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1493
Europeans begin colonizing the Americas
In the 15th and early 16th centuries, Spanish expeditions began exploring and building outposts in what is now Texas, Florida, and Mexico. British colonial settlements develop along the Atlantic coast. These groups displace and exploit indigenous peoples. -
Jamestown Established
The first permanent British settlement in the Americas was established in Jamestown, modern-day Virginia. British settlements are established in three major regions: New England, the Middle Atlantic, and the South. -
Harvard College
The Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony established Harvard College. The religious underpinning of this society valued literacy as a means of developing the ability to read and discern theological texts. In the following decades, more colleges were established for this reason. -
"Deluder Satan" Law
Massachusetts continued to create educational opportunities with the intent of developing literacy amongst congregants. A law was passed requiring towns of a certain size to establish schools for children, however these schools were not the only mode of education. Many families likely engaged in educating children in alternate ways. -
Southern and Middle Colonies
In the Southern and Middle colonies, there was little community support for schooling children as the religious ties to literacy were not as fundamentally valued. Leaders like Lord Berkeley of Virginia feared a literate population that might lead to independent thinking. -
Period: to
The Enlightenment
In this time period, the ideological movement known as the Enlightenment has a profound impact on education. This movement was a scientific and cultural revolution of ideas in which thinkers like John Locke described a modernist perspective. The emphasis on equality and critical thinking had a deeper impact on learning in colonial America than the schools of the era. -
Schooling Across the Regions
While education in New England was decidedly Puritan, education served varied religions in other regions such as Catholicism, Quakers, Anglicans, and other Protestants. A greater degree of literacy was required for daily life and there many ways in which this was acquired; private tutors, on-the-job training, writing schools, and apprenticeships led to a rise in literacy amongst most demographics. -
The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts
The Anglican Church feared the incursion of other forms of Christianity in the New World and developed this organization to proselytize Native Americans, free people of color, and protestants. The group opened schools with this aim, but saw little success in their efforts. -
The Great Awakening
This period of religious revivalism challenged the religious monopoly of Puritanism and emphasized the belief that religion should be available to all people. This movement led to the foundation of new colleges centering on the concept of literacy as a key to individual understanding of scripture. -
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is founded for the education and religious conversion of Native Americans, however it soon shifted focus on educating white colonials. -
The New York Free School
After the Revolutionary War, a group of prominent New Yorkers formed the New York Manumission Society in order to protect and aid in the transition of freed slaves. This group created the New York Free School as a means to educate Black children in Protestant values and behaviors. This education was not entirely altruistic, but rather a method of control and indoctrination. -
The Northwest Ordinance
The newly formed United States adopted a government of representative democracy, which opened governance and civic engagement to those outside of the Aristocracy. The prevailing sentiment was that to achieve the goals of this democracy, the population must be educated and informed. The 2nd Continental Congress passed a law to fund schools by selling federal lands. However, states struggled to implement school systems.