The History of American Public Education

2406 Words5 Pages

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...

... middle of paper ...

...ry. Vol. 3. Charles Scribner's & Sons, 2002. 113-120.

Encyclopedia of American History. Vol. 3. Collins Reference, 1996. 147-150.

Encyclopedia of American History. Vol. 4. Collins Reference, 1996. 133-135.

Katz, Micahel B. "Horace Mann: What Went Wrong?" Reviews in American History (The Johns Hopkins University Press) 1, no. 2 (June 1973): 218-223.

Messerli, Jonathan, Horace Mann. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1971.

Mudge, G.O. "Horace Mann and his Educational Ideas." The High School Journal (University of North Carolina Presse) 20, no. 5 (May 1937): 163-169, 198.

Tyack, David B. Seeking Common Ground: Public Schools in a Diverse Society. President and fellows of Harvard College, 2003.

Vinovskis, Maris A. "Horace Mann on the Economic Productivity of Educatoin." The New England Quarterly (The New England Quarterly, Inc.) 43, no. 3 (December 1907): 550-571.

Open Document