After the American Revolutionary war, the people of the United States were responsible for determining the best course of action within the new republic. The Articles of Confederation were replaced by the new Constitution, which provided a general set of principles the government was to be guided by. This new system was a new and improved integration of historical warnings, hoping to prevent tyranny by individual or the masses and injustice. However, it quickly became apparent that a certain education was necessary to perpetuate this union. Before a new system for education could be introduced, public or private, a common goal and specifics on the different subjects to teach became a question the founding fathers and other prominent individuals of the Jacksonian period needed to answer. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Rush, and Horace Mann held different beliefs regarding the implementation of a necessary education system, but their similar ideas, when united, produce a great solution to a problem of the Jacksonian Period.
George Washington, as the first President of the United States, set the standard for all Presidents. As observed from reading his farewell address, Washington was concerned with the preservation and perseverance of the new republic. This concern did not begin at the end of his presidency. He spoke of his concerns for the new Republic often to bring awareness to the necessity of intentionality in preserving the Union. Washington wrote, “The more homogenous our citizens can be made in these particulars the greater will be out prospect of permanent union”. He observed that unless the people united in education the union would not be permanent.
Washington saw the necessity of a uniting education fo...
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Thomas Jefferson and George Washington are the two most prominent leaders in establishing a stable government after the adoption of the Constitution. After the Revolution, America was unstable but was controlled after policies and regulations were set under the presidency of Washington and Jefferson. Washington excelled in making the right decisions based on what he thought was right for America’s future. Jefferson expanded independence because of his wants for more political liberty and freedom of religion and education. Although the two had different views, they both succeeded in greatly changing the nation's government for the better. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson helped in establishing a stable government for the new nation by
Mann, H. (1841). Fourth annual report of the Board of Education Together with the Secretary
While the government of the United States owes its existence to the contents and careful thought behind the Constitution, some attention must be given to the contributions of a series of essays called the Federalist Papers towards this same institution. Espousing the virtues of equal representation, these documents also promote the ideals of competent representation for the populace and were instrumental in addressing opposition to the ratification of the Constitution during the fledgling years of the United States. With further reflection, the Federalists, as these essays are called, may in turn owe their existence, in terms of their intellectual underpinnings, to the writings of the philosopher and teacher, Aristotle.
Source Citation: "Francis Marion." DISCovering U.S. History. Gale Research, 1997. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group. http://galenet.galegroup.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/servlet/HistRC/
Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803-1882. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter. Boston: Houghton, 1998. 1578-1690.
Gutek. (1995). A history of the Western educational experience. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, Inc.
1. Summarize the main point of this episode on The Story of American Public Education
"Nathaniel Hawthorne." American Studies @ The University of Virginia. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2013. http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma01/lisle/dial/hawthorne.html
According to Scott (2008), the Constitution of America has undergone several translations within the history of America because they found it to be unclear. Whereas it appears discrepant that the unclear Constitution could be useful, the disagreement is the case (Robertson, 2005). Americans regard the Constitution to be helpful for the reason that it allows for diverseness of views. In the history of America, a variety of thoughts would develop with alarming and formidable support through various factions (Robertson, 2005). Today, the main political arguments are presented from the Republican group or Democratic group. During the early periods of the American government, arguments on politics were made by Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton as the greatest personalities of that time (Pancake, 1974). However, the visions of these personalities for the American future were absolutely dissimilar. Both Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton were statesmen and outstanding founders of America (Scott, 2008). Thomas Jefferson was the first Secretary of the States, while Alexander Hamilton was the Treasury Secretary (Scott, 2008). These two personalities were very well-educated. Thomas Jefferson got his education at the College of William and Mary in Virginia, while Alexander Hamilton graduated from Kings College, currently known as Columbia University, in New York.
Mill, John S. The Basic Writings of John Stuart Mill. New York, New York: Modern Library, 2002. Print.
Orestes Brownson engaged in open opposition of Horace Mann’s vast reform policies of the Massachusetts State Board of Education. He directly opposed Mann’s work in Massachusetts on the formation of a centralized, state run school board on the grounds that state power over the educational process would result in biased and undemocratic instruction lending favor to one political interest group or another. In addition, Brownson held the belief that the state normal schools produced relatively uninformed teachers, which were in effect more akin to technicians. The Normal school system, which was adapted by Mann from the Prussian system during his travels in the eighteen forties produced teachers well informed in pedagogical methodology, while nearly uneducated in academic concepts beyond the scope of elementary education.
The most powerful aspect of this essay is not the essay itself (as you will see) but, rather, the fact that it was written by an American college student.
Education was believed to have also been a key to self-advancement in this society. Education then became important for political means, the social good, and the individual good of citizens, states, and the United States as a whole. With the creation of a new education bill and the building of new schools, Thomas Jefferson strongly believed that providing education was “the most certain, and the most legitimate engine of government” as the people are “the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty” (Urban, 2009, p. 83). While many theories of educational systems were proposed during this time, schools were ultimately created at the local level by small groups of individuals.
Kupperman, Karen Ordahl. “Thomas Morton, Historian”. The New England Quarterly, Vol. 50, No.4 (Dec., 1977), pp. 660-664. The New England Quarterly, Inc. .
The United States has proven to be a world leader with their powerful military, democratic government, and stringent foreign policies. There is one category however, the United States struggles to be number one in, education. As shocking as this may sound, the public school system in America is not superior to other developing countries. I have witnessed this scandalous phenomena firsthand, engrossed in the public school system from kindergarten to freshman year of high school. The student body and the school administration is morphing into a nonproductive system with a zombie-like attitude. American students lack academic drive and curiosity compared to European and Asian countries because the standard for academic success is constantly lowered. Americans must reform the school system and change their perspective on how important an education is to the rest of the world.