Colonial national period 2011
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Transcript of Colonial national period 2011
Schooling in Colonial America
1600-1800
The Purpose of Education
What does a person need to know to be a productive citizen?
Religious training Upper class
College Working classes
Apprenticeships Farm labor
“on the job” training
Harvard 1726
Education was neither free, public, nor secular in the Colonies
Educational opportunities were stratified Class Gender Race Religion Region
Education served to retain the status quo Children were educated to take
their parent’s place in society Tension
American ideal of equal opportunity for all
Southern Colonies
A sharply defined class structure
Dispersed population Anglican church did
not put an emphasis on religious indoctrination
Belief that education was a private matter and not the concern of the state
Middle Colonies A diverse population
English, Dutch, German, French, Swedish
Catholics, Mennonites, Calvinists, Lutherans, Quakers, Presbyterians, Jews
Commercial interests An emphasis on vocational
education
Northern Colonies
A fairly uniform population
Puritan New England “Children are vipers and
infinitely more hateful than vipers.”
Jonathan Edwards
A Theocracy
The Construction of Childhood For the Puritans,
Children were miniature adults
Born in sin, they were vulnerable to Satan’s ploys
Thus, they need to be closely monitored
The Construction of Childhood
High child mortality led to more “objectification” than today
The Construction of Childhood
By the mid-19th century, childhood began to be thought of as a unique time in life.
“Adolescence” had not yet been invented, however.
The Emergence of Higher Education Harvard College
The purpose was to prepare young men, 13-18, in Biblical and classical studies
The goal was to produce a new generation to assume leadership in the church and commonwealth
College Life
Greek, Latin, Scripture Moral development
was as important as intellectual development
College was a “rite of passage” for colonial gentlemen.
“Caning” at Harvard
Colonial Schooling
Private Tutors Upper Class
Dame Schools Boys & girls
Grammar School Upper & Merchant
Class Mission or Charity
School The poor
Private Academies Upper Class
College Upper Class
Dame Schools
Taught by women in their homes
Open to girls Colonial “Day Care”
Education For The Wealthy Private tutor
Grammar school
Academy
College
What was a colonial education like? One-room log or
clapboard cabins Students aged 3-20 Teachers would “cite,”
students would “re-cite.”
Corporal punishment
Hornbook Paddle shaped board with
paper sheet attached Usually contained the ABC's
in both small and capital letters
Some Scripture
Hornbook They had been used in
Europe
Their use continued in the colonies because printed books and pamphlets were harder to come by.
New England Primer Calvinist Theology
Combined hornbook with authorized catechism
Secular materials Almanacs
Franklin’s “Poor Richard’s Almanack”
Chapbooks Most were imported from
England
The National Era
1780-1830
The Educated Citizen “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, it expects what never was and never will be.” - Thomas Jefferson
The Founders were The Founders were deeply influenced by deeply influenced by Enlightenment Enlightenment thoughtthought
They believed that a They believed that a republic could survive republic could survive only if its citizens only if its citizens were educatedwere educated
European Thinkers who influenced American Education John Locke
1632 – 1704 Tabula Rasa Children should learn
through their five senses (Empiricism)
Children learn through imitation
Children are rational creatures
Jean Jacques Rousseau 1712-1778
Critical of educational practice
Education should be consistent with the natural conditions of a child’s growth They are not ready to
deal with abstract ideas imposed upon them through books
European Thinkers who influenced American Education
Educating a New Nation Literacy prior to
the revolution White men White women Blacks
Slave Free
Native Americans
After the Revolution Economic changes
Commercial economy
Improved transportation
A more mobile society meant a need for improved communication
After the Revolution Political changes
Political, economic theory
Locke Rousseau
Calls to action Pamphlets
Common Sense Broadsides Newspapers
A Republic demands an educated citizenry
The task was to build a nation out of 13 colonies
Eliminate all things British
Thomas Jefferson History instead of
Scripture “Geniuses raked
from the rubble” “The people are
the only safe depositories”
University of Virginia
Noah Webster Connecticut
teacher Goal- eliminate
British textbooks
Noah Webster Blueback speller Became
America’s greatest lexicographer
The first American Dictionary
Benjamin Rush Founder of Dickenson
College “Thoughts upon the
mode of education proper in a republic”
“Thoughts upon female education” Among the first to
advocate education for females
But, separate, not equal
Benjamin Rush Jefferson’s
personal physician Gave medical
advice to Meriwether Lewis prior to the Lewis and Clark expedition
Invented “the tranquilizing chair”
The Impact of Immigration and Industrialization
The Lancastrian system
A course of study Units of work
Textbooks McGuffy readers Blueback spellers
The Lancasterian System System of education in which
children could be educated very cheaply
One teacher was in charge of large numbers of students
Monitors were used as a method of "crowd control," hence the schools came also to be known as monitorial schools.
More advanced students had the responsibility of assisting in teaching those students below them
The McGuffy Reader The most popular schoolbook in the
nineteenth century was the McGuffey Reader, introduced in 1836.
Based on landmarks of world literature, the set of six readers, which increased in difficulty, were the basis for teaching literacy, as well as basic values such as honesty and charity.
The readers gave the teacher flexibility she lacked before, allowing her to more easily teach a classroom of pupils of different ages and levels.
Tens of millions of copies were sold in the nineteenth century.
In rural America the McGuffey Reader was often the only exposure people had to world literature.