority, Northwest Land Ordinance of
1787.
– Federally owned wilderness land into townships and required the
building of schools. “Religion, morality, and knowledge being
necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind,
schools and the means of education shall be forever encouraged.”
• Less European influence; education promoted ideas of
freedom and liberty
• Religion played less of a role
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Benjamin Franklin
• Began the first public library
• Started a secondary school
– Open to everyone who could pay tuition
– Covered a broad range of subjects:
mathematics, astronomy, navigation,
accounting, bookkeeping, French and
Spanish.
– Precursor to modern public schools
– Allowed students to choose courses,
forerunner to today’s electives.
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Thomas Jefferson
• Third president of the United States
• Believed common people should be educated
to take part in the government
• Helped establish a public system of
education available without cost
continued
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Thomas Jefferson
• Established the
University of Virginia
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The Role of Teachers
• Models of good citizenship, which involves
– involvement in church and community issues
– obeying laws and rules
– respecting authority
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Excerpts from 18th Century
Teachers
• About Silas Crocker
• Mr. Crocker is an itinerant schoolteacher,
going from village to village in search of
employment. During the summer months he
earns a living plowing, mowing, and carting
manure. In the winter, he teachers school.
Having the reputation as the greatest
‘arithmeticker’ in the county, he is a
respected schoolmaster. Most of the
schoolrooms in the area are familiar with this
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Excerpts from 18th Century
Teachers
• From Mistress Robbins’ Journal
• My name is Elizabeth Robbins, and I am in my seventeenth
year. I have been engaged to teach at Litchfield. A committee
of subscribers examined me and asked that I read passages
from the Old Testament. They seemed pleased when I did
not stumble over the big words…I was hired for a period of
five months, at four dollars a month.
• I find a wretched schoolhouse, in the road, as it were, with a
tiny fireplace. At first, it was easy, as the older scholars
stayed away. When the school is full, however, it is very
difficult to teach. The older boys make threats against me.
They are generally lawless and in the habit of using profane
language. I have to resort to using sever corporal
punishment to maintain order.
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School Curriculum
• Reading, writing, math
• Christian principles and citizenship
• Greek, Roman, English, and American history
• Wealthy boys learned
– Greek, Latin, English grammar
– advanced math, geography, literature, science
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The American Common
School Period (18401880)
• Significant events included
– movement west to Oregon and California, 1800
geography lessons included maps showing 17 states, by
the end of the century maps would boast 45 states.
– invention of labor-saving devices
– Civil War and freeing of slaves
– Industrial Revolution: poverty-level wages, a work force
that would soon included too many children, unchecked
immigration, and abysmal working conditions required
education to counter these conditions of a more
commerce and industry based society.
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Horace Mann
• Served as first secretary of the Massachusetts
State Board of Education
• Worked to establish free public education for
every boy and girl
– Common schools were first public statesupported schools
• Established normal schools to improve and
standardize schools
continued
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Horace Mann
• Advocated the establishment of free libraries
• Used state taxes to support public schools
• Believed schools should not teach specific
religious belief systems
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African American Education
• Laws in the South prohibited educating
African Americans
• Quaker schools allowed attendance of
African American students
• After the Civil War, northern missionaries
started schools in the South
• These schools lacked funds to provide a
quality education, were short-lived
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The Role of Teachers
• In rural areas, one teacher taught all grades
in a schoolhouse
continued
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The Role of Teachers
• Low salaries were paid by community
members
• Normal schools allowed teachers to be
trained and better prepared
• Women were able to make a living on
their own
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School Curriculum
• Significant changes included
– establishment of kindergartens
– the use of McGuffey readers
– the passing of the Morrill Act: 1862 President
Lincoln granted 30,000 acres of land, profits
would allow for running of a public college, 1890
no state that denied education to any race would
not be provided with grants unless a state
provided a separate but equal institution.
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Kindergarten
• Concept developed by German educator
Friedrich Froebel
• Used songs and games to help poor children
succeed in schools
• Foundation of today’s kindergartens, based
on creative play and social interaction
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The McGuffey Readers
• Textbooks became widely available
• Reverend William Holmes McGuffey was
asked to write a textbook
• Taught moral lessons, reading, spelling,
history, biology, botany, literature, speech
• Wide use contributed to standardization of
American education
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The Morrill Act
• Also known as the Land-Grant College Act
• Gave federal land to establish colleges
• Provided education in useful professions
• Made higher education available to all
Americans
• 1862 President Lincoln granted 30,000 acres
of land, profits would allow for running of a
public college, 1890 no state that denied
education to any race would not be provided
with grants unless a state provided a separate
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Review Questions
1. Benjamin Franklin began the first of what in the United
Stages?
2. What were Thomas Jefferson’s 2 major educational
contributions?
3. 1840, what major discovery created a mass migration to the
west?
4. The first public state-supported schools were called:
5. Teachers were trained in institutions called:
6. What was the reason Horace Mann felt it was unjust to
teacher from one specific religious doctrine?
7. Before the development of Kindergarten, what was the
normal age for children to start school?
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The American Progressive
Period (18801921)
• Industrial Revolution
drew rural
population,
immigrants to cities
The History Of American Education
1770-1890 Part 3
The History of American Education
1900-1950 Part 1
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continued
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The American Progressive
Period (18801921)
• Urban areas: overcrowding, poverty, disease
• Parents and children worked long hours
in factories
• Progressives began a reform movement
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Segregated Education
• African American children attended separate
public schools that received
– less funding
– inferior educational materials
• African American teachers were paid
significantly less
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The Role of Teachers
• College teacher preparation programs
replaced normal schools
• Emphasis placed on educational theory
• First teachers’ labor union formed
• Many teachers became frustrated with the
standardized curriculum
• More women entered the workforce
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School Curriculum
• Focus turned to students as individuals
• Citizens trained to think critically and
independently could improve living and
working conditions
• Thousands of high schools opened
– High school diploma became important in
finding a job
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John Dewey
• Leading progressive
• Believed schools
– were too inflexible
– needed great emphasis on problem solving and
critical thinking
• Promoted link between learning and
experience
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Maria Montessori
• Believed sensory experiences help young
children learn
• Developed the Montessori method
• Use classrooms as stimulating environments
• Children direct their own learning
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Career and Technical
Education
• Vocational education is now called
career and technical education
• Prepares students for specific trades and
occupations for skilled workers
• Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 established federal
funding for high school classes
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Review Questions
1. Women's right to vote was thought to
correlate with what major educational
change?
2. Maria Montessori believed that what type of
experiences should come before learning to
read and write?
3. Vocational education was developed to help
prepare students for what after school?
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The 1920s and the Great
Depression Era (19211940)
• In the 1920s, more people
had disposable income
• As credit became
available, consumer
education was needed
• Quotas set on number of
immigrants
• Stock Market crash put
the country into the Great
Depression
• History of American
Education 1900-1950 Part
2
• History of American
Education 1900-1950 Part
3
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Impact of Economy on
Schools
• Citizens were unable to pay taxes; schools
faced a shortage of funds
– School districts ceased operation or shortened the
school year
– Teacher pay decreased or eliminated
– Only basic subjects were taught
• Families had no money for school supplies
• Children were forced to work
continued
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Impact of Economy on
Schools
• Federal government gave funds to hire
teachers and purchase supplies
• Schools offered free hot lunches for children
• Better schools were built to provide
employment
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“Dick and Jane” Readers
• Books taught basic reading skills
• Helped standardize education
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Review Questions
• The economic success of the 20’s required the
need for what type of education?
• Identify 3 major impacts the Great
Depression had on American Education?
• What major event led to the ending of the
Great Depression?
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Key Points
• American Colonial Period: children receive
basic and religious education
• American Early National Period: education
to prepare children for participation in
democratic government
• American Common School Period: schools
become more standardized, formal teacher
training programs established
continued
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Key Points
• American Progressive Period: push for
educational reform to improve society
• 1920s: educational reform continued during
economic prosperity
• 1930s: Great Depression, education returned
to basics
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Review
• What did American Colonial Period schools
use in place of books?
hornbooks
• Who worked to establish free, nonsectarian,
public education for every boy and girl?
Horace Mann
continued
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Review
• What was the purpose of the Morrill Act?
gave federal land to establish colleges in every state
• Who believed that sensory experiences should
come before learning to read and write?
 Maria Montessori
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