1Kara DallyMrs. HesterAmerican History Honors16 November 2017Horace MannDuring the 1830s, Horace Mann changed the way America looked at public education. He used his own personal experiences in the public education system, and his main principles regarding public education and its troubles to create a change for the better in school systems. In the late 1820s and early 1830s, public education was a small factor in society. School years were short and it was not required for any child. Schools only attempt was to simply enroll as many students as possible, even though schools were on a small budget. The view on education during this era, was that kids only needed to know how to read and write and nothing more. Mann was determined to change this …show more content…
A vigorous reform movement occurred, committed to stop the decline of the school system by acknowledging the state’s influence. In 1837 this resulted in a state board of education,one of the first in the country assigned with collecting and publicizing school information throughout the state. Mann assumed stewardship as its secretary. Funds for the board’s activities were at a minimum, and his position required more moral leadership than anything else, and Mann proved himself up to the roll. He started a biweekly journal, Common School Journal,in 1838 for teachers and lectured on education to all who would listen. He also visited Europe to learn more about established educational principles, he came away particularly impressed with the Prussian school system. Mann had a list of main principles regarding public education and its troubles:(1)That a republic cannot long remain ignorant and free, hence the necessity of a universal popular education.(2)That such education must be paid for, controlled, and sustained by an interest public.(3)That such education is best provided in schools embracing children of all religions, social, and ethnic backgrounds.(4)That such education while profoundly moral in character, must be free of sectarian religious
During the 1800s our country was experiencing a significant push for progress and innovation. Businesses were booming as a result of the Industrial Revolution, and the nation was facing the struggles that come with racial controversy. The need for education was considerable; however, higher education was limited to only prestige individuals. Moreover, the only colleges were either private or faith-based, making it even more difficult for working class citizens to be admitted. Justin Smith Morrill, a Republican legislator from Vermont, recognized this demand and initiated a plan to increase accessibility to advanced curriculum. Morrill pushed the idea to organize public institutions that offered agriculture and mechanic education and training. His emphasis on more practical skills instead of the arts was faced with much opposition. Angered legislators feared that creating A&M colleges would deplete the budget and jeopardize the integrity of established universities. They also expressed their view that the government should not make decisions regarding higher education. Among those who resisted Morrill’s proposal was President James Buchanan, who vetoed Morrill’s original plans in 1857. Fortunately, Justin Morrill would gain another supporter during the following presidential election.
Originally, education was only attainable through wealth and the established schools were limited to teaching language and religion, also known as classical education. However, this act changed the precedent and provided an education at a reduced price to the lower and middle class citizens of America. The education from this act also met the demands of the growing, industrializing nation because it supplied educated scientists and engineers to help diminish the growing deficit the country had been experiencing since it was founded (Loss, C.). Many people seized this opportunity and their success in the land grant schools have significantly changed the way agriculture currently works. For example, it is common for farmers of today to account for the effects environment, rate of photosynthesis, respiration, and water consumption have on their crop yield, but without the students that attended the land-grant colleges established by the Morrill Act, this information may not have been found until many years later (Edmond).
In early America between the years of 1825-1850, America was rapidly changing and reforming the way people lived. Societal problems and major discrepancies that had previously been overlooked began to rapidly gain awareness. The main idea of the reforms in the United States at this time was the relatively new sense of Democracy. Reform sought to maximize these benefits in light of Democracy and for this reason came up with many changes in which greater good can be found through freedom, justice, and equality of all people.
William Edward Forster drafted the Education Act of 1870 after the government decided to educate the citizens of the country and because England feared that they lacked an effective education system (Docstoc-documents). This act was also known as the Elementary Education Act and it was a culmination of a long struggle (thirty years) to establish an effective and nationwide education schooling system for children ages 5 to 12 (Looking at History). Jackson wrote, “Forster did not go to school until he was thirteen, he was taught by his mother” (16) could be the reason why he started the Education Act. Therefore W.E. Forster contributed in creating school boards for England, and the country would be divided into about 2,500 school districts (Spartacus Educational). Like W.E. Forster stated in his speech, there are two primary objects in this bill t...
Thomas Jefferson had very basic ideas for education in colonial America. He felt that the law did not need specific details, but simply a basic system. Jefferson felt that the school should be set up to educate children in reading, writing, and arithmetic. Jefferson stated that every county should be broken down into hundreds, which were small districts of five or six square miles. In these hundreds, the first three years of a child's education would be gratis according to Jefferson. After the first three years, it would be up to the parents to fund their children's educ...
The Antebellum period was a time of reform and improvement. After the War of 1812, America went through a period of westward expansion, patriotism and an economic emergence as a world power. Their new found power as a country inspired reformation. Abolitionists worked to end the institution of slavery through protests, rallies, and the formation of societies; women’s rights activists advocated in a similar way. Simultaneously, many Americans supported the government’s efforts to remove Native Americans from their own land. Americans during the Antebellum period were ambitious, but contradictory in their activism; while many activists fought for the rights of slaves and women, others sought to curtail rights of Native Americans.
"The federal government and northern reformers of both races assisted this pursuit of education. …Given the eventual failure of Reconstruction, the gains that African-Americans made in their daily lives often proved the most enduring." --pg 460 Nortan
While some citizens of the United States, between 1825 and 1850, believed that reform was foolish and that the nation should stick to its old conduct, reformists in this time period still sought to make the United States a more ideally democratic nation. This was an age of nationalism and pride, and where there was pride in one’s country, there was the aspiration to improve one’s country even further. Many new reformist and abolitionist groups began to form, all attempting to change aspects of the United States that the respective groups thought to be unfair or unjust. Some groups, such as lower and middle class women and immigrants, sought to improve rights within the county, while other reformers aspired to change the American education system into a more efficient way of teaching the county’s youth. Still other reform groups, particularly involved in the church and the second great awakening, wanted to change society as a whole. This was a time and age of change, and all these reforms were intended to contribute to the democratic way our country operated.
...forbade black education. Besides that, very little of the white population went to schools anyway. Establishing school systems in these areas was a tricky job. Despite problems in the South and West with education, America had grown into a more learned nation. Over 80% of the population (excluding the slavery population) were literate, compared with a much lower literacy rate prior to the 1800’s. Americans had once again worked hard in order to enhance their societies’ standards.
The 1872 election was the United States’ 22nd presidential election. President Ulysses S. Grant was elected to a second term in office, a re-election that was attained in the face of a split within the Republican Party. This split created a third party called the “Liberal Republicans”. This third party nominated Horace Greeley of New York to oppose Grant, which caused the Democratic Party to support Greeley without nominating a candidate of its own. Grant won the re-election by a landslide, but that didn’t stop the Republican Party from splitting so far down the middle that the effects can still be seen today.
From there, the common school movement was taking off in the East and Midwest as well, spurred by fellow Massachusetts reformer Horace Mann. Amazingly, an estimated 40 percent of the commonwealth’s three-year olds attended a public school in 1839 (Fuller, 2008). Yet they ran into opposition by people stating that exposing children to education at an early age can be damaging to their development. It didn’t take long before people realized that early education was needed. In the 1980s, child care was back on the national agenda due to the education reform movement (Tejada, 2010). Tejada (2010) further disclosed that several states even launched pre-kindergarten programs for disadvantaged children.
Throughout the first half of the 19th century, and especially after the War of 1812, America has taken on yet another revolution. In this time period, the country saw a rapid expansion in territory and economics, as well as the extension of democratic politics; the spread of evangelical revivalism; the rise of the nation’s first labor and reform movements; the growth of cities and industrial ways of life; a rise in abolitionism and reduction in the power of slavery; and radical shifts in the roles and status of women.
Reform movements in the United States sought to expand democratic ideals. Assess the validity of this statement with specific reference to the years 1825-1850.’ Reform movements in the United States sought to expand democratic ideals from the quarter century time period of 1825-1850 also known as the Second Great Awakening. These democratic ideals included voting for everyone eighteen and older (with the exception of minors, women, insane, and criminals), freedom of expression, press, speech and religion, election of officials, property rights, free and public education, more than one political party, equal rights, equality before the law entitling a person to due process, separation of church and state, tolerance of diversity, institutional uncertainty, protection of minority rights, and no special privileges. Teaching them the habits of thrift, orderliness, temperance and industry was a way to not only better their lives but a way to instill certain so-called democratic values and advance the perfection of the whole of society.
The United States education system would look quite different without the ideas brought to America by the German immigrants. Germany’s influence can be traced back to the beginning of our country. Their impact goes back to the first German settlement in 1608 at Jamestown, Pennsylvania. German immigrants to Colonial America brought with them their culture, traditions, and philosophy about education. Much of the formal education system currently in place in the United States has their roots in Germany. The German immigrants are responsible for the first kindergarten in America, introducing both physical and vocational education, and establishing a universal education for all students. They also had a strong impact on the beginning of universities in our country. The German people were deeply religious. These religious beliefs carried over into our new schools as our nation was formed. As far back as the 1700’s, the school was an avenue to establish superiority over other nationalities. This paper will investigate the influence that German immigrants have had on American education during the time when America was being colonized and onto later years . This paper will also examine how our modern education system has roots from the early German schools. It is my thesis that our modern education system has been strongly influenced by the German people that immigrated to America.
...." Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteenth Century. Farmington: Gale, 2000. Credo Reference. Web. 23 April 2014.