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Dame School
Schools that colonial parents sent their children to for a fee. These schools were taught by "mother goose" like teachers and the students learned their letters and lessons about discipline. Young children were given a book with the alphabet and a short prayer. In Puritan colonies, there was a concern about whether or not these schools would follow the laws of the state and Protestant scripture. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPc7RnGOho0&list=PL00795BC38B4368D4&index=1 -
Thomas Jefferson's Proposal
Jefferson proposed a guarantee of three years of public schooling for children. He wanted to give people the "democratic basics" and planned for school to be a sort of "audition site" for a small group of natural aristocrats who would then move on to receive higher education. This plan was mostly intended for white men, as women would receive just enough education to prepare themselves for wife and motherhood and no education would be provided to slaves. -
Noah Webster's Blue-Backed Speller
Webster eliminated British textbooks from American classrooms and promoted national ideals. He published the Blue-Backed Speller, a book designed to teach children about the United States. The book also promoted different American spelling and became "America's Textbook". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LinNGjVvXmQ&list=PL00795BC38B4368D4&index=2 -
Horace Mann Appointed to Secretary of Education
Mann traveled to different schools to examine their conditions. He started to promote the idea of "common schools", which would give each student an "equal chance in life". This really paved the way for schools that would provide equal opportunities to both rich and poor students. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5EoQ45nHKU&index=3&list=PL00795BC38B4368D4 -
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Common School
Proposed by Horace Mann, these schools had blackboards and standardized text books. This was the start of free tax supported education for all children, both rich and poor. Common schools usually taught reading, writing, arithmetic, history, geography, and math. -
Religious Protests Against Protestant Teachings
Students were expected to attend schools where the Protestant bible was being taught. Bishop John Hughes argued that Catholic students deserved their own schools and demanded a portion of the funds for Common Schools. Jews and Presbyterians also joined the protests and asked for funds. Bishop Hughes requests were denied. When he was later appointed to Archbishop, Hughes created a national system of Catholic schools. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5EoQ45nHKU&index=3&list=PL00795BC38B4368D4 -
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Western Settlement and Catherine Beecher
As people started to move and settle in the West in the 1840's, they started building towns and new schools. Catharine Beecher was an advocate for having women teach the children of these settlers. She saw teaching as "a woman's moral calling". She founded colleges to educate the women who would become teachers in the west and paved the way for teaching to be considered a respectable profession for women. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJnPkFHH3p4&list=PL00795BC38B4368D4&index=5 -
Roberts v. City of Boston
In the 1840's, African Americans began to protest racial segregation in public schools. Benjamin Roberts, an African American man, attempted to enroll his daughter in schools for white children. When she was denied enrollment, he took his case to the Supreme Court. This eventually led to the banning of segregated schools in Massachusetts in 1855. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bro_jwgCBs4&list=PL00795BC38B4368D4&index=4
