Episode 1: 1770-1890

Abstract

This episode focused on the beginning of public schools. In the early 1770’s, only towns in New England built schools that students could attend. In 1776, the average lifetime school attendance was 82 days. To make the newly established country more Americanized, British textbooks were replaced by American textbooks; the most popular of these was known as Webster’s Speller, which taught American words and spelling. Thomas Jefferson came up with the idea of providing three years of public school known as elementary school, where those who excelled were allowed to go on to secondary school. Jefferson thought public education was essential for democracy. However, there was no education for slaves and only a few years for women. Horace Mann, who lead the Massachusetts State Senate and served on the board of Education, found that school varied from town to town. He visited over 1,000 schools and wrote about their physical appearance saying that we take more care of our livestock than our schools. African-American schools began to emerge, however they remained segregated well into the 1900’s. There was a law passed abolishing segregation in Massachusetts, which was the first law of its kind. Katherine Beecher stated that it was a “woman’s calling to teach” and as the west expanded, an “army” of women teachers headed to the west.

Reflection
I’ve never actually stopped to think about when and how public schools began. It is obvious that education was very important to the country when we declared our independence, but not many counties had a school system set up. Once schools were established, I was surprised to hear about all of the religious debates. I never realized that public schools followed any one religion in particular, and it is unfortunate that Catholics and others were isolated because of their religion. Watching the history of education helps me understand why the educational system is the way it is today. A lot has happened in schools since the 1700’s, but they are still no where near perfect.