Gender, social status, and the region in which a child lived determined how much schooling a child would receive and where and how they would get it. Children of the upper class were either taught in private schools or by a tutor. They were taught reading, writing, prayers, and simple math ("Education") . They were taught using repetition from the Bible, a religion-based reading supplement called a primer, and/or a paddle-shaped (also religious) horn book ("Schooling"). The upper-class boys were taught more advanced academic subjects, and may have been sent to boarding school in England or another state. The girls were taught to assume the duties of a wife and mother and obtained basic knowledge so they could read the Bible and record expenses ("Education"). While the south had very few laws for education because of its population, the middle and northern colonies (and then states) had established guidelines for their citizens. Pennsylvania's Law of 1683 set a monetary penalty for any parent whose children could not read and write by age twelve, and who were not taught a useful trade. By 1642 the northern colonies had already mandated a public education or apprenticeship for children, one grammar school for towns with more that one-hundred families, and an elementary school for towns with more than fifty.
During the time of colonial America, elementary education was scarce. Only those who were white, upper class could afford to be educated due to the fact that education was only provided through a private tutor. Every day their lessons would consist of the same five basic subjects: reading, writing, simple math, prayers, and poetry. Because of the lack of paper and textbooks, children often repeatedly recited their lessons until they were memorized by heart. For students, the school day started at around seven o’clock in the morning, and consisted of several short breaks during the day. They would be served breakfast at nine o’clock, and then dinner from two to five o’clock in the afternoon. While the boys were at school learning more advanced subjects, girls stayed at home with their mothers in order to learn about the duties of a plantation mistress. Many of their lessons included learning proper social etiquette, French, needlework, weaving, and cooking. Eventually girls were taught to read and write, but it was only enough so that they could understand the Bible and write short letters to other plantation mistresses (“The History of Education”, n.d.).
...ly. Most children did not like going to school either, however, because they did not like being seen in the rags that they were accustomed to sporting during that time period. Not only did the student not show up, the teacher rarely had anywhere to instruct, because they did not receive any funds, nor did they get paid for their teaching jobs. It did not help that most of the schools were not able to supply all the necessary items, such books where there was not enough or some simply just had missing pages. Other subjects like art, music and foreign language were not taught at all anymore, because of the fact that they did not have to fund or teachers to offer those courses anymore. Many students that did attend school were crowded into one room with all grades with no running water or working electricity, making it especially hard during the winter and summer time.
In American, all citizen have access to free public schools from K-12. While kids have access to schools it was not always available to everyone. While the revolution was happening, a lot of U.S. citizens and Thomas Jefferson felt strongly that education was a must for America. It didn 't matter how many people argued over the situation, a lot of the founding fathers felt it was not the place for the government to be children 's education. In 1808, St. Louis, Missouri and in other local areas opened schools. Georgia, started to close down public schools after 1800, and it was illegal in most areas to educate slaves. Free public schools were still not available for a lot of kids in the U.S. (Lutz) “in the 19th century. The Second Great Awakening
Before the 1840’s the education system was only available to wealthy people. Individuals such as Horace Mann from Massachusetts and Henry Barnard in Connecticut believed that schooling for everybody would help individuals become productive citizens in society. Through their efforts, free public education at the elementary level become assessable for all children in American by late 19th century. By 1918 all states passed laws that required children to attend elementary school. The Catholics were against this law, so they created their own private schools. In 1925 the Supreme Court passed a law that allowed children to attend private school rather than public school (Watson, 2008).
The intellectual culture expressed in literature and education was for the Americans to receive the basic reading level skills. In 1647 Massachusetts established a law, which required each town to support a public school. Others who did not support public schools, had church schools and “dame”, or private classes in the instructor’s house. Even though this does not sound familiar, people of the white race were the only ones to receive education, especially white males. Men had a higher degree of literacy than females, but Americans had a higher rate of literacy than most European
Originally, religion and education were integrated. Most schools based their curriculum on religious orientation and encompassed prayer and religious study. This posed no problem in the beginning as settlers chose to reside in colonies that fit their religious affiliation. The 13 colonies grew however, and the need for standardized education became apparent. State and local governments began to fund schools as a method of achieving high standards of education and attaining adequate teaching materials. Consequently, many of these religiously diverse states adopted the policy of separation of church and state to insure objectivity. "The absence of t...
With colonists grouped in towns and large settlements, it was easier to organize the schools. Early Massachusetts laws of 1642 and 1647 that every parent “be” responsible for having his or hers child learn to read. A law in America passed that every town of 50 families had to appoint a teacher and all children attend school to learn reading and writing.
The second Great Awakening prompted the building of little schools in the South West the educational program concentrated for the most part on Latin, Math, Greek, moral theory The first state-backed college was established in the Tar Heel state, the Univ. of North Carolina, in 1795; Jefferson began the College of Virginia without further ado thereafter (UVA was to be autonomous of religion or legislative issues) ladies were thought to be debased if excessively instructed and were in this manner barred.\
In Victorian England, the education revolution changed the make up of society. Jane Eyre was in the midst of the upheaval of the older, more traditional views of education, and the transition to more modern educational practices, which included educating women and the lower class. Society was slowly starting to accept educated women eventually realized the best wives and mothers were the educated ones (Dupanloup 65). As a naive child, Jane “scarcely knew what school was.” From what Bessie had told her, school was “a place where young ladies sat in the stocks, wore backboards and were expected to be exceedingly genteel and precise.” For Jane, school offered her an escape “from Gateshead [and] an entrance into a new life (32).” For many women of the time, education was opening expansive doors that they did not always have access to. Beyond basic education, many higher institutes of learning, such as Oxford and Cambridge, began offering courses for women (Barzun 626). In many cases, going to school offered women not only an escape from a destitute life, but an opportunity to establish a superior way of life. Jane was a beneficiary of “charity schools” ; schools created to teach the less fortunate the very basics