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Period: to
1607-2015
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Jamestown, Virginia
The first permanent English settlement in North America is established by the Virginia Company at Jamestown in what is now the state of Virginia. -
Plymouth Colony
The Mayflower arrives at Cape Cod, bringing the "Pilgrims" who establish the Plymouth Colony. Many of the Pilgrims are Puritans who had fled religious persecution in England. Their religious views come to dominate education in the New England colonies. -
Syms School
The first "free school" in Virginia opens. However, education in the Southern colonies is more typically provided at home by parents or tutors. -
1st Latin Grammar School
The first Latin Grammar School (Boston Latin School) is established. Latin Grammar Schools are designed for sons of certain social classes who are destined for leadership positions in church, state, or the courts. -
Harvard College
Harvard College, the first higher education institution in what is now the United States, is established in Newtowne (now Cambridge), Massachusetts. -
Massachutsetts Law of 1647
The Massachusetts Law of 1647, also known as the Old Deluder Satan Act, is passed. It decrees that every town of at least 50 families hire a schoolmaster who would teach the town's children to read and write and that all towns of at least 100 families should have a Latin grammar school master who will prepare students to attend Harvard College. -
Essay Concerning Human Understanding
John Locke publishes his Essay Concerning Human Understanding, which conveys his belief that the human mind is a tabula rasa, or blank slate, at birth and knowledge is derived through experience, rather than innate ideas as was believed by many at that time. Locke's views concerning the mind and learning greatly influence American education. -
New England Primer
The first New England Primer is printed in Boston. It becomes the most widely-used schoolbook in New England. -
Faculty Psychology
Christian von Wolff describes the human mind as consisting of powers or faculties. Called Faculty Psychology, this doctrine holds that the mind can best be developed through "mental discipline" or tedious drill and repetition of basic skills and the eventual study of abstract subjects such as classical philosophy, literature, and languages. This viewpoint greatly influences American education throughout the 19th Century and beyond. -
American Philosophical Society
Benjamin Franklin forms the American Philosophical Society, which helps bring ideas of the European Enlightenment, including those of John Locke, to colonial America. Emphasizing secularism, science, and human reason, these ideas clash with the religious dogma of the day, but greatly influence the thinking of prominent colonists, including Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. -
University of Pennsylvania
Benjamin Franklin helps to establish the first "English Academy" in Philadelphia with a curriculum that is both classical and modern, including such courses as history, geography, navigation, surveying, and modern as well as classical languages. The academy ultimately becomes theUniversity of Pennsylvania. -
Emile, ou l'education published
COPY OF TEXT: Swiss-born Jean-Jacques Rousseau's book, Emile, ou l'education, which describes his views on education, is published. Rousseau's ideas on the importance early childhood are in sharp contrast with the prevailing views of his time and influence not only contemporary philosophers, but also 20th-Century American philosopher and educational reformer John Dewey. -
First Book About Teaching
In 1710, Christopher Dock, a Mennonite and one of Pennsylvania's most famous educators, arrives from Germany and later opens a school in Montgomery County, PA. Dock's book, Schul-Ordnung (meaning school management), published in 1770, is the first book about teaching printed in colonial America. Typical of those in the middle colonies, schools in Pennsylvania are established not only by the Mennonites, but by the Quakers and other religious groups as well. -
Salem College
The Moravians, a protestant denomination from central Europe, establish the village of Salem in North Carolina. Six years later (1772), they found a school for girls, which later becomes Salem College, a liberal arts college for women with a current enrollment of approximately 1100. -
Two-track Education System
Thomas Jefferson proposes a two-track educational system, with different tracks for "the laboring and the learned." -
A Grammatical Institute of the English Language
COPY OF TEXT: Because of his dissatisfaction with English textbooks of the day, Noah Webster writes A Grammatical Institute of the English Language , consisting of three volumes: a spelling book, a grammar book, and a reader. They become very widely used throughout the United States. In fact, the spelling volume, later renamed the American Spelling Book and often called the Blue-Backed Speller, has never been out of print! -
Land Ordinance of 1785
The Land Ordinance of 1785 specifies that the western territories are to be divided into townships made up of 640-acre sections, one of which was to be set aside "for the maintenance of public schools." -
Northwest Ordinance
The Northwest Ordinance is enacted by the Confederation Congress. It provides a plan for western expansion and bans slavery in new states. Specifically recognizing the importance of education, Act 3 of the document begins, "Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged." Perhaps of more of practical importance, it stipulates that a section of land in every township of each -
The Young Ladies Academy
The Young Ladies Academy opens in Philadelphia and becomes the first academy for girls in America. -
The Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights is passed by the first Congress of the new United States. No mention is made of education in any of the amendments. However, the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution states that powers not delegated to the federal government "are reserved to the States, respectively, or to the people." Thus, education becomes a function of the state rather than the federal government. -
First public high school opens
The English High School of Boston, Massachusetts is one of the first public high schools in America, founded in 1821 -
Horace Mann becomes secretary of MA Board of Ed
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First normal school opens in Lexington, MA
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First U.S. kindergarten started in Watertown, Wisconsin
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U.S. Dept. of Ed created
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Civil Rights Act passed
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Jane Addams founds Hull House
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John Dewey publishes "Democracy and Education"
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"Monkey Trial" takes place in Tennessee
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SAT first administered
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G.I. Bill of Rights signed by FDR
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U.S. Congrress approves National School Lunch Act
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U.S. Supreme Court decision in "Brown vs. Board of Education"
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Elementary and Secondary Education Act passed
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Project Head Start begins
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Apple Inc. introduces one of the first successful personal computers
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First charter school in U.S. opens
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No Child Left Behind signed into law
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Common Core State Standards Initiative launched
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U.S. faces Great Recession with massive education budget cuts
