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At first home instruction and apprenticeship training were depended upon to furnish the necessary abiUty to read and to participate in the home and church rehgious services, the great religious purpose which had brought the colonists to America being the motive which was to insure such instruc- tion. In addition, the town religious governments began the voluntary estabKshment of town Latin Schools to pre- pare boys for the college (Harvard) which the colonial legis- lature had established, in 1636. In this estabKshment in the wilderness of New England of a typical English educa- tional system of the time — that is, private instruction in reading and religion in the homes and by the master of apprentices, Latin grammar schools in the larger towns to prepare boys for the colony college, and an English-type college to prepare ministers for the churches — we see mani- fested the ''deep Puritan-Calvinistic zeal for education as a bulwark of Church and State. As in England, the system was voluntary, and clearly subordinate to the Church. BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN EDUCATION 17 The Massachusetts Law of 1642. It early became evi- dent, however, that these voluntary efforts on the part of the people and the towns would not be sufficient to insure that general education which was required by the Puritan religious theory. Under the hard pioneer conditions and the suffering which ensued, many parents and masters of ap- prentices apparently proved neglectful of their educational duties. Accordingly the leaders, in the Puritan Church appealed to what was then their servant, the State as rep- resented in the colonial legislature, to assist them in com- pelling parents and masters to observe their obligations. The result was the famous Massachusetts Law of 1642 , which directed the officials of each town to ascertain, from time to time, if parents and masters were attending to their educa- tional duties; if all children were being trained "in learning and labor and other employments profitable to the Com- monwealth"; and if the children were being taught "to read and understand the principles of religion and the capital laws of the country." The officers were empowered to im- pose fines on those who failed to give proper instruction, or to report to the officer when required. This Law of 1642 is remarkable in that, for the first time in the English-speak- ing world, a legislative body representing the State ordered that all children should be taught to read. This was a distinctively Calvinistic contribution to our new-world Kfe, and a contribution of large future importance. The Massachusetts Law of 1647. The Law, however, did not establish schools, nor did it direct the employment of schoolmasters. After true English fashion, the provi- sion of education was still left with the homes. The results still continuing unsatisfactory, five years later the colonial legislature enacted the famous Law of 1647, by means of which it has been asserted that "the Puritan government of Massachusetts rendered probably its greatest service to the future." After recounting in a preamble that it had in the past been "one chief point of that old deluder, Satan, to keep men from a knowledge of the Scriptures ... by keep- 18 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES ing them in an unknown tongue," so now "by persuading from the use of tongues," . . . learning was in danger of "being buried in the grave of our fathers in church and commonwealth," the Law then ordered: 1. That e'^ry town having 50 householders should at once appoint a teacher of reading and writing, and provide for his wages in such manner as the town might determine; and 2. That every town having 100 householders must provide a j (Latin) grammar school to fit youths for the university, under a ;' penalty of £5 for failure to do so. This Law represents a distinct advance over the Law of 1642. The State here, acting again as the servant of the Church, enacted a law for which there were no English pre- cedents. Not only was a school system ordered established — elementary for all towns and children, and secondajy for the youths in the larger towns — but, for the first time among English-speaking people, there was the assertion of the right of the State to require communities to establish and maintain schools, under penalty of a fine if they refused to do so. Importance of these two laws. It can safely be asserted that these two Massachusetts laws of 1642 and 1647 repre- sent not only new educational ideas in the English-speaking world, but that they also represent the very foundation stones upon which our American pubhc school systems have been constructed. Mr. Martin, the historian of the Massachusetts public school system, states the fundamental principles which underlie this legislation as follows: 1. The universal education of youth is essential to the well- being of the State. 2. The obligation to furnish this education rests primarily upon the parent. 3. The State has a right to enforce this obligation. 4. The State may fix a standard which shall determine the kind of education, and the minimum amount. BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN EDUCATION 19 5. Public money, raised by a general tax, may be used to pro- vide such education as the State requires. This tax may be general, though the school attendance is not. 6. Education higher than the rudiments may be supplied by the State. Opportunity must be provided, at public expense, for youths who wish to be fitted for the university. Mr. Martin then adds the following significant comment: It is important to note here that the idea underlying all this legislation was neither paternalistic nor socialistic. The child is to be educated, not to advance his personal interests, hvt becaiise the State vrill suffer if he is not educated. The State does not pro- vide schools to relieve the parent, nor because it can educate better than the parent can, but because it can thereby better enforce the obligation which it imposes. These laws became the basis for legislation in all the other New England colonies, except Rhode Island, which had been founded on the basis of reUgious freedom, and the conceptions as to the establishment and maintenance of schools which they embodied deeply influenced the educa- tional development of all the States to which New England people later mi- grated in any numbers. In New England, then, was estabhshed the first of the three important type attitudes to which we ear- lier referred, — that of the State compeUing the towns to estabUsh schools, and Fig. 3. Town School at Dedham, MASSACHtrSETTS, BUILT IN 1648 parents to send their children to school to learn to read and to receive instruction in reUgion. The State here, act- ing as the servant of the Church, enacted legislation which formed a precedent and fixed a tradition as to school man- agement and support which was retained long after State and Church had parted company. 20 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES ^ 2. The parochial-school attitude Pennsylvania as a type. In New England the Puritan- Calvinists had had a complete monopoly of both Church and State. Into the middle colonies, best represented by Pennsylvania, there had come a mixture of peoples repre- senting different Protestant faiths, and no such monopoly was possible in these colonies. The English and Dutch had mixed in New York; the English, Dutch, Swedes, Scotch- Irish, and Germans had settled in New Jersey; while in Pennsylvania, which Penn had founded on the basis of religious freedom, a large number of Enghsh and German Protestant sects had settled. All were Protestant in faith, though representing different creeds and nationalities; all beheved in the importance of being able to read the Bible as a means to personal salvation; and all made efforts looking toward the establishment of schools as a part of their church organizations. Unlike New England, though, no sect was in a majority. Church control by each denomination was, as a result, considered to be most satisfactory, and hence no ap- peal to the State was made by the churches for assistance in carrying out their reUgious pvirposes- The clergymen were usually the teachers in the parochial schools estab- lished, while private pay schools were opened in a few of the j^H- towns. These, as were the church services, were con- ^Kd in the language of the different immigrants. Girls were educated as well as boys, the emphasis being placed on reading, writing, counting, and religion, rather than upon any form of higher training. The result was the development in Pennsylvania, and to some extent in the other middle colonies as well, of a policy of depending upon Church and private effort for educa- tional advantages, and the provision of education, aside from certain rudimentary and religious instruction thought necessary for religious purposes, was left largely for those who could afford to pay for the privilege. Under the freedom allowed many communities made but BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN EDUCATION 21 indifferent provisions, or allowed their schools to lapse entirely. In the primitive conditions of the time the inter- est even in rehgious education frequently declined almost to the vanishing point. Two attempts were made, later on, ^ to enforce the maintenance of schools in the colony; but one was vetoed bpr William and Mary as foreign to English prac- tices, and the other proved unenforceable. In consequence, Pennsylvania settled down to a policy of leaving education to private and parochial effort, and in time this attitude became so firmly established that the do-as-you-please idea persisted up to 1834, and was only overcome then after bitter opposition. In New Jersey and New York this same policy prevailed during the whole of the colonial period. Each parochial group did as it wished, and private and church effort, in pay and charity schools, provided prac- tically all the educational facilities available until well intQ our national period. 3. The pauper-school non-state-interference attitude Virginia as the type. In the settlement of Virginia and the southern colonies, almost all the attending conditions were in contrast with those of the New England colonies. The early settlers were from the same class of EngUsh people, but with the important difference that, whereas the New England settlers were dissenters from the English National Church and had come to America to obtain free- dom in religious worship, the settlers in Virginia were ad- herents of that Church and had come to America for gain. The marked differences in climate and possible crops led to the large-plantation type of settlement, instead of the com- pact little New England town; the introduction of numbers of "indentured white servants," and later negro slaves, led to the development of classes in society instead of to the New England type of democracy, making common schools impossible; and the lack of any strong religious motive for education naturally led to the adoption of EngHsh practices instead of the development of distinctively colonial schools. 22 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES The tutor in the home, education in small private and se- lect pay-schools, or education in the mother country for the sons of the well-to-do planters were the prevaiHng methods .adopted among the wealthier people, while the poorer classes were left with only such advantages as apprentice- ship training and the few pauper schools of the time might provide. Practically all the Virginia colonial legislation relating to education refers either to William and Mary College, foimded in 1693, or to the education of orphans and the chil- dren of the poor. Both these interests were typically Eng- lish. The seventeenth-century legislation included the com- pulsory apprenticeship of the children of the poor, training in a trade, the requirement that the public authorities must provide opportunities for this type of education, and the use of both local and colony funds for the purpose — all, as the Statutes state, "according to the aforesaid laudable custom in the Kingdom of England." It was not imtil 1705 that Virginia reached the point reached by Massachusetts in 1642 of requiring that "the master of the [apprenticed] orphan shall be obliged to teach him to read and write." During the entire colonial period the indifference of the mother country to general education was steadily reflected in Virginia and the other colonies which followed the Eng- lish example. As in the, mother country, education was not considered as any business of the State, nor did the Church give any great attention to it. Virginia thus stands as the clearest example of the third type of colonial attitude toward education, — viz., tutors and private schools for those who could afford them, church charity schools for some of the children of the poorer members, but no State interest in the problem of education except to see that orphans and children of the very poor were properly ap- prenticed and trained in some useful trade, which in Vir- ginia usually was agriculture. This type in other colonies. In the other colonies which followed the example of Virginia — Rhode Island, New BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN EDUCATION 23 York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, the Carolinas, and Georgia — the Enghsh charity-school idea largely domi- nated such education as was provided, with the apprentic- ing of orphans a prominent feature. The "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts," an English society, chartered in 1701, to act as an auxiliary of the Church of England "to train children in the tenets and wor- ship of the Church, through the direct agency of schools," provided for these Anglican colonies probably the best charity schools in America during the later colonial period. The work of this Society in New York was specially note- worthy, though valuable work was done in other colonies. Its schoolmasters were well selected and sound in the faith, and the children were taught reading, writing, a little arith- metic, the catechism, and the religious observances of the Enghsh National Church. The church charity schools of this Society furnished the nearest approach to a free school system found in the Anglican colonies before the Revolution. They were, though, only for a class, being usually open only to the children of the poorer communicants in the Anglican Church. Type attitudes represented by 1750. The seventeenth century witnessed the transplanting of European ideas as to government and religion and education to the New Ameri- can colonies, and by the eighteenth century we find three clearly marked types of educational practice or conceptions as to educational responsibihty established on American soil. The first was the strong Calvinistic conception of a re- ligious State, supporting a system of common schools, higher Latin schools, and a college, both for religious and civic ends. This type dominated New England, and is best represented by Massachusetts. From New England it spread westward, and deeply influenced the educational development of all States to which New England people migrated. It was the educational contribution of Calvinism to America. Out of it, by the later separation of Church and State, our modern state school systems have been evolved. 24 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES The second was the parochial school conception of the Dutch, Moravians, Mennonites, German Lutherans, Ger- man-Reformed Church, Quakers, Presbyterians, Baptists, and Catholics. This type is best represented by Protestant Pennsylvania and Catholic Maryland. It stood for church control of all educational effort, resented state interference, was dominated only by church purposes, and in time came to be a serious obstacle in the way of state organization and control. ^ ( The third type, into which the second type tended to fuse, was the attitude of the Church of England, which conceived of pubhc education, aside from collegiate education, as in- tended chiefly for orphans and the children of the poor, and as a charity which the State was under httle or no obUga- tion to assist in supporting. AU children of the upper and middle classes in society attended private or church schools, or were taught by tutors in their homes, and for such in- struction paid a proper tuition fee. Paupers and orphans, in limited numbers were, for a limited time, provided with some form of useful education at the expense of either the Church or the State. These three types or attitude toward public education be- came fixed American types, and deeply influenced subse-' quent American educational development, as we shall see in the chapters which follow. II. Types of Schools transplanted and developed Transplanting the old home institutions. At the time the early colonists came to America the parish elementary school for reUgious training had become an established institu- tion in German lands, while in England three main types of schools had been developed. All of these were trans- planted to America, and established here in much the same form that they had developed in the home lands. The Dutch in New Amsterdam, the Swedes along the Delaware, and the different German sects in Pennsylvania and the other colonies where they settled, reproduced in America the BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN EDUCATION 25 Lutheran parish school of Europe, with its instruction in reading, singing, religion, and sometimes writing, and taught usually by the pastor, but sometimes b;^ the sexton or other teacher. This type of school continued largely unchanged throughout the whole of the colonial period. The English, who formed the great bulk of the early immigrants to the American colonies, reproduced in the different colonies the main types of schools at that time existing in the mother country. These were the petty or dame school, the writ- ing school, and the Latin grammar'scKoonor those who could afford to pay for education; the chanty or pauper e le- jnentary school for a limited number of indigents; and ap- prenticeship training for orphans and the children of pauper parents. The first three became the characteristic schools of New England, and the last two largely characterized the Eng- lish educational work in the central and southern colonies. It was these English-type schools, rather than the conti- nental European type of parochial school of the central colonies, which exerted the greatest influence on our early American educational development. The petty or dame school. The dame school was a very elementary school, kept in a kitchen or living room by some woman who, in her youth, had obtained the rudiments of an education, and who now desired to earn a pittance for her- self by imparting to the children of her neighborhood her small store of learning. For a few pennies a week the dame took the children of neighbors into her home and explained to them the mysteries connected with learning the begin- nings of reading and spelling. Occasionally a little writing and counting also was taught, but not often. Originating in England after the Reformation, and introduced into New England by the early colonists, it flourished greatly in America during the eighteenth century, while in England it continued popular until well into the nineteenth. While men teachers were employed at first in the town schools, the dame school soon became the primary school of colonial New England, and instruction in the A B Cs and the ele- 26 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES ments of reading and writing in it became a prerequisite for admission to the town grammar school. - Origin of the school of the 3-Rs. The second type of school brought over was the writing school, a school in which writing, reckoning, and the simplest elements of mer- chants' accounts were taught. The masters in this also gave instruction in writing to the boys in the third type of school brought over — the Latin grammar school. Sometimes the instruction was given in a separate school, taught by a "scrivener" and arithmetic teacher, and sometimes the writing and reckoning were taught by a peripatetic scrive- ner, who moved about as business seemed to warrant. The writing school never became common in New England, as the exigencies of a new and sparsely settled country tended to force a combination of the dame and the writing school into one, thus forming the school of the so-called 3-Rs — "Readin, Ritin, and Rithmetic" — from which our ele- mentary schools later were evolved. Among the Dutch, Quakers, and Germans of the middle colonies as well this combination was commonly found in their parochial schools, and from it their elementary schools also evolved. The Latin grammar school. The third type of school brought over, and for New England the important school of the early period, was the Latin grammar school. In this the great teachers of the early time were found. By this was meant a school for beginners in Latin, still the sacred language of reUgion and learning, and upon the study of which the main energy of the schools was spent. The school took the boy from the dame school at the age of seven or eight, and prepared him for entrance to college at fifteen, or thereabout, the boy in the meantime having learned to read, write, and make his own quill pens, and having mas- tered sufficient Latin to enter the college of the colony. He was usually ignorant of numbers, and was usually un- able to write English with any degree of fluency or accuracy. He was, however, well schooled in the Latin tongue, and usu- ally in the elements of Greek as well. The purpose of the S 28 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES Latin school is well stated by the admission requirements of Harvard College, in 1642, which read: When any SchoUer is able to imderstand Tully, or such like classicall Latine author extempore, and' make and speake true Latine in verse a£d prose, suo id aiuni Marie: and decline perfectly the paradigms of nounes and verbes in the Greek tongue: let him then, and not before, be capable of admission into the CoUedge. The Latin grammar school attained its greatest develop- ment in New England, where such schools had been re- quired by the law of 1647, and where the attitude toward classi- cal study was distinctly more friendly than in the colonies to the south- ward. Latin grammar schools were, however, found here and there in the few large towns of the middle and southern colonies, though in these the commercial demands early made themselves felt, and the tendency in the higher schools was toward the introduction of more practical studies, such as merchants' accounts, navi- gation, surveying, and the higher mathematics. This in time led to the evolution of a distinctively American type of higher school, with a more practical curriculum — the Academy — and this in time displaced the Latin grammar school, even in New England. III. General Chahacteb of the Colonial Schools Dominance of the religious purpose. The most promi- nent characteristic of all the early colonial schooling was the predominance of the religious purpose in instruction. One Pia. 6. The Boston Latin Ghammah School Showing the school as it was in Cheever'g day* with King's Chapel on the left, the school facing on School Street. BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN EDUCATION 29 learned to read chiefly the Catechism and the Bible, and to know the will of the Heavenly Father. There was scarcely any other purpose in the maintenance of elementary schools. In Connecticut colony the law required that the pupils were to be made "in some competent measure to imderstand the main groxinds and principles of Christian Religion necessary to salvation," and "to learn some orthodox catechism." In the grammar schools and the coUeges students were in- structed to consider well the main end of life and studies. These institutions existed mainly to insure a supply of learned ministers for service in the Church and the State. Such studies as history, geography, science, music, drawing, secular literature, and physical training were unknown. Children were constantly surrounded, week days and Sun- days, by the somber Calvinistic rehgious atmosphere in New England, and by the careful religious oversight of the pastors and elders in the colonies where the parochial school system was the ruling plan for education. Schoolmasters were required "to catechise their scholars in the principles of the Christian religion," and it was made "a chief part of the schoolmaster's religious care to commend his scholars and his labors amongst them unto God by prayer morning and evening, taking care that his scholars do reverently attend dxu-ing the same." Religious matter constituted the only reading matter, outside of the instruction in Latin in the grammair schools. The Catechism was taught and the Bible was read and expounded. Church attendance was re- quired, and grammar school pupils were obliged to report each week on the Sunday sermon. This insistence on the religious element was more prominent in Calvinistic New England than in the colonies to the south, but everywhere the religious purpose was dominant. The church paro- chial and charity schools were essentially schools for in- stilling the church practices and the beliefs of the churches maintaining them. This state of affairs continued well toward the beginning of om- national period. This dominance of the religious purpose was well shown 30 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES ilmnopqr^f intDe£aintorGODt9e> -vBrjattiet.toBitbaninlJta. i-^MD^alotncli Itt iBpSanin nislnniiMmnmit€DPiiiii (• oneto 4SntD,utt a iii^tnxm BltuturtHilMiieucDMiplitraii InDlolttixlii outttt<^a(&8,a«$ ine ti!»iui tt)nn ifiat tnlkmla itiilWoitSnUlMbBliinocinra jtwtMWAjilOnlDcUlltttiSfCall in the textbooks used for mstruction. Down to the time of the American Revolution these were EngUsh in their origin and rehgious in their purpose. The Hornbook, the Primer, the Psalter, the Testament, and the Bible were the books used. It was not until about the time of the Revo- lution that the first American secu- lar textbook appeared. The textbooks used. Instruc- tion at first everywhere began with the Hornbook, from which children learned their letters and began to read. This was a thin board on which a printed leaf was pasted, and this was covered with a thin sheet of transparent horn to pro- tect it from dirty fingers. Figure 6 shows a common form of this early type of primer, the mastery of which usually required some time. Cowper thus describes this little book: Neatly secured from being soiled or torn Beneath a pane of thin translucent horn, A book (to please us at a tender age 'T is called a book, though but a single page) Presents the prayer the Savior designed to teach. Which children use, and parsons — when they preach. Having learned to read, the child next passed to the XJate- chism and the Bible; these constituted the entire range of reading in the schools. ' The New England Primer. In 1690 there appeared a won- derful little volume, known as The New England Primer, which at once leaped into popularity and soon superseded the Hornbook as the beginning reading text, not only in New England but in the schools of all the colonies except those under the control of the Church of England. For the next iFlQ. 6. A HOHNBOOK 32 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES century and a quarter it was the chief school and reading book in use among the Dissenters and Lutherans in America. Such spelling as was taught was taught from it also. Being religious in the nature of its contents it was used both in the school and the church, the schoolmasters drilled the children in the reading matter and the catechism in the schools, and the people recited the catechism yearly in the churches. Every home possessed copies of it, and it was for sale at all bookstores, even in the smaller places, for a century and a half. It was reprinted throughout the colonies under different names, but the pubKc preferred the title New Eng- land Primer to any other. Its total sales have been esti- mated to have been at least three million copies. It was used in the Boston dame schools as late as 1806, and in the coun- try districts still later, but was gradually discarded for newer types of secular readers. Compared with the primers and first readers of to-day it seems poor and crude, but probably no modem textbook will ever exercise the influ- ence over children and adults which was exercised by this little religious reader, Sj by 4§ inches in size, and but 88 pages thick. It has been said of it that "it taught millions to read, and not one to sin." The Psalter, the Testament, and the Bible were its natural continuation, and constituted the main advanced reading books in the colonies before about 1750. Other texts. A textbook was seldom used in teaching arithmetic by the colonial schoolmasters. The study itself was common, but not universal. It was not until the begin- ning of our national period that arithmetic was anywhere made a required subject of instruction. The subject was regarded as one of much difficulty, and one in which few teachers were competent to give instruction, or few pupils competent to understand. To possess a reputation as an "arithmeticker" was an important recommendation for a teacher, while for a pupil to be able to do sums in arithmetic was a matter of much pride to parents. Teacher's contracts frequently required that the teacher should BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN EDUCATION 83 — do his faithful, honest, and true endeavor to teach the chil- dren OF servants of those who have subscribed the reading and writing of English, and also arithmetick, if they desire it; as much as they are capable to learn and he capable to teach thepi within the compas of this year. The teacher might or might not possess an arithmetic of his own, but the instruction to pupils was dictated and copied instruction. Each pupil made his own written book of rules and solved problems, and most pupils never saw a printed arithmetic. It was not until about the middle of the eigh- teenth century that printed arithmetics came into use, and then only in the larger towns. Writing, similarly, was taught by dictation and practice, and the art of the "scrivener," as the writing master was called, was very elaborate and involved much drill and many flour- ishes. The difficulty of mastering the art, its lack of practi- cal value to most children, the high cost of paper, and the necessity usually for special lessons, all alike tended to make writing a much less commonly known art than reading. For the Latin grammar schools the great American text- book, for more than a centm-y, was Cheever's Accidence, prepared by perhaps the most famous of all early American schoolmasters, Ezekiel Cheever. The book was prepared while Mr. Cheever was in charge of the Latin grammar school at New Haven (1641-1650), and was published prior to 1650. For more than a himdred years this was the text- book of the Latin grammar schools of all New England, and it was also extensively used as a text wherever Latin was taught in the other American colonies. The teachers. The best teachers during the earlier co- lonial period were the teachers in the Latin grammar schools of New England. They were usually well-educated men, strict in the faith, and capable as teachers. A few attained a fame which has made them remembered to the present time. Among these Ezekiel Cheever (1614-1708), men- tioned above, a graduate of Cambridge, in England, who came to America at the age of twenty-three, and who served 34 EDUCATION EST THE UNITED STATES for seventy yeaxs as a teacher in New England and for thirty-eight years as head of the Boston Latin School; and Elijah Corlett (1611-1687), for forty-three years head of the Cambridge Latin School, were the most famous. Of these, Cotton Mather wrote, at the time of the death of Cheever: Tis CORLETS pains, & CHEEVER'S, we must own. That thou. New England, art not Scythia grown. Many of the early teachers in the reading schools were men of some learning, but the meager pay in time turned the instruction in these Schools over to college students and local or itinerant schoolmasters in winter, and to. women in summer, and eventually the dame school supplanted the town elementary school. Girls were usually admitted to the summer, but not to the winter school, and they were taught only reading, writing, and religion. The teachers in the middle-colonies parochial schools were usually good, carefully selected by their churches, sound in the faith, and rendered service which for the time was reasonably satis- factory. This was especially true of the teachers in the schools of the Anglican Church "Society for the Propaga- tion of the Gospel in Foreign Parts," which operated in many towns and cities in the EngKsh colonies between 1702 and 1782. The poorest teachers were to be found in the private schools, many of them being itinerant teachers. Others were of the so-called "indentured white servants" class — poor men or criminals sent over from England and sold for a certain number of years of labor, usually four or five, to pay for their passage. These were let out by their purchasers to conduct a school, the proceeds of which went to their owners. The advertisement shows such a teacher for sale. To Be DISPOSED of, A Likely Servant Mans Time for 4 Years xJL who is very well Qualified for a Clerk or to teach a School, he Reads, ^Writes, underfiands Arirhmetick aod 'Accoropts very wcU,* Enquire of the Printer hereof BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN EDUCATION 35 Licensing of teachers. The licensing of teachers was carefully looked after in so far as religious faith was con- cerned, though private teachers usually were unlicensed. Where this was done locally, as in New England, the minister usually examined the candidate thoroughly to see that he was "sound in the faith." Little else mattered. In the parochial schools to the southward, where there was a con- nection with a home church in continental Europe, the license to teach not infrequently came, in theory at least, from a church synod or bishop in the home land. A modicum of learning was of course assumed on the part of the applicant, but this was not especially inquired into. The great consid- eration was that the teacher should adhere closely to the tenets of the particular church, and should abstain from attendance upon the services of any other church. For ex- ample, the Bishop of London' issued the license to teach in schools imder the direction of the English Church in the col- onies. To hold such a license the applicant must conform to the Church liturgy, must have received the Sacrament in some Anglican church within a year, and for attending any other form of worship was usually subject to imprison- ment and disbarment from teaching. Such conditions illus- trate the intense religious bitterness of the times, and the dominance of the religious motive in all instruction. Had there not been churches to recruit for, and a feeling of the deep importance of church membership, there would have been little need for schools. It was the one compelling motive of the time for maintaining them. Character of the early school instruction. Viewed from any modem standpoint the colonial schools attained to but a low degree of efficiency. The dominance of such an intense religious motive in itself precluded any liberal attitude in the instruction. In addition, the school hours were long, and most of the time was wasted as the result of an almost com- plete lack of any teaching equipment, books, and supplies, and of poor methods of teaching. The schoolhouses were of logs with a rough puncheon floor, and with seats and a 36 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES V^ffj-qiP" rough board desk running around the walls. Paper, greased with lard, often took the place of glass in the windows. There were no blackboards or maps. Slates were not used until about 1820, and pencils and steel pens did not come into use imtil much later. Paper was expen- sive and not particularly good in quality, and hence used but sparingly. Some- times birch bark was used for ciphering, and often the figures were traced in sand. The pens were goose quills, and one of the prerequisites for a schoolmaster was the ability to make and repair quill pens. The ink was home-made, and often poor. The discipline in all classes of schools was severe. Even boys in college were still whipped, while" in the lower schools little else than hard punishments were the rule. Whipping-posts were sometimes set up in the schoolroom, or in the yard or street outside. Pictures of schools of the time, especially European schools, usually show the schoolmaster with a bundle of switches near at hand. Th^ ability to impose some sort of order on a poorly taught and, in consequence, an un Fig. 8. A Ttpical Eablt Schoolhoom Intebiob Pig. 9. A School Whipping-Post Drawn from a picture ruly school, was another of the prerequi- of a five-foot whipping- . , n ' 1 1 . post which once stood Sites tor a schoolmaster. in the floor of a schooi- The greatest waste of time came from 5?""" J* Sunderland, ..._ 111*. . . Massachusetts. Now in the mdlVldual methods 01 mstrUCtlOn Uni- the Deerfield museum. BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN EDUCATION 37 versally followed in teaching. Children came forward to the teacher's desk and recited individually to the master or dame, and so wasteful was the process that children might attend school for years and get only a mere start in reading and writing. Hearing lessons, assigning new tasks, setting copies, making quill pens, dictating sums, and keeping order completely absorbed the teacher's time. IV. Change in Character after about 1750 The period of establishment. The seventeenth century was essentially a period of transplanting, during which lit- tle or no attempt at adaptation or change was made. The customs of the mother countries in manners, morals, dress, reUgious observances, education, and classes in society were all carefully transplanted. In most of the colonies the early settlements were near the coast. This was particu- larly the case in New England, where the danger from In- dian massacres had been greater than farther south. King Philip's War (1675-78) had cost the New England colonists half a miUion dollars — a large sum for that time — and had almost exhausted the people. Twelve out of the ninety existing towns had been destroyed, and forty others had wit- nessed fire and massacre. A number of towns were so poor they could not pay their colony taxes, and the maintenance of schools, either by tuition or tax, became exceedingly difficult. The general result, though, of the war was such a punish- ment of the Indians that the colonists felt free thereafter to form settlements inland, and a marked expansion of New England took place. The same was true of the central colonies, new settlements now being founded farther and farther inland. These new towns in the wilderness, owing their foundation to an entirely different cause than the original towns, and being founded by younger people who had never known European rehgious zeal or oppression, at once gave evidence of less interest in religion and learning than had been the case with the towns nearer the coast. 38 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES Even in these earlier coast towns, the second and third generation then in control began to turn from religion and agriculture to shipping and commerce, and with the rise of trade new interests began slowly to displace the dominant teligious concern of the early colonists. Waning of the old religious interest. As early as 1647 Rhode Island had enacted the first law providing for free- dom of rehgious worship ever enacted by an English- speaking people, and two years later Maryland enacted a similar law. Though the Maryland law was later over- thrown, and a rigid Church-of-England rule estabhshed there^^ these laws were indicative of the new spirit arising in the New World. The witchcraft persecutions at Salem and elsewhere in New England did mjch to weaken the hold of the ministry on the peopE-fSCTe. By the beginning of the eighteenth century a change in attitude toward the old problem of personal salvation and church attendance became evident. New settlements amid frontier conditions, where hard work rather than long sermons and religious dis- putations were the need; the gradual rise of a civil as op- posed to a rehgious form of town government; the increase of new interests in trade and shipping, and inter-colony com- merce; the beginnings of the breakdown of the old aristo- cratic traditions and customs, originally transplanted from Europe; the rising individualism in both Europe and Amer- ica; — these all helped to weaken the hold on the people of the old religious doctrines. The importation of many "in- dentured white servants," who for a time were virtually slaves, and the deportation from England of many paupters and criminals from the Enghsh jails, most of whom went to the central and southern colonies, likewise tended not only to reduce the literacy and religious zeal of the colonies, but also to develop a class of "poor whites" who later deeply influenced educational progress in the States in which they settled. By 1750 the change in rehgious thinking had become quite marked. Especially was the change evidenced in the dying Fig. 10. How the Earlt New England Towns were located From L. K. Mathews's The Expansion cS New England, p. 35. 40 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES out of the old religious fervor and intolerance, and the break- ing up of the old religious solidarity. While most of the col- onies continued to maintain an "established church," other sects had to be admitted to the colony and given freedom of worship, and, once admitted, they were found not to be so bad after all. The Puritan monopoly of New England was broken, as was also that of the Anglican church in the cen- tral colonies. The day of the monopoly of any sect in a colony was over. New secular interests began to take the place of rehgion as the chief topic of thought and conversa- tion. Secular books began to dispute the earher monopoly of the Bible, and a few colonial newspapers (seven by 1750) were founded and began to circulate. All these changes materi- ally affected both the support and the character of the edu- cation provided in the colonies. Changing character of the schools. These changes man- ifested themselves in many ways in the matter of educa- tion. The maintenance of the Latin grammar schools, f required by the Law of 1647, had been found to be increas- ingly difficult of enforcement, not only in Massachusetts, but in all the other New England colonies which had followed the Massachusetts example. With the changing attitude of the people, which had become clearly manifest by 1750, the demand for relief from the maintenance of this school in favor of a more practical and less aristocratic type of higher school, if higher school at all were needed, became marked, and by the close of the period the more American Academy, with its more practical studies, had begim to supersede the old Latin grammar school. The elementary schools experienced something of the same difficulties. Some of the parochial schools died out, and others declined in character and importance. Li Church of England colonies all elementary education was now left to private initiative and philanthropic or rehgious effort. In the southern colonies the classes in society made common tax-supported schools impossible. In New England the eighteenth century was a continual struggle on the one hand BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN EDUCATION 41 to prevent the town school from dying out, and on the other to establish in its place a series of scattered and inferior dis- trict schools, while tuition fees and taxation for support be- came harder and harder to obtain. Among other changes of importance the reading school and the writing school now became definitely united in all smaller places and in the rural districts to form the American elementary school of the 3-Rs, while the dame school was definitely adopted as i the beginners' school. Both these changes were measures of economy, as well as distinctively American adaptations. New textbooks, containing less of the gloomily religious than the New England Primer, and secular rather than religious matter, appeared and began to be used in the schools. Dilworth's A New Chiide to the English Tongue, first published in England in 1740, began to be used in the American colonies by 1750. This contained words for spelling and a number of fables, and was the first of a line of some half-dozen so-called spelling boolcs which finally culminated in the first distinctively American textbook — Noah Webster's blue-backed Spelling Book, first published at Hartford, in 1783. Disintegration of the New England town. One of the most fundamental changes which now took place among New England people, and one which vitaUy modified future educational administration in almost all our American States, was the breakdown of the unity of the old New Eng- land town and the rise of the school district as the unit for school maintenance in its stead. It came about in this way. Originally each New England settlement was a unit, and the irregular area included — twenty to forty square miles, a little smaller than a western township — was called a town. At the center, and usually facing on the town common, were the Meeting-House and the town school, and later the town hall. All citizens were required by law to live within one half-mile of the Meeting-House, to attend the town meet- ings, and to send their children to the town school. In the town meeting, at first held in the churches, all matters re- 42 EDUCATION IS THE UNITED STATES lating to the interests of the town were discussed, taxes were levied, and town by-laws were enacted. In time these towns, originally founded as re- ligious republics, became centers for the discussion of all forms of public questions, and schools for training the people in the principles of gov- ernment and parliamen- tary procedure. In them the people learned how to safeguard their own interests. By the close of the seventeenth century, as has been stated, many of the forces which at first required a compact form of settlement had begun to lose their hold. New settlements arose within the towns, miles away from the meeting- and schoolhouses. To attend church or town meeting in winter was not always easy, and for children to attend the town school was impos- sible. The old laws as to place of residence ac- cordingly had to be re- ' 1740 • Tow» JlWiaerintendent of Schools provided for. In 1814 teachers were ordered examined. B v 1820 Ne w York >cho^ probabl y the h^s t. nf any gtat g in the Union,. The pauper-parochial-school group. The six States of this group are the old middle colonies, where the parochial- school and the pauper-school attitudes, described under Chapter II, had been most prominent, and one Southern State. The idea had become so fixed in these middle colonies that education belonged to the Church and to charitable organizations that any interference by the State, beyond as- sisting in the maintenance of pauper schools, came in time to be bitterly resented. Briefly summarized, by States, the legislation enacted provided as follows: Pennsylvania. The constitution of 1776 had directed the estab- lishment of a school in each county, where youths should be taught at low prices, but the constitution of 1790 had directed instead the 68 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES establishment, at the convenience of the legislature, of a series of pauper schools. The first law was in 1802, and this provided only for the education of the pauper children in each county. In 1824 a better law was enacted, but its acceptance was optional, and in 1826 it was repealed and the pauper-school law of 1802 continued. The first free-school law dates from 1834. Even this was optional, and was at first accepted by but little more than half of the school districts in the State. Delaware. In 1796 a state school fund was created from the pro- ceeds of tavern and marriage licenses. This accumulated unused until 1817, when $1000 a year was appropriated from the income to each of the three counties for the instruction of the children of the poor in reading, writing, and arithmetic. In 1821 aid was extended to Sunday Schools. In 1821 a so-called free-school law was enacted, by which the State duplicated amounts raised by subscription or contribution, but by 1833 only 133 districts in the State were operating under the law. The schools of Wilmington date from 1821. In 1843 an educational convention adopted a resolution opposing taxation for free schools. First real school law in 1861. Maryland. No constitutional mention imtil 1864. Many academies chartered, and lotteries much used for their aid between 1801 and 1817. 1812 — School fund begun by a tax on banks. 1816 — First property tax to aid schools for the poor. 1826 — First general school law, but acceptance optional with the counties; too advanced and never in operation, except in Baltimore. No school system until after the Civil War. Virginia. The eflForts of Jefferson to establish a complete school system for the State failed. 1796 — Optional school law, but little done under it. 1810 — Permanent school fund started. 1818 — Law providing for a charity school system enacted. By 1843 es- timated that half the indigent children in the State were receiving sixty days schooling. 1846 — Better school law enacted, but optional, and only nine counties ever used it. 1870 — First real school law. Ne^D Jersey. This State might also be classed in the no-action group. Nothing was done imtil 1816, when a state school fund was begun. In 1820 permission to levy a local tax for schools was granted. In 1828 a report showed that one third of the children of the State were growing up without a chance for any education. Largely in consequence of this the first general school law was EARLY NATIONAL AND STATE ATTITIJDES 69 enacted, in 1829, but the next year this was repealed, as a result of bitter opposition from the private and church-school interests, and the State followed Pennsylvania's example and went over to the pauper-school idea of state action. Li 1830 and 1831 laws limited state educational effort to aiding schools for the education of the children of the poor. In 1838 'the beginnings of a state public school system were made, and in 1844 state aid was limited to public schools. First constitutional mention of education in 1844. Georgia. In 1817 a fund of $250,000 was created for free schools. Schools for poor children were opened in Savannah in 1818, and Augusta in 1831. 1822 — Income of fund appropriated to pay tuition of poor children. 1837 — Free school system established, but law repealed in 1840. 1858 — Word "poor" eliminated from law. Real state school system dates from after Civil War. The no-action group. This group contains the reli- gious-freedom state of Rhode Island, two of the States which were for long imbued with the Anglican "no-business-of- the-State" attitude, and the two new States of Tennessee and Kentucky, settled largely by "poor whites" and others from the Carolinas and Virginia. Examining the legisla- tion, or rather lack of legislation in these States, we find the following: Rhode Island. First constitutional mention in 1842. The first school law for the colony was enacted in 1800, at the instance of a group of citizens of Providence. Schools were ordered estab- lished ia every town in the State for instruction in reading, writing, and arithmetic, and some state aid was given. Only Providence ever established such schools, and so great was the opposition to the law that it was repealed in 1803. In 1825 Newport was per- mitted to start schools for its poor children. . It was not until 1828 that a permissive state school law was enacted, and by 1833 there were only 323 public schools and 375 public teachers in the State. North Carolina. A School Society for the education of females was chartered in 1811. In 1816 legislature appointed a commission to report a school law. 1817 — Good plan reported, but legisla- ture would not approve. 1824 — Another commission appointed. 1825 — Reported a bill for a pauper-school system, which also was not approved. 1825 — Permanent state school fund begun. 1839 — First bill creating an elementary school system. 70 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES South Carolina. In 1811 Charleston permitted to organize charity schools. 1836 — Report made recommending a state system of charity schools; not adopted. 1854 — Charleston peti- tioned to be permitted to make its schools free; granted in 1856. State school system dates from after the Civil War. Kentucky. First provision for aid for common schools in 1821, but legislature diverted funds. 1830 — First general school law; dead letter, largely through lack of any interest in schools. 1853 — School in each county for first time. Tennessee. First school law in 1830, establishing the district system, and schools open to aU. State attitudes summarized. Figure 15 sets forth graphi- cally the state attitudes toward education which have just \ \. \^ Attitude Assumed \ ^ / Strong State ^^ \r Weak State ^Hij / Pauper School |r:;:3;v|' mis\..j^ ■V^ Indifferent | | Fig. 15. Eahlt ATTiTtnjB assumed towahd Public Education bt THE Obighjal States, and the States latek cakvbd from the Ceded National Domain EAELY NATIONAL AND STATE ATTITUDES 71 been summarized. From this map it will be seen, even better than from the descriptions of constitutional enact- ments and early legislation, what an important part reli- gion played, with us, in the establishment of a public school attitude. It was the Calvinistic-Puritan States of New England which rn nst deeply hel^yf^rl in pHnfatinn ns a pp - c gssity for salvafiMi. and thev so estabUshed the school idea among their people that this belief in schools persisted after the religious motive for education had died out. Spreading westward, they carried their belief in education into the new States in which they settled. In the middle colonies, where the parochial school idea and the plan of apprenticing and educating orphans and paupers dominated, we see States where all elementary educational effort was turned over to private, church, and pauper schools, the State aiding only the last, or at most the last two. In the religious-freedom State of Rhode Island, and the old Anglican colonies of New Jersey and the Carolinas, we see the English "no- business-of-the-State " attitude for a time reflected in the indifference of the State to education. The four new States west of these southern colonies — Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama — in large part reflected the atti- tude of the States to the eastward from which their early immigrants came. The North-West-Territory States. The settlement of the States of the North- West Territory is an interesting ex- emplification of the influence on education of the early settlements we have so far studied, and much of the early educational history of these States is to be understood when viewed in the light of their settlement. Immediately after the close of the Eevolutionary War settlers from the different States of the new Union began to move to the new territory to the westward. To the north, a great movement of New England people began into central New York and northern Pennsylvania, and from then until 1810, when the tide of immigration tm-ned farther westward, the history of these two regions is in large part 72 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES the history of the westward expansion of New England. By 1810 more than one half of New York, one fourth of Penn- sylvania, portions of New Jersey, and the Western Reserve in Ohio (see map, Fig. 14) had been settled by New England people. In New York they counterbalanced the earlier pre- dominance of the Anglicans, helped materia,lly in securing the first permanent school law for the State, in 1812, and m carrying the State for free schools in the referenda of 1849 and 1850. They also helped to counteract the German Lutheran parochial element in the battle for free schools in Pennsylvania, in 1834 and 1835. After 1810 the tide of migration of New England people set in strong to the new States to the west of New York, fol- lowing the northern route, and by 1850 one half of the settled portions of the old North- West Territory had been populated by New England stock, while many settlements had been founded beyond the Mississippi River. The his- tory of these migrations often repeated the old story of the Puritan migrations to New England. Congregations, with their ministers, frequently migrated to the West in a body. A new Granville, or Plymouth, or Norwalk, or Greenwich in the wilderness was a child of the old town of that name in New England. An almost ceaseless train of wagons poured westward, and the frontier was soon pushed out to and beyond the Mississippi. Wherever the New Englander went he invariably took his New England institutions with him. Congregational churches were estabhshed, new Yales and Dartmouths founded, common schools and the Massa- chusetts district system were introduced, and the town form of government and the town meeting were organized in the new Congressional townships — a ready-made unit which the New Englander found easily adaptable to his ideas of town government. Into these new States and territories to the westward came also other settlers, along the southern route, with dif- ferent political, religious, and educational training. Those from Pennsylvania came from where town government was Fro. 16. Showing the Westwabd Expansion of New England into THE Old North- West Teebitobt by 1840 From L. K. Mathews's Thl Expaniion aS New England; Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1909. By petmission. 74 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES weak, where public free schools had not been developed, 9,nd where the charity conception of education had for long prevailed. Settlers from Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina, commonly the descendants of the "poor whites " who had not been able to secure land or property or to establish themselves there, also moved westward and north- ward and settled in the river valleys of the southern and cen- tral portions of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. These people came from States where slavery and plantation life preva;iled, where religion, especially for the poor, was/Ky no means a vital matter, and where free schools were^rtually unknown. Mingling of the two classes of people. These two classes of people met and struggled for supremacy in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and the political, .religious, and educational his- tory of these States has been determined in large part by the preponderance of one or the other of these people. Where the New England people were in the ascendancy, as in Ohio, and also in Michigan and early Wisconsin, the governmental forms were most like New England, and the zeal for educa- tion, religion, and local governmental control have been most marked. Where the Southern element predominated, as for a time in Illinois, the result has been the opposite. Where the two mingled on somewhat even terms, as in Indiana, we find a compromise between them. The opening of Missouri to slavery, in 1820, deflected the tide of southern migration from Indiana and IlUnois to that State, and gave the New iiSigland element a chance to extend its influence over almost all the North-West-Territory States. The importance of this extension 6f and conquest by the New England element can hardly be overestimated. Prom these States most of the West and Southwest was in turn settled and organized into state governments, and to these new regions New Eng- land educational ideas in time were spread. Educational attitudes in the North-West States. The effect of the predominance or mingling of these two classes is clearly shown in the early state attitudes toward educa- tion, as stated in the constitutions and laws. , EARLY NATIONAL STATE AND ATTITUDES 75 The Ohio constitutional provision of 1802 is noteworthy for its strong stand for the encouragement of learning and the interdiction of pauper schools in the State, and as re- flecting the influence of the national land grants and the national attitude regarding religious freedom. It reads: I Art. Vin, 25. That no law shall be passed to prevent the poor in the several coimties and townships within the State from an equal participation in the schools, academies, colleges, and univer- sities within this State, which are endowed, in whole or in part,' from the revenues arising from the donations made by the United States for the support of schools and colleges; and the doors of said schools, academies, and universities shall be open for the reception of scholars, students, and teachers of every grade, without distinc- tion, or preference whatever, contrary to the intent for which said donations were made. In 1821 a permissive school law was enacted, and in 1825 a new school law laid the foundations of a state system, based on the Massachusetts district system, county taxation, and the certification of teachers. The Indiana constitution of 1816 threw safeguards about the national land grants for schools, and was the first to issue a comprehensive mandate to the legislature ordering the establishment of a complete free state system of schools. This latter reads: Art IX, Sec. 2. It shall be the duty of the general assembly, as soon as circumstances wUl permit, to provide by law for a general system of education, ascending in regular gradations from town- ship schools to a State university, wherein tuition shall be gratis and equally open to all. So evenly balanced were the Northern and Southern ele- ments in Indiana, however, that this mandate of the consti- tution was difficult to carry out, and, despite legislation which will be described in Chapter IV, the real beginning of a state school system in Indiana dates from 1851. Illinois shows the Southern element in control. Neither the constitution of 1818 nor the one of 1848 made any men- 76 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES tion of education. A good school law, said to have been the best outside of New England, was enacted in 1825, but was nullified two years later by legislation which provided that no man could be taxed for schools without his written consent, and which permitted the maintenance of schools in part by tuition fees. It was not untU 1841, and after the New England people had become a majority, that this nullifying legislation of 1827 could be repealed. Michigan was not admitted as a State until 1835, but the territorial legislature, in 1827, adopted a good school law, modeled on the Massachusetts legislation. In 1829 the property of non-residents was made subject to taxation for schools — at that time rather advanced legislation. The first state constitution, o^W^ provided for the ap- pointment of the first perma nent State Superintendent o f Public Instruc tion in an^y Stafe^ and ordered: ''Sec. 3. The legislature shall provide for a system of common schools, by which a school shall be kept up and supported in each school district at least three months in every year; and any school district neglecting to keep up and support such school may be deprived of its equal proportion of the interest of the public (school) fund. Wisconsin was a part of Michigan until 1836, and the Michigan legislation applied to Wisconsin territory. In 1840 the first Wisconsin school law provided for the Mas- sachusetts district school system, a school census, and dis- trict taxation for schools, and when the State was admitted, in 1848, the New England traditions as to education had become so firmly fixed, and the new forces working for popr ular education in the State had begun to have such an in- fluence, that the school code of 1849 was quite modern in character. No real educational consciousness before about 1820. Regardless of the national land grants for education made to the new States, the provisions of the different state con- stitutions, the beginnings made here and there in the few cities of the time, and the early state laws, we can h9.rdly EARLY NATIONAL AND STATE ATTITUDES 77 be said, as a people, to have developed an educational con- sciousness, outside of New England and New York, before about 1820, and in some of the States, especially in the South, a state educational consciousness was not awakened until very much later. Even in New England there was a steady decline in education, as the district system became more and more firmly fixed, during the first fifty years of our national history. There were many reasons in our national life for this lack of interest in education among the masses of our people. The simple agricultural life of the time, the homogeneity of the people, the absence of cities, the isolation and inde- pendence of the villages, the lack of full manhood suffrage in a number of the States, the want of any economic demand for education, and the fact that no important political ques- tion calling for settlement at the polls had as yet arisen, made the need for schools and learning seem a relatively minor one. There were but six cities of 8000 inhabitants or over in the country as late as 1810, and even in these life was far simpler than in a small Western village to-day. There was Uttle need for book learning among the masses of the people to enable them to transact the ordinary busi- ness of life. A person who could read and write and cipher in] that time was an educated man, while the absence of these arts was not by any means a matter of reproach. The coimtry, too, was still very poor. The Revolutionary War debt still hung in part over the Nation, and the demand for money and labor for all kinds of internal improvements was very large. The country had few industries, and its foreign trade was badly hampered by Em-opean nations. France gave us trouble for a decade, while England made it evident that, though we had gained our poUtical independ- ence, we should have to fight again if we were to win our commercial freedom. Ways and means of strengthening the existing government and holding the Union together, rather than plans which could bear fruit only in the futme, occupied the attention of the leaders of the time. "The 78 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES Constitution," as John Quincy Adams expressed it, "was extorted from the grinding necessities of a reluctant people" to escape anarchy and the ultimate entire loss of independ- ence, and many had grave doubts as to the permanence of the Union. It was not until after the close of the War of 1813 that beUef in the stabiUty of the Union and in the ca- pacity of the people to govern themselves became the belief of the many rather than the very few, and plans for educa- tion and national development began to obtain a serious hearing. When we had finally settled our poKtical and commercial future by the War of 1813-14, and had built up a national consciousness on a democratic basis in the years immediately following, and the Nation at last possessed the energy, the money, and the interest for doing so, we then turned our energies toward the creation of a democratic system of public schools. In the meantime, education, outside of New England and in part even there, was left largely to private individuals, churches, incorporated school societies, and such state schools for the children of the poor as might have been provided by private or state funds, or the two com- bined. The real interest in advanced education. In so far as we may be said to have possessed a real interest in educa- tion during the first half-century of our national existence, it was manifested in the establishment and endowment of academies and colleges rather than in the creation of schools for the people. The colonial Latin grammar school had been almost entirely an EngKsh institution, and never well suited to American needs. As democratic consciousness began to arise, the demand came for a more practical insti- tution, less exclusive and less aristocratic in character, and better adapted in its instruction to the needs of a frontier society. Arismg about the middle of the eighteenth cen- tury, a number of so-called Academies had been founded before the new National Government took shape. While essentially private institutions, arising from a church foun- EARLY NATIONAL AND STATE ATTITUDES 79 dation, or more commonly a local subscription or endow- ment, it became customary for towns, coimties, and States to assist in their maintenance, thus making them semi- public institutions. Their management, though, usually remained in private hands, or imder boards or associations. After the beginning of our national life a number of the States founded and endowed a state system of academies. Massachusetts, in 1797, granted land endowments to ap- proved academies. Georgia, in 1783, created a system of county academies for the State. New York extended state aid to its academies, in 1813, having put them under state inspection as early as 1787. Maryland chartered many academies between 1801 and 1817, and authorized many lotteries to provide them with funds, as did also North Caro- lina. Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana, among Western States, also provided for county systems of academies. Character of the academy training. The study of Latin and a, little Greek had constituted the curriculum of the old Latin grammar school, and its purpose had been almost ex- clusively to prepare boys for admission to the colony col- leges. In true English style, Latin was made the language of the classroom, and even attempted for the playground as well. As a concession, reading, writing, and arithmetic were sometimes taught. The new academies, while retaining the study of Latin, and usually Greek, though now taught through the medium of English, added a number of new studies adapted to the needs of a new society. English grammar was introduced and soon rose to a place of great importance, as did also oratory and declamation. Arith- metic, algebra, geometry, geography, and astronomy were Lq time added, and surveying, rhetoric (including, some litera- ture), natural and moral philosophy, and Roman antiqui- ties were frequently taught. Girls were admitted rather freely to the new academies, whereas the grammar schools had been exclusively for boys. For better instruction a " female department " was frequently organized. The acad- emies, beside ofiPering a fair type of higher training before 80 EDUCATION m THE UNITED STATES the days of high schools, also became training schools for teachers, and before the rise of the normal schools were the chief som:ce of supply for the better grade of elementary teachers. These institutions rendered an important service during the first half of the nineteenth century, but were in time displaced by the publicly supported and pubHcly con- trolled American high school, the first of which dates from 1821. This evolution we shall de- scribe more in detail in a later chapter. The colleges of the time. Some interest also was taken in college ed- ucation during this early national period. Col- lege attendance, how- ever, was small, as the country was still new and the people were poor. As late as 1815 Harvard gradu- ated a class of but 66; Yale of 69; Princeton of 40; Wil- hams of 40; Pennsylvania of 15; and the University of South Carolina of 37. After the organization of the Union the nine-old colonial colleges were reorganized, and an at- tempt was made to bring them into closer harmony with the ideas and needs of the people and the governments of the States. Dartmouth, Kings (now rechristened Columbia), and Pennsylvania were for a time changed into state insti- tutions, and an unsuccessful attempt was ma^e to make a state university for Virginia out of WiUiam and Mary. Be- tween 1790 and 1825 there was much discussion as to the desirability of founding a national university at the seat of government, and Washiugton in his will (1799) left, for that time, a considerable sum to the Nation to inaugurate the new undertaking. Nothing ever came of it, however. Be- fore 1825 five States — Virginia, North Carolina, South Fig. 17. A Pennstlvania Academy Yprk Academy, York, Pennsylvania, founded by the Protestant Episcopal Church, in 1787. EARLY NATIONAL AND STATE ATTITUDES 81 Carolina, Indiana, and Michigan — had laid the foundations of future state universities. The National Government had also granted to each new Western State two entire town- ships of land to help endow a university in each, — a stim- ulus which eventually led to the establishment of a state university in every Western State. QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. Why does education not make much progress during periods of war- fare or intense political agitation? 2. Contrast conditions as regards education in 1789 and to-day. 3. Explain how the religious-freedom attitude of the national constitu- tion conferred an inestimable boon on the States in the matter of public schools. ^___ " 4. Explain the change from the religious to the political motive for main- taining schools. 6. Does the quotation from Washington evidence as clear a conception of educational needs in a democracy as those from Jefferson? 6. What conception of education had John Jay in mind? 7. After the leaders of the time had come to see the need for the education of the masses, why did it take so long to obtain the establishment of state school systems? 8. Try to picture what might have been the educational conditions and development in this country: (a) Had the New England element had small families and remained in New England; (6) Had New England been settled by Anglicans, and no Calvinistic Puritans had ever come to North America; (c) Had the Puritans settled in Virginia, as they started out to do. 9. Explain why we were so slow in developing an educational conscious- ness. 10. Explain why the academy and the college naturally awakened a much deeper interest before 1820 than did common schools. 11. Explain why Oratory and Declamation natiu'ally played such a prominent part in the work of the early academies and colleges. 12. Explain the great popularity of the academy, as compared with the older Latin grammar^chool. 13. Explain the larger interest in secondary and advanced education dining the first quarter of a century of our national history. 14. How might the educational history of the North-West-Territory States have been different had the Nation never made the Louisiana purchase? 15. Explain the more liberal provisions of the Ohio constitution. 82 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES TOPICS FOR INVESTIGATION AND REPORT 1. The National land grants for education, and their influence. (Cub- berley & Elliott; Monroe.) 2. The rise and early influence of the Academy. (E. E. Brown.) 3. Early state constitutional provisions. (Cubberley & Elliott.) 4. The early American colleges and the nature of their work. (Dexter.) 5. The westward expansion of New England. (Mathews.) SELECTED REFERENCES Cubberley, E. P. and ElUott, E. C. Stale and County School Administration; Source Booh. 728 pp. The Macmillan Co., New York, 1915. Chapter I reproduces all constitutional provisions before 1800, and Chapter IE gives all the important sources relating to the national land grants to the States. Dexter, E. G. History of Education in the United States. 656 pp. The MacmiUan Co., New York, 1904. Contuns a good brief summary of the work of the early colleges. Martin, G. H. The Evolution of the Massachusetts Public School System. 284 pp. D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1894. *Mathews, Lois K. The Expansion of New England. 301 pp. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1909. Chapters VI-VIII are excellent on the great migrations to the westward, and the planting of new commonwealths in the wilderness. Monroe, Paul. Cyclopedia of Education. The Macmillan Co., New York, 1911-13. The following article is especially important: "National Government and Education"; vol. n, pp. 372-82. CHAPTER IV INFLUENCES TENDING TO AWAKEN AN EDUCATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS I. Philanthropic Influences A half-century of transition. The_first hatf- century o f our^a tional life may b e regarded as a pmiod bftransition from the church-control idea of education over to the idea of education under the control of and supported by the State. It required time to make this change in thinking. Up to the period of the beginnings of our national development edu- cation had almost everywhere been regarded as an affair of the Church, somewhat akin to baptism, marriage, the ad- ministration of the sacraments, and the burial of the dead. Even in New England, which formed an exception, the evolution of the civic school from the church school was not yet complete. A number of new forces — philanthropic, political, social, economic — now combined to produce con- ditions which made state rather than church control and support of education seem both desirable and feasible. The rise of a new national government based on the two new prin- ciples of political equality and religious freedom, together with the rise of new economic conditions which made some education for all seem necessary for economic as well as for political ends, changed this age-old situation. The.churdLdiarit3i_S£hoolJiad become, as we have seen, a familiar institution before the Revolution. T he En^ h "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts," which maintained schools in connection with the Anglican churches in the Anglican colonies, and provided an excellent grade of charity-school master, vsdthdrewjt_the close of the Revolutionary War from work in thi's country. The different churches after the war continued their efforts to maintain their church charity schools, though there was 84 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES for a time a decrease in both their numbers and their effec- tiveness. In the meantime the de mand for educatio n grew rather rapidly, and the t ask soo n becametoojbig for the churches to handle. For long the churches made an effort to keep up, as they were loath to relinquish in any way their former hold on the training of the young. The churches, however, were not interested in the problem except in the old way, and this was not what the new democracy wanted. The result was that, with the coming of nationality and the slow but gradual^owth^of a. national consciousness, na- tional pride, national needs, and the gradual development of national resources in the shape of taxable property, — all alike combined to make secular instead of religious schools, seem both desirable and possible to a constantly increasing number of citizens. This change in attitude was facilitated by the work of a number of semi-private philanthropic agencies, the most important of which were: (1) the Sunday School Movement; (2) the growth of City School Societies; (3) the Lancastrian Movement; and (4) the coming of the Infant-School Societies. These will be described briefly, and their influence in awakening an educational conscious- ness pointed out. 1. The Sunday School Movement Sgcular^ chools befor eJhe_lfiligious._.One of the earliest ofthese^HaSthropic movements designed to afford a mini- mum of education for the children of the poor was the so- called Sunda ^cKool Movemen t. This origmated in Eng- land shortly after the middle of the seventeenth century, but amounted to little until 1780^ when a publisher by the name of Robert Raikes, of Gloucester, gathered together the children in the pin factories of that city and paid four women a shilling each to jagixi^hsC-SMadajSLicLins^ ing these poor working children "in reading, and the Church catechism." In 1783 Raikes published a description of the plan and its results, and soon the idea spread to many parts of England. So successful did the plan prove that in 1785 AWAKENING AN EDUCATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS 85 there was organized "The Society for promoting Sunday Schools throughout the British Dominions." The historian Green has declared that "the Simday Schools estabhshed by Mr. Raikes were the beginnings of popular education" in England. Raikes's idea was soon brought to the United States. In 1786 a Sunday School after the Raikes plan was organized in Hanover County, Virginia, at the house of one Thomas Crenghaw, and in 1787 a Sunday School for African children was organized at Charleston, South Carolina. In 1791 "The First Day, or Sunday School Society," was organized at Philadelphia, for the estabUshment of Simday Schools in that city. InJ793^Katy Ferguson's "School for the Poor " was opened in New York, and this was followed by an organization of New York women for the extension of secu- lar instruction among the poor. In 1797 Samuel Slater's Factory School was opened at Pawtucket, Rhode Island. These schools, being open to all instead of only to the poor and lowly, had a small but an increasing influence in level- ing class distinctions, and in making a common day school ■ seem possible. The movement for secular instruction on Sundays, though, soon met in America with the opposition of the churches, and before long they took over the idea, superseded private initiative and control, and changed the character of the instruction from a day of secular work to an hour or so of religious teaching. Though there had been some Sunday instruction earlier at a few places in New England, the intr oduct ion of th e Su nday Schod Lirom Endaod^gn JZSSZmarksjEeredbe^ ginning rf_^e religious^Simday-School in America. After the churches had once caught the idea "oTa' common reU- gious school on Sundays for the instruction of any one, a number of societies were formed to carry on and extend the work. The most important of the earlier f qundations were : 1808. The Evangelical Society of Philadelphia. 1816. The Female Union for the Promotion of Sabbath Schools (New York). 86 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES 1816. The New York Sunday School Union. 1816. The Boston Society for the Moral and Religious Instruc- tion of the Poor. 1817. The Philadelphia Sunday and Adult School Union. 1824. The American Sunday School Union. 2. The City School Societies Before 1825 a TiiiTnV"'r r,t anhgoriptinn Qnpjpfiog, many of which were able to effect financial connections with the city or the State, were formed in the few cities of the time to develop schools "for the education of such poor children as do not belong to, or are not provided for by any religious society." These societies were usually organized by philan- thropic citizens, willing to contribute something yearly to provide some little education for a few of the many children in the city having no opportunities for any instruction. Early New York City societies. One of the first of these societies was "The Manumission Society," organized in New York in 1785, for the purpose of "mitigating the evils of slavery, to defend the rights of the blacks, and especially to give them the elements of an education." Alexander Hamilton and John Jay were among its organizers. A free school for colored pupils was opened, in 1787. This grew and prospered and was aided from time to time by the city, and in 1801 by the State, and finally, in 1834, all its schools were merged with those of the "Public School Society" of the city. -In 1801 the first free schoolfOT.poor^hitechildren ^>yEose pare^flglBelong to no religi6us,,aocifit3£T.-aiuL_SEho. from some cause oFothefTcannot be admitted into any of the charity schools of the city," was opened. This was pro- vided by the "Association of Women Friends for the Relief of the Poor," which engaged "a widow woman of good edu- cation and morals as instructor" at £30 per year. This As- sociation also prospered, and received some city or state aid up to 1824. By 1823 it was providing free elementary edu- cation for 750 children. Its schools also were later merged with those of the "Public School Society." AWAKENING AN EDUCATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS 87 " The Public School Society." Perhaps the most famous of all the early subscription societies for the maintenance of schools for the poor was the "New York Free School So- ciety," which later changed its name to that of "The Public School Society of New York." This was organized in 1805 under the leadership of De Witt Clinton, then mayor of the city, he heading the subscription list with a promise of $200 a year for support. On May 14, 1806, the following advertisement appeared in the daily papers: FREE SCHOOL The Trustees of the Society for establishing a Free School in the city of New York, for the education of such poor children as do not belong to, or are not provided for by any religious Society, having engaged a Teacher, and procured a School House for the accommo- dation of a School, have now the pleasure of announcing that it is proposed to receive scholars of the descriptions alluded to without delay; applications may be made to, &c. This Society was chartered by the legislatiu-e "to provide schooling for all children who are the proper objects of a •ei^^A, Fig. 18. The Fibst ScHooiiHousB built bt the Free School Socibtt IN New York City Built in 1809, in Tryon Bow. Cost, without site, $IS,000. 88 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES gratuitous education." It organized free public education in the city, secured funds, built schoolhouses, provided and trained teachers, and ably supplemented the work of the private and church schools. By its energy and its persist- ence it seciured for itself a large share of public confidence, and aroused a constantly increasing interest in the cause of popular education. In 1853, after it had educated over 600,000 children and trained over 1200 teachers, this Society, its work done, surrendered its charter and tiuned over its buildings and equipment to the public-sc hool departmen t of_the_dt^ which had Vvpn nrpati'd by tjie legislature in 18^2. ~~ " School Societies elsewhere. The "Benevolent Society. of the City of Baltimore for the Education of the Female Poor," founded in 1799, and the "Male Free Society of Baltimore," organized a httle later, were two of these early school societies, though neither became so famous as the Public School Society of New York. Prom the Annual Report of the Baltimore Male Free Society, for 1822, we read: It is truly gratifying to the Trustees to witness the increasing interest taken in the education of the poor, — to see the talents, the zeal, and the means now employed to give instruction to indi- gent youth. ... To the liberality of the citizens of Baltimore, they (the poor boys) are indebted for the ample means of instruction which they now enjoy. The schools of the citxJjt-Was^ngt^were started by subscription, in 1804, and for some time were in part sup- ported by subscriptions from public-spirited citizens. Thomas JeflFerson's name appears in the first subscription list as giving $300, and he was elected a member of the first governing board. This was composed of seven citizens ap- pointed by the city coimcil, and six elected from among the subscribers. The_chi^^sgurces of support of the schools, which up to 1844 remainedpauper~gEEbols, were suiiscrip- tions lotterieSjataxon_slaves and dogSj^ certain license fees, Sa'asmiTraippr6priation~($1500)"^^^ year from~tlie"cify council. This society did an important work in accustoming AWAKENING AN EDUCATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS 89 the people of the capital city to the provision of some form of free education. In 1800 "The Philadelphia Society for the Free Instruc- tion of Indigent Boys" was formed, which a little later changed to "The Philadelphia Society for the Establishment and Support of Charity Schools." This organization opened the first schools in Philadelphia for children regardless of religious aflSliation, and for thirty-seven years rendered a useful service there. In 1814 "The Society for the Promo- tion of a Rational System of Education" was organized in Philadelphia, and four years later the public sen'time;nt awakened by a combination of the work of this Society and the coming of the Lancastrian system of instruction enabled the city to secure a special law permitting Philadelphia to organize a system of city schools for the education of the children of its poor. Other educational societies which rendered useful service include the "Mechanics and Manu- facturers Association," of Providence, Rhode Island, or- ganized in 1789; "The Albany Lancastrian School Society," organized in 1826, for the education of the poor of the city in monitorial schools; and the school societies organized in Savannah, in 1818, and Augusta, in 1821, "to afford edu- cation to the children of indigent parents." Both these Georgia societies received some support from state funds. Another type of free school, of which a number came to exist, resulted through estabhshments bv will. Of these the gift of John Kidd, a wealthy baker of Cincinnati, who died in 1818 and bequeathed $1000 per year "for the education of poor children and youths of Cincinnati," is an example. An- other bequest was made to the same city and for the same purpose, in 1824, by a citizen named Thomas Hughes. The formation of these school societies, the subscriptions made by the leading men of the cities, the bequests for edu- cation, and the grants of some city and state aid to these societies, all of which in time became somewhat common, indicate a slowly rising interest in providing schools for the education of all. This rising interest in education was 90 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES greatly stimulated by the introduction from England of a new and what for the time seemed a wonderful system for the organization of education, which we next describe. 3. The Lancastrian monitorial system of instruction Origin of the idea. In 1797 Dr. Andrew Bell published in England an account of an experiment in education by means of monitors, which he had made some years earUer in an orphan asylum in Madras, India. About the same time a young English schoolmaster, by the name of Joseph Lan- caster, was led independently to a similar discovery of the advantages of using monitors by reason of his needing assist- ance in his school and being too poor to pay for additional teachers. The idea attracted attention from the first, and was spread rapidly over England, in part by reason of a bitter church quarrel between the followers of the two men as to which was entitled to credit for originating the system. The plans of the two men were much the same. Bell's system was taken up and his claims supported by the Chmch- of-England educational organizations, while Lancaster's was supported by the Dissenters. It was the Lancastrian plan which was brought to this country, Church-of -England ideas not being in much favor after the Revolution. The plan was so cheap, and so effective in teaching reading and the fundamentals of religion, that it soon provided England with a sort of a substitute for a national system of schools. Once introduced into the United States, where the first school was opened in New York City, in 1806, the system quickly spread from Massachusetts to Georgia, and as far west as Cincinnati, Louisville, and Detroit. In 1826 Mary- land instituted a state system of Lancastrian schools, with a Superintendent of Public Instruction, but in 1828 aban- doned the idea and discontinued the office. A state Lan- castrian system for North Carolina was proposed in 1832, but failed of adoption by the legislature. In 1829 Mexico organized higher Lancastrian schools for the Mexican State of Texas. In 1818 Lancaster himself came to America, and 92 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES was received with much distinction. Most of the remaining twenty years of his Ufe were spent in organizing and direct- ing schools in various parts of the United States, and in ex- pounding the merits of his system. Essential features of the plan. The essential features of the Lancastrian plan were the f^rjlgntinn nf a la.rgp Tmmher of pupils in one room,Jrom-200-to lQQ(Lhgijig^ossible. The pictiu-e ^n page 91 shows a monitorial school seating 365. The pupils were sorted and seated in rows, and to each Fig. 20. Monitors teaching Reading Three draughts of ten each, with their toes to the semicircles painted on the floor, are being taught by momtozs from lessons suspended on the wall. row was assigned a clever boy who was known as a monitor. A iLojnmfm. number for each monitor to instruct and look after was. _ten. The teacher first taught these monitors a lesson from a printed card, and then each monitor took his row to a "station" about the wall and proceeded to teach the other boys what he had just learned. At first used only for teaching reading and the catechism, the plan was soon extended to the teaching of writing, simple sums, and spelling, and later to instruction in the higher branches. A number of monitorial high schools were organized in different cities of the United States, and it was even proposed that the plan should be adopted in the colleges. The system was very popular - frftm about , IPjlO to 1830. but by 1840 its popularity had waned. In many of the now rapidly rising cities the first free schools established AWAKENING AN EDUCATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS 93 were Lancastrian schools. The first free schools in Phila- delphia (1818) were an outgrowth of Lancastrian influence, as was also the case in many other Pennsylvania cities, — Lancaster, Columbia, Harrisburg, Pittsburg, Milton, Erie, New Castle, and Greencastle being among the number. Baltimore began a Lancastrian school six years before the organization of public schools was permitted there by law. Such schools were naturally highly organized, the organi- zation being largely mechanical. The Manuals of Instruc- FlG. 21. MONITOB INSPECTING WhITTEN WoKK AT SiGNAL, "ShoW , Slates" tion gave complete directions for the organization and man- agement of monitorial schools, the details of recitation work, use of the apparatus, order, and classification being minutely laid down. By carefully studying and following these any person could soon learn to become a successful teacher in a monitorial school. The-ac^OQlg, mechanical as they now seem, were agi ;eat improvemen t over the individual method upon whicEfcolonial schoolmasters had wasted so much of their own and their pupils' time. In place of their idleness, inattention, and disorder, Lancaster introduced activity, emulation, order, and a kind of military discipline which was of much value to the type of children attending these schools Lancaster's biographer, Salmon, has written of the system that so thoroughly was the instruction worked out that the 94 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES , teacher had only to organize, oversee, reward, punish, and inspire: When a child was admitted a monitor assigned him his class; while he remained, a monitor taught him (with nine other pupils); when he was absent, one monitor ascertained the fact, and another found out the reason; a monitor examined him periodically, and, when he made progress, a monitor promoted him; a monitor ruled the writing paper; a monitor had charge of slates and books; and a monitor-general looked after all the other monitors. Every monitor wore a leather ticket, gilded and lettered, "Monitor of the First Class," "Reading Monitor of the Second Class," etc. Value of the system in awakening interest. The Lan- castrian system of instruction, coming at the time it did, exerted a very important influence in awakening a public interest in and a sentiment for free schools. It did much toward making people see the advantages of a common school system, and become willing to contribute to the support of the same. Under the plans previously in use education had been a slow and an expensive process, because it had to be carried on by the individual method of instruction, and in quite small groups. Under this new plan it was now possible for one teacher to instruct 300, 400, 500, or more pupils in a single room, and to do it with much better results in both learning and discipline than the old type of school- master had achieved. It is not strange that the new plan aroused widespread enthusiasm in many discerning men, and for almost a quarter of a century was advocated as the best system of education then known. Two quotations will illustrate what leading men of the time thought of it. De Witt Clinton, for twenty-one years president of the New York "Free School Society," and later governor of the State, wrote, in 1809: When I perceive that many boys in our school have been taught to read and write in two months, who did not before know the alphabet, and that even one has accomplished it in three weeks — ■ when I view all the bearings and tendencies of this system — when I contemplate the habits of order which it forms, the spirit of JOSEPH LANCASTER (1778-1838) AWAKENING AN EDUCATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS 95 emulation which it excites, the rapid improvement which it pro- duces, the purity of morals which it inculcates — when I behold the extraordinary union of celerity in instruction and economy of expense — and when I perceive one great assembly of a thousand children, under the eye of a single teacher, marching with unex- ampled rapidity and with perfect discipline to the goal of knowl- edge, I confess that I recognize in Lancaster the benefactor of the human race. I consider his system as creating a new era in educa- tion, as a blessing sent down from heaven to redeem the poor and distressed of this world from the power and dominion of ignorance. In a message to the legislature of Connecticut, a State then fairly well supplied with schools of the Massachusetts district type. Governor Wolcott said, in 1825: If funds can be obtained to defray the expenses of the necessary preparations, I have no doubt that schools on the Lancastrian model ought, as soon as possible, to be established in several parts of this state. Wherever from 200 to 1000 children can be con- vened within a suitable distance, this mode of instruction in every branch of reading, speaking, penmanship, arithmetic, and book- keeping, will be found much more efficient, direct, and economical than the practices now generally pursued in our primary schools. Value in preparing the way for taxation for education. <>if ^f thf V"'" 'ji ffi nT^^^'"! '' "p *"> t i hi> t i"^'' ^"^ hf f n fi^p ^""^^ ofeduraiicga^among people who were relatively poor, and unwilling to spend money for anything for which they did not clearly see the need. The private tutor as a means for education was out of the question for any except the well- to-do. The churches had their hands more than full in sup- porting schools, largely by tuition fees, for the children of those of their members able to contribute something toward their education, with a few free places for their deserving poor. So long as the time-honored individual method of in- struction, with its accompanying waste of time and disor- der, continued to be the prevailing method, only a small number of pupils could be placed under the control of a single teacher. The expense for this made general education almost prohibitive. 96 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES All at once, comparatively, a new system had been intro- duced which not only improved but tremendously cheap- ened education. In 1822 it cost but $1.22 per pupil per year to give instruction in New York City, though by 1844 the per-capita cost, due largely to the decreasing size of the classes, had risen to $2.70, and by 1852 to $5.83. In Phila- delphia, in 1817, the expense was $3, as against $12 in the private and church schools. One finds many notices in the newspapers of the time as to the value and low cost of the new system. The following note, from The Recorder of Boston, for August 21, 1816, is typical: A school on the Lancastrian plan has been recently established in Chillicothe, Ohio. The progress of the children is much more rapid than in the common schools; their exercises highly conducive to health; their lessons calculated to promote the purest morality; their books furnished; and the expenses no more than $2.50 by the quarter. These sums are very Ipw compared with present-day costs, or costs of even a decade ago. The Lancastrian schools materially hastened the adoption of the free school system in all the Northern States by grad- ually accustoming people to bearing the necessary taxa- tion which free schools entail. They also made the com- mon school common and much talked of, and awakened thought and provoked discussion on the question of pubhc education. They hkewise dignified the work of the teacher by showing the necessity for teacher training. The Lan- castrian Model Schools, first estabUshed in 1818, were the precursors of our normal schools. ^. The Infant-School Societies Origin of the Infant-School idea. A curious condition in this coimtry was that in some of the cities where public schools had been established, by one agency or another, no provisioiuhad Jbeeiijaadgjoi.i'egimiers. These were si^ posed to obtain the elements of reading at home, or in the dame schools. In Boston, for example, where pubhc AWAKENING AN EDUCATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS 97 schools were maintained by the city, no^j3hildren could be received into the schools- who hadnot leameXto read asd wnte. This made the common age of admission somewhere near eight years. The same was in part true of Hartford, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and other cities. When the monitorial schools were established they tended to re- strict their membership in a similar manner, though not always able to do so. In 1816 there came to this country, also from England, a valuable supplement to education as then known in the form of the so-called Infant-School idea. It had originated at New Lanark, in Scotland, in 1799, where a manufacturer by the name of Rob ert Owen h ad established a school for the children in his town and factories. The factory children were poor children of the town who had been bound out to him at five, six, and seven years of age, for a period of nine years. They worked as apprentices and helpers twelve to thirteen hours a day in the factories, and at early man- hood were tm-ned free to join the ignorant mass of the popu- lation. Owen sought to remedy this situation by opening a school which took the children at three years of age, and by amusements and instruction tried to give them moral, phy- sical, and intellectual training. The idea, in the hands of his teachers, worked well; but in the hands of others else- where it was soon formalized, and book learning was made a prominent feature of the Infant Schools. Infant Schools in the Eastern cities. In this formalized state the idea^jea^iedJBostOTj_in__1816j. and for the next two years an agitation was carried on for the establishment of Infant or Primary Schools. In 1818 the city appropri- ated $5000 for the purpose of organizing such schools to supplement the public school system, and appointed a sup- plemental school committee of three citizens in each of the then twelve wards to organize and direct the so-called pri- mary schools. These schools were to admit children at foiu: years of age, were to be taught by women, were to be open all the year round, and were to prepare the children for 98 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES admission to the city schools, which by that time had come to be known as EngUsh grammar schools. Separate schools were established, separate school buildings were erected, and a new set of teachers was employed. The manage- ment of the primary schools remained separate from that of the grammar schools until 1854, when the two were com- bined under one city School Committee. Providence, simi- larly, established primary schools in 1828 for children be- tween the ages of four and eight, to supple- ment the work of the pubUc schools, there called writing schools. For New England the establishment of pri- mary schools virtually took over the dame school instruction as a public function, and add- ed the primary grades to the previously exist- FiG. 22. "Model" School BmLDmo op ingschool. Wehavehere THE Public School Society the origin of the divi- Erectedinl843. Cost (with site). $17,000. Atypi- sioU, of ten Still retained cal New York school building, after 1830. The In- g^ Jgast in name in the fant or Fnmary school wa^ on the first noor, the _, second floor contained the girls' school, and the third llfastem States, of the floor the boys' school. Each floor had one large room "^--Tnarxr crrnrJpa" nnrl seating 1852 chUdren; the primary schoolroom could he pnmary graOCS anu divided into two rooms by folding doors, so as to the ** grammar grades" segregate the infant class. This building was for long e l ±. l. 1 regarded m the perfection of the builder's art, and OI OUT elementary SCnOOl. its picture was printed for years on the cover of the ^ « Infant-SchoolSo- Society^s Anniud Reports, , , ciety was organized in New York in 1827. The first Infant School was established imder the direction of the Public School Society as the " Junior Department " of School No. 8, with a woman teacher in charge, and using monitorial methods. A second school was established the next year. In 1830 the name was changed from Infant School to Primary Department, and AWAKENING AN EDUCATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS 99 where possible these departments were combined with the existing schools. In 1832 it was decided to organize ten primary schools, under women teachers, for children from four to ten years of age, and after the Boston plan of in- struction. This abandoned the monitorial plan of instruc- tion for the new Pestalozzian form, described in Chapter IX, which was deemed better suited to the needs of the smaller AGES 1700 1800 1830 1860 1890 FiQ. 23. Evolution op the Essential Features of the Amebican Public School System children. By 1844 fifty-six Primary Departments had been organized in connection with the upper schools of the city. In Philadelphia there were three Infant-School Societies founded in 1827-28, and such schools were at once estab- Ushed there. By 1830 the directors of the school system had been permitted by the legislature of the State to expend pub- lic money for such schools, and thirty such, under women teachers, were in operation in the city by 1837. Primary education organized. The Infant-School idea was soon somewhat generally adopted by the Eastern cities, and changed somewhat to make of it an American primary school. Where children had not been previously admitted to the schools without knowing how to read, as in Boston, 100 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES they supplemented the work of the public schools by add- ing a new school beneath. Where the reverse had been the case, as in New York City, the organization of Infant Schools as Jiuiior Departments enabled the existing schools to advance their work. Everywhere it resulted, eventually, in the organization of primary and granmiar school depart- ments, often with intermediate departments in between, and, with the somewhat contemporaneous evolution of the first high schools, the main outUnes of the American free public school system were now complete. Unlike the monitorial schools, the infant schools were based on the idea of small-group work, and were usually conducted in harmony with the new psychological con- ceptions of instruction which had by that time been worked out by Pestalozzi in Switzerland, and introduced into the Infant Schools of England. The Infant-School idea came at an opportune time, as the defects of the mechanical Lan- castrian instruction were becoming evident and its popular- ity was waning. It gave a new and a somewhat deeper phil- osophical interpretation of the educational process, created a stronger demand than had before been known for trained teachers, established a preference for women teachers for primary work, and tended to give a new dignity to teaching fl,nd school work by revealing something of a psychologi- cal basis for the instruction of little childrrai. It also con- tributed its share toward the awakening of a sentiment for intelligently directed public education. These four important educational movements — the secular Simday School, ^e semi-public city School Socie- ties, uie Lancastrian plan for instruction, and the ^Sif ant- School idea — all arising in philanthropy, came as successive educational ideas to America during the first half of the nineteenth century, supplemented one another, and together accustomed a new generation to the idea of a common school for all. AWAKENING AN EDUCATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS 101 II. Social, Political, and Economic Influences It is hardly probable, however, that these phUanthropic efforts alone, valuable as they were, could have resulted in the great battle for tax-supported schools, at as early a date as this took place, had they not been supplemented by a number of other movements of a social, political, and eco- nomic character which in themselves materially changed the nature and direction of our national life. The more im- portant of these will be described briefly. 1. The growth of the cities Growth of city population. At the time of the inaugura- tion of our national government nearly every one lived on the farm or in some little village. The first fnr ty ynBnjf our na tional life were p °°''"tlif^'1^^ "" ■jp7-i': 'i.iJ-fairal p , ]iH , a pift- i^Bli-fJ^od. Even" as late as 1820 there were but thirteen cilie*KJf"S800 inhabitants or over in the whole of the twenty- three States at that time comprising the Union, and these thirteen cities contained but 4.9 per cent of the total popu- lation of the Nation. Under such conditions education was largely a rural affair and, except in the more settled portions of the coimtry, was almost certain to be generally neglected for the more important duties of cutting down the forests, draining the swamps, establishing farms and homes, and providing food and shelter for family and stock. Every child was then an asset, and was put to work at as early an age as possible. 5ejEjaMihJLbespaEeA±a.ga.tasGhool. It was a time of hard work, with few comforts and pleasures, and with but little need for the school of books. After ahput JL8g5Jhese(ronditions_begaja^ ^mngg. By 1820 many little villages were springing up, and these fre- quently proved the nuclei for future cities. In New Eng- land many of these places were in the vicinity of some water- fall, where cheap power made manufacturing on a large scale possible. Lowell, Massachusetts, which in 1820 did not exist and in 1840 had a population of over twenty thou- 103 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES sand people, collected there largely to work in the mills, is a good illustration. Other cities, such as Cincinnati and Detroit, grew because of their advantageous situation as exchange and wholesale centers. With the revival of trade and commerce after the second war with Great Britain the citi^.gEew rapidlyboth in"number and size, as may be seen from the followmg^table. GROWTH OP CITY POPULATION, 1790-1860 / Number of cities harnng a population qf Year total popula- 8000 8000 to mjooo (0 75,000 to 250,000 tion in diia or over m,ooo 16,000 250,000 or over 1780 5 4 1 2.7 1790 6 4 2 3.3 1800 6 1 6 4.0 1810 11 6 3 2 4.9 1820 13 7 4 2 4.9 1830 26 19 4 3 6.7 1840 44 28 11 4 1 8.5 1850 85 56 21 6 2 12.5 18G0 141 96 35 7 3 16.1 The rise of the new cities and the rapid growth of the older ones materially changed the nature of the educational problem, by producing an entirely new set of social and edu- cational conditions for the people of the Central and North- ern States to solve. The South, with its plantation hfe, negro slavery, and absence of manufacturing was largely unaffected by these changed conditions until well after the close of the Civil War. In_CQiiseauencg_±he-ed3icatioiial aaaJjJeBJB^thfirejdidnoLcoice-forneadyhalfa, century af tgr it came in the North. S. The rise of manufacturing The beginnings in our country. Duringjt he colo nial pe riod manufactur ing ^as ^till-in -th#-hcime or village stage of development. Almost all articles of use and wear were AWAEENING AN EDUCATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS 103 made by the family in the home. Wagons and furniture were made in the villages, and the traveling shoemaker came around from time to time to make up shoes for all the fam- ily. In 1787 the first American factory is said to have been started, at Beverly, Massachusetts. In 1791 the first cotton spinning-mill was set up on the falls of the Pawtucket River, in Rhode Island, and the beginnings of New England's su- premacy in the cotton-spinning industry were made. By 1804 there were four cotton-mills in operation, and by 1807, fifteen. Up to 1807, though, the development of our country was almost wholly agricultural. This had meant a scattered and an isolated population, with few common ideas, common interests, or common needs. Nearly all the manufactured articles not made in the homes or the villages were made in Great Britain. The Embargo of 1807, laid by Congress on American shipping, cut off articles of English manufacture and soon led to the rise of many " infant industries." Many of the legislative acts of the next five years had to do with the granting of charters and privileges to various kinds of manu^ factories. The War of 1812, the troubles with Napoleon, and the general westward movement of the population, all tended for a time to build up manufacturing faster than agriculture. At the end of the struggle with Napoleon (1815) this country, due to the lack of any adequate pro- tective tariff, was for a time flooded with manufactured articles from Europe. As a result, the "infant industries" were paralyzed, and an era of hard times set in which con- tinued to about 1820. This condition was in time corrected by the protective tariff, and following its enactment a great industrial development took place. The industrial transformation. The three decades from 1820 to 185 were characterized by a rapid deve lopment of manufacturing and a rapid growth ofcities, in wHdTmost of the new manufacturing plants were established. The introduction of the steamboat (1809) and the steam rail- road (1826), togethei- with the digging of many canals (the 104 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES famous Erie Canal was opened in 1835), opened up the pos- sibility of doing business on a scale before imthought of, and led to a great demand for manufactured articles and labor- saving machinery of every sort. The first steam railroad, three miles long, was built in 1826, and by 1850, 9021 miles had been constructed in the United States. One could now travel by rail from Maine to North Carolina, to Buffalo on Lake Erie, and from the western end of Lake Erie to Cin- cinnati or Chicago. By 1860 steam railways had been built westward into lowia, Missouri, and Arkansas, and thirty thousand miles of rails were carrying agricultural products from the interior and manufactured products from the sea- board cities back to the interior. The invention of the tele- graph (first line, 1844) also tremendously increased the possibilities of doing business on a large scale. The inventive genius of our people was now called into play, and Yankee ingenuity manifested itself in every direc- tion. After 1825 the threshing machine began to supplant the flail and the roller; after 1826 edge tools began to be made in this country; and shortly after this time the Fau-- banks platform scale, the mower, the reaper, and the lock- stitch sewing machine were invented. Kerosene lamps were devised, improved cook-stoves were put on the market, and the friction match superseded the flint. The coal measures west of the AUeghenies were opened, and anthracite in the East was put to use. The great work of steam had begun, the chimneys of factories were rising over the land, and the steam engine was applied to both boat and train, to running the power loom and the printing-press, and to the steam hammer for working iron and steel. Between 1820 anjUgSQ mdustrial^ethodsin.Am.gri£a, were revolutionized. How manufacturing changed the position of liie"ci1y. In the cities in the coast States north of Maryland, but particu- larly in those of New York and New England, manufactur- ing developed very rapidly. Cotton-spinning in particular became a New England industry, as did also the weaving of wool, while Pennsylvania became the center of the iron 106 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES manufacturing industries. The cotton-spinning industry • illustrates the rapid growth of manufacturing in the United States. The 15 cotton-mills of 1807 had increased to 801 by 1831, and to 1240 by 1840. The distribution of indus- trial plants in the United States by 1833, pictured in the map on the preceeding page, shows the development in the Northern and Eastern cities. The South owed its pros- perity chiefly to cotton-growing and shipping, and did not develop factories and workshops until a much more recent period. Now the development of this_new type of fax^tnry wgrk nieantjhfiijegilffli5&? "J' ^^" >irpf»1rrl»T»m »f tlio r,]f^ home an r^ village industries, the start of the cityward movement of the rural population, and the concentration of manufacturing in large establishments, employing many hands to perform continuously certain limited phasfes of the manufactming process. This in time was certain to mean a change in educational methods. It also called for the concentration of both capital and labor. The rise of the factory system, business on a large scale, and cheap and rapid transporta- tion, all combined to dimjnishthe importance of a gricu l- tttie. and to, idiaage the QfaL"£rom"an uai mportant to a v ery imBi)Ktaiit-,pQsitJOfl,jpti„Qur na^^^ life. The 13 cities of 1820 increased to 44 by 1840, and to 141 by 1860. There were four times as many cities in the North, too, where manufacturing had found a home, as in the South, which remained essentially agricultural. "^ New social problems in the cities. The many changes m the nature of industry and of village and home life, eflPected by the development of the factory system and the concen- tration of manufacturing and population in the cities, also contributed materially in changing the character of the old educational problem. When the cities were as yet but little villages in size and character, homogeneous in their populations, and the many social and moral problems in- cident to the congestion of peoples of mixed character had not as yet arisen, the church and charity and private school AWAKENING AN EDUCATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS 107 solution of the educational problem was reasonably satis- factory. As the cities now rapidly increased in size, became more city-like in character, drew to them diverse elements previously largely unknown, and were required by state laws to extend the right of suffrage to all their citizens, the need for a new type of educational organization began slowly but clearly to manifest itself to an increasiag number of citizens. Tjif? chnrf'h. charityr ari d private school system completelyJbr oke down Tjoder^e^new^ain. School Socie- tiesan£lJEducati(maLAssQfiiatiQns,.QEga^^ noaijlXQasiii.±ha,.£itiesjerants of city or state funds for the partial support of boffi church and society schools were demanded and obtained; and numbers of charity organiza- tions began to be established ia the different cities to enable them to handle better the new problems of pauperism, in- temperance, and juvenile dehnquency which arose. In 1833 it was estimated that one eighth of the total population of New York City was composed of public pau- pers or criminals, while the city had one saloon for every eighty men, women, and children in the total population. Other cities presented somewhat similar conditions. Child labor and woman labor, for long hours and for very low wages, became very conmion. The powerful restraining in- fluences of the old home, with its strict moral code and reli- gious atmosphere, seriotxsly weakened. Idle and uneducated children, with little or no home control, appeared in numbers on the streets, and the prevalence of juvenile crime and juvenile arrests be gan to turn atten tion to education as a ppssibleieigedy. , The disintegrating ettects ol Lhe liew city lifeonuie family, and its demoralizing effect upon the chil- dren, made a deep impression upon those possessed of hu- manitarian impulses, as it did also on many of the parents of the children concerned. Wg-saon .find these- two-vety ' diggijailax-groups-oLjie^e — theJiumanitaiiaas-on the one hand and the new-cifeF-laboring classes on the other — umt- ^grii a propaganda for tax-supported schools. 108 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES 3. The extension of the suffrage Breaking the rule of a class. As was stated in the pre- ceding chapter, the Constitution of the United States, though framed by the ablest men of the time, was framed by men who represented the old aristocratic conception of education and government. The same was true of the con- ventions which framed practically all the early state con- stitutions. The early leaders in our government — Wash- ington, Madison, Hancock, Adams, Hamilton, Jay — had been of this older aristocratic class. The Federalist Party, a party which rendered very conspicuous service in welding the States into a strong and enduring Union, had never- theless represented this older privileged group, and by 1817 had done its work and been broken up. The early period of our national life was thus characterized by the rule of a class — a very well educated and a very capable class, to be sure — but a class elected by a ballot based on property qualifications and belonging to the older type of political and social thinking. Notwithstanding the statements of the Declaration of Independence, the change came but slowly. Up to 1815 but four States had granted the right to vote to all male citizens, regardless of property holdings or other somewhat similar restrictions. After 1815 a democratic movement, which sought to abolish all class rule and all political in- equalities, arose and rapidly gained strength. In this the new States to the westward, with their absence of old estates or large fortunes, and where men were judged more on their merits than in an older society, were the leaders. As will be seen from the map, every new State admitted east of the Mississippi River, except Ohio (admitted in 1802), where the New England element predominated, and Louisiana (1812), provided for full manhood suffrage at the time of their admis- sion to statehood. Five additional Eastern States had extended the same full voting privileges to their citizens by 1845, while the old requirements had been materially modi- AWAKENING AN EDUCATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS 109 fied in most of the other Northern States. Writing on the influence of the West, Professor Turner says: The frontier States that came into the Union in the first quarter of a century of its existence came in with democratic suffrage provisions, and had reactive effects of the highest importance upon states shaded Granted full EtufTrace at the time of admigaloD to lae bmon «•*' Fig. 25. Dates op the Granting or FuUi Manhood Suffrage Some of the older States granted almost full manhood suffrage at an earlier date, retaining a few minor restrictions until the date given on the map. the older States whose people were being attracted there. An extension of the suffrage became essential. It was western New York that forced an extension of the suffrage in the constitutional convention of that State in 1821; and it was western Virginia that compelled the tide-water region to put in a more liberal provision in the constitution of 1830, and to give the frontier region a more nearly proportional representation with the tide-water aris- tocracy. 110 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES Significance of the election of Jackson. The struggle for the overthrow of the old class government came to a head in 1828, when Andrew Jackson was elected President. From Washington down to John Quincy Adams the Presidents had been drawn from the old aristocratic class, and the edu- cated and propertied classes of Massachusetts, New York, and Virginia had largely furnished the leaders for the Na- tion. Jackson, on the other hand, represented the frontier, and was everywhere regarded as " a man pf the people." His election was a reaction against trained leadership in govern- mental affairs. The period when the people were to follow men of education and good breeding was now for a time largely past. The people had become impatient of the old claims as to the superiority of any class, and the demand for equal suffrage and for full participation in the functions of government now became too insistent to be disregarded longer. This impatience and distrust expressed itself also with ref- erence to governors and legislatures, and a popular demand for changes here now arose. In place of the former plan of electing a governor and allowing him to appoint most of the other officials, ajong ^ jlist-jof- electedofficials now apppa.red. The people demanded and usually obtained the right to vote for every possible officer, and short terms in office be- came the rule. Legislatures, too, instead of being allowed to meet when and for as long as they pleased, were now closely limited as to length of session, and allowed to meet only at stated times. This democratic movement for the leveling of all distinctions between white men became very marked after 1820, and the final result was full manhood suffrage in all the States. This gave the farmer in the West and the new working classes in the cities a preponderating influence in the affairs of government. Jackson represented both these elements, and was elected by an electoral voteof 178 to 83 over John Quincy Adams, in 1828, and by a vote of 219 to 49 over Henry Clay, in 1832. Educational significance of the extension of the suffrage. AWAKENING AN EDUCATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS 111 The educational significance of the extension of full man- hood suffrage to all was enormous and far reaching. Up to the time of the separation of Church and State, education had not been conceived of as a function with which the State was specially concerned. Since the right to vote was closely limited by religious or property qualifications, or both, there was no particular reason why the State should assume the r61e of schoolmaster. Such citizens as were qualified by faith or property holdings to vote or hold office were amply able to pay for the education of their children privately. It was not necessary, either, for more than a small percentage of the people to be educated. The small educated class conducted the affairs of Church and State; the great majority formed "the hewers of wood and the drawers of water" for society. With the extp i,'ii"Ti nf tlip pnffrnprp tr» all classes of the pop- ulation, poor as well as rich, laborer as well as employer, there came to thinking men, often for the first time, a realizati on th at general e ducation Aad Jbecome a fundamental necessity for the State, and that the general education of airih the elements of knowledge and civic virtue must now assume that importance in the minds of the leaders of the State that the education of a few for the service of the Chiurch and of the many for simple chiu'ch membership had once held in the minds of ecclesiastics. This new conception is well expressed in the preamble to the first (optional) school law enacted in lUinois (1825), which declares: To enjoy our rights and liberties, we must understand them; their security and protection ought to be the first object of a free people; and it is a well-established fact that no nation has ever continued long in the enjoyment of civil and political freedom, which was not bo^h virtuous and enhghtened; and believing that the advancement of hterature always has been, and ever will be the means of developing more fuUy the rights of man, that the mind of every citizen in a republic is the common property of society, and constitutes the basis of its strength and happiness; it 112 EDUCATION EST THE UNITED STATES is therefore considered the peculiar duty of a free government, like ours, to encourage and extend the improvement and cultivation of the intellectual energies of the whole. 4. New public demands for schools Utterances of public men. Governors nowbegan to_rec- ommend to their legislatures tHe estaBEsEment oFtax-sup- ported schools, and public men began to urge state action and state control. De Witt Clinton, for nine years governor of New York, in a message to the legislature, in 1836, defend- ing the schools established, said: The first duty of government, and the surest evidence of good government, is the encouragement of education. A general diffu- sion of knowledge is a precursor and protector of republican institutions, and in it we must confide as the conservative power that will watch over our liberties and guard them against fraud, intrigue, corruption, and violence. I consider the system of our common schools as the palladium of our freedom, for no reasonable apprehensibn can be entertained of its subversion as long as the great body of the people are enlightened by education. Again in his message of 1827, he added: The great bulwark of republican government is the cultivation of education; for the right of suffrage cannot be exercised in a salu- tary manner without intelligence. In an address delivered before the Pennsylvania legisla- ture, in 1835, defending the Free School Law of 1834, which it was then proposed to repeal, Thaddeus Stevens declared: If an elective Republic is to endure for any length of time, every elector must have sufficient information not only to accumidate wealth and take care of his pecuniary concerns, but to direct wisely the legislature, the ambassadors, and the Executive of the Nation - — for some part of all these things, some agency in ap- proving or disapproving of them, falls to every freeman. If, then, the permanency of our Government depends upon such knowledge, it is the duty of Government to see that the means of informa- tion be diffused to every citizen. This is a sufficient answer to those who deem education a private and not a public duty. DK WITT CLINTON (176'.)-1S:^X) First President of tbe Free School Society Mayor of the f'ity of New York Governor of the State of New York AWAKENING AN EDUCATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS 113 Daniel Webster, in an address delivered at Madison, In- diana, in 1837, said: Education, to accomplish the ends of good government, should be universally diffused. Open the doors of the schoolhouses to all the children in the land. Let no man have the excuse of poverty for not educating his offspring. Place the means of education within his reach, and if he, remain in ignorance, be it his own reproach. . . . On the diffusion of education among the people rests the preservation and perpetuation of our free institutions. ' In the Sangamon (Illincds) Journal, of March 15, 1832, there appeared an interesting communication from a future president of the United States, a part of which read: To the People of Sangamo(n) Coimty: Fellow Citizens: Having become a candidate for the honorable office of one of your Representatives in the next General Assembly of this State, in accordance with an established custom and the principles of true republicanism, it becomes my duty to make known to you, the people whom I propose to represent — my senti- ments with regard to local affairs. . . . Upon the subject of education, not presuming to dictate any plan or system respecting it, I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we as a people can be engaged in. That every man may receive at least a moderate education, and thereby be enabled to read the histories of his own and other coun- tries, by which he may duly appreciate the value of our free insti- tutions, appears to be an object of vital importance, even on this account alone, to say nothing of the advantages and satisfaction to be derived from all being able to read the Scriptittes and other works, both of a religious and moral nature, for themselves. For my part, I desire to see the time when education, and by its means, morality, sobriety, enterprise, and industry, shall become much more general than at present, and should be gratified to have it in my power to contribute something to the advancement of any measure which might have a tendency to accelerate the happy period. A. Lincoln WorkingmenJomiaj!ieinan4ing.s,chools. The representa- tives of the newly organized labor movement joined in the 114 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES demands for schools and education, urging the free educa- tion of their children as a natural right. In 1829 the work- ingmen of Philadelphia asked each candidate for the legis- lature for a formal declaration of the attitude he would assume toward the provision of "an equal and a general sys- tem of education" for the State. In 1830 the Workingmen's Committee of Philadelphia submitted a detailed report, after five months spent in investigating educational conditions in Pennsylvania, vigorously condemning the lack of pro- vision for education in the State, and the utterly inadequate provision where any was made. Seth Luther, in an address on "The Education of Workingmen," delivered in 1832, declared that "a large body of human beings are ruined by a neglect of education, rendered miserable in the extreme, and incapable of self-government." Stephen Simpson, in his A Manual for Workingmen, published in 1831, declared that "it is to education, therefore, that we must mainly look for redress of that perverted system of society, which dooms the producer to ignorance, to toil, and to penury, to moral degradation, physical want, and social barbarism." With the invention of the steam printing-press the first modern newspapers at a cheap price appeared. These usually espoused progressive measures, and tremendously influenced public sentiment. Those not closely connected with church or private-school interests usually favored pub- lic tax-supported schools. The Delaware Free Press, for example* in 1835, declared a part of its mission to be: To awaken the attention of Working People to the importance of cooperation in order to attain the rank and station in society to which they are justly entitled by virtue of their industry, but from which they are excluded by want of a system of Equal Republican Education. In 1837 the Providence (Rhode Island) Association of Mechanics and Manufacturers petitioned the city council for an improvement of the schools of the city, in particular asking for more schools, smaller classes, and better salaries AWAKENING AN EDUCATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS 115 for the teachers, and aflSrming that "no subject can be of more importance to the inhabitants of this city than the ediiication of the rising generation." /^At first various substitutes for state support and control were tried. School Societies, as we have seen, w ere chartered. ReHgious aAd benevolent schools w ere suhsidized. Nu- riTeruuB totteries tor the support of schools were au thorized by law. G rants of public land for their endowme nt were made. State support only of pauper schoo ls was tried. Freedom of taxation to schools and educational societies was granted. Finally, all these makeshifts failing to meet the needs of the time, they were gradually discarded as unsatisfactory and insuflScient, and the battle for free, tax- supported, non-sectarian, and publicly controlled and di- rected schools, to serve the needs of society and the State, was begun. QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. Explain why the development of a national consciousness was prac- tically necessary before an educational consciousness could be awakened. 2. Show how the many philanthropic societies for the education of the children of the poor came in as a natural transition from Chiu'ch to State education. 3. Show the importance of the School Societies in accustoming people to the idea of free and general education. 4. Show how the Lancastrian system formed the necessary bridge be- tween private philanthropy in education and tax-supported State schools. 5. Why were the highly mechanical features of the Lancastrian organi- zation so advantageous in its day, whereas we of to-day would regard them as such a disadvantage? 6. Account for the Lancastrian system's great superiority over the methods of colonial schoolmasters. 7. Explain how the Lancastrian schools dignified the work of the teacher by revealing the need for teacher training. 8. What were two of the important contributions of the Infant-School idea to American education? 9. Why are schools and education much more needed in a country ex- periencing a city and manufacturing development than in a country experiencing an agricultural development? 116 EDUCATION m THE UNITED STATES 10. Show how the development of cities caused the old forms of education to break down, and made evident the need for a new type of education. 11. Show how each extension of the sufiFrage necessitates an extension of educational opportunities and advantages. 12. Show how the utterances of public men on education, quoted in this chapter, evidence a much clearer conception of the need for public education than do those quoted in the preceding chapter, with the possible exception of the quotation from John Adams. TOPICS FOR INVESTIGATION AND REPORT 1. Work of the New York Public School Society. 2. Educational services of De Witt Clinton. 8. Organization and work of the Lancastrian schools. 4. The workingmen's movement of 1825-40. SELECTED REFERENCES *Barnard, Henry, Editor. The American Journal of Education. 31 vols. Consult Analytical Index to; 128 pp. Published by United States Bureau of Education, Washington, 1892. Binns, H. B. A Century of Educalion, 1808-1908. 330 pp. J. M. Dent & Co., London, 1908. A centenary history of the British and Foreign School Society, which promoted Lan- castrian schools. Chapter I contains a sketch of Lancaster. Boese, Thomas. Public Education in the City of New York. 288 pp. Harper & Bros., New York, 1869. ' A history of the development, taken from the ofEcial records. An important work, though now out of print, but listed because still found in many libraries. Bogart, E. L. The Economic History of the United States. S22 pp. Long- mans, Green & Co., New York, 1908. Contains good chapters (X-XH) on the introduction and growth of the factory system. *Carleton, F. T. Education and Social Progress. 320 pp. TheMacmillan Co., New York, 1908. Chapters I and 11 deal with epochs in American educational progress, and point out the relation between educational advance and industrial progress. *Dodd, W. E. Expansion and Conflict. 329 pp. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1915. Chapter I is good on the significance of the election of Jackson, and Chapter XI gives a very good brief general sketch of American culture between about 1830 and 1860. Ellis, Chas. C. Lancastrian Schools in Philadelphia. 88 pp. University of Pennsylvania Thesis, 1907. A good study of Lancastrian schools in Philadelphia. AWAKENING AN EDUCATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS 117 *Fit2patrick, E. A. The Educational Views and Influence 0/ De Witt Clinton. 166 pp. Teachers College Contributions to Education, No. 44. New York, 1911. A study of educational conditions in New York at the time, Clinton's educational views, and his influence. Enight, Edgar W. Public School Education in North Carolina. 384 pp. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1916. An excellent example of a brief histoiy of education in a State. Chapters 6, 7, and 8 are good on the establishment of the permanent school fund, the awakening of educational sentiment, and the beginnings of public education. *Manuals of the Lancastrian System, ca. 90 pp. Various dates, 1805-1850. Various forms of these are found in libraries. Some are of the British and Foreign School Society, and others of the New York School Society, of various dates. Any one will usually outline the system of instruction employed in the Lancastrian schools. *McMams, J. T. "The public school society of New York City"; in Educational Review, vol. 29, pp. 303-11. (March, 1905.) A brief but sympathetic sketch of the work of this Society. ♦Monroe, Paul. Cyclopedia of Education. The Macmillan Co., New York, 1911-13. The following articles are particularly important: 1. "Joseph Lancaster," III, pp. 6*1-22. A brief biography. 8. "Monitorial System," IV, pp. 298-99. A brief description of the rise and spread of the idea. S. "New York City," IV, pp. 451-53. Sketches briefly the history of early education in. *Palmer, A. E. The New York Public School. 440 pp. The Macmillan Co., New York, 1905. The first sixteen chapters describe the work of the Public School Society in some detail, and contain much important data. *Reigart, J. F. The Lancastrian System of Instruction in the Schools of New York City. 105 pp. Teachers College Contributions to Education, No. 81, New York, 1916. An excellent study of the introduction of the system, and the methods of instruction employed in the schools. *Salmon, David. Joseph Lancaster. 76 pp. Longmans, Green & Co., London, 1904. The standard biography of Lancaster. *Simons, A. M. Social Forces in American History. 326 pp. The Mac- millan Co.. New York, 1911. Very simple and well-written chapters on the birth of the factory system (XIII), chang- ing interests of the people (XIV), condition of the workers (XVI), and the first labor movement (XVII). CHAPTER V THE BATTLE POR FREE STATE SCHOOLS I. Alignment of Interests, and Pbopaganda Stages in the development of a public school sentiment. Speaking broadly and of the Nation as a whole, and always excepting certain regions in New England, where the free- school idea had become thoroughly established, a study of the history of educational development in the older States to the North and East reveals, as we have so far partially pointed out, approximately the following stages in the de- velopment of a public school sentiment and the establish- ment of a state school system: 1. An attempt to solve the problem through privatebeneydence or church charity, often aided by small grants of public funds. 2. Aid granted to private or semi-private schools or school socie- ties, in the form ofsmall,money grants, license taxes, permis- sion to organize lotteries, or land endowments, to enable such schools or societies to extend their instruction or to reduce their tuition rates, or both. 3. Permission granted generally, or to special districts request- ing it, to form, a lax district and organize schools — at first often only for pauper^hjldren, but later for others. 4. Iiaws requirijog the education of the indigent poor. 5. Laws requiring a certain local effort for the maintenance of schools, in return for, state .add.receivedj with permission to supglementihesa sums^with tuition fees. 6. Elimination of the tuition fees, thus establishing free schools. 7. Elimination of the pauper-school idea and of aid to sectarian schools, thus establishing the American common school. Something like half a century of agitation and conflict, again speaking broadly and of the Nation as a whole, was required to produce the succession of changes indicated above, but by 1850 it may be said that the question of BATTLE FOR FREE STATE SCHOOLS 119 providing a common-school education for all children at public expense had been settled, in principle at least, in every Northern State. In some of the Southern States, as well, quite a respectable beginning looking toward the creation of state school systems had been made before the coming of the Civil War for a time put an end to all educa- tional development there. The alignment of interests. The second quarter of th e nineteenth centu ry may be.s ai dtQ h^av&JELtnessed me Tjattle foF'"^^^^^^r^ied!HpSS5djL..CQBtEQlted^-an ^ noh-sectarian commoDuschools. In 1825 such schools were the distant hope of statesmen and reformers; in 1850 they were becoming an actuality in almost every Northern State. The twenty-five years intervening marked a period of pub- lic agitation and educational propaganda; of many hard legislative fights; of a struggle to secure desired legislation, and then to hold what had been secured; of many bitter con- tests with church and private-school interests, which felt that their "vested rights" were being taken from them; and of occasional referenda in which the people were asked, at the next election, to advise the legislature as to what to do. Excepting the battle for the abolition of slavery, perhaps no question has ever been before the American people for settlement which caused so much feeling or aroused such bitter antagonisms. Old friends and business associates parted company over the question, lodges were forced to taboo the subject to avoid disruption, ministers and their congregations often quarreled over the question of free schools, and politicians avoided the issue. The friends, of free schoojs_wgre_.atjOisL fiOnimonly.rggsEded-as" fanatics, dangerous to the State, and the opponents of free schools were considered by them as old-time conservatives or as selfish members of society. Naturally such a bitter discussion of a pubUe question forced an aUgnment of the people for or against publicly sup- ported and controlled schools, and this alignment of interests may be roughly stated to have been about as follows: 120 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES 7. For pvhlic schools. Men considered as: 1. "Citizens of the Republic." 2. Philanthropists and humanitarians. 3. Public men of large vision. 4. City residents. 5. The intelligent workingmen in the cities. 6. Non-taxpayers. 7. Calvinists. 8. "New-England men." II. Lukewarm, or against public schools. Men considered as: 1. Belonging to the old aristocratic class. '' 2. The conservatives of society. 3. Politicians of small vision. 4. Residents of rural districts. 5. The ignorant, narrow-minded, and penurious. 6. Taxpayers. 7. Lutherans, Reformed-Church, Mennonites, and Quakers. 8. Southern men. 9. Proprietors of private schools. 10. The non-English-speaking classes. It was, of course, not possible to so classify all persons, as a man might belong to two or more of the above classes. An example of such would be a Lutheran and a non-taxpay- iag workingman in a city, or a Calvinist and a heavy tax- payer. In all such cases there would be a conflict of inter- ests with the stronger one prevailing, but, in a general way, the above classification of the alignment of interests is ap- proximately correct. Argtunents for and against free schools. Both sides to the controversy advanced many arguments for and against state tax-supported schools, the more important on each side being the following: 7. Ai'guTmnts for public tani-swpporied schools. 1. That education tends to prevent pauperism and crime. ^ , 2. That education tends to reduce poverty and distress. 3. That education increases production, and eliminates wrongldeas as to the distribution of wealth. BATTLE FOR FREE STATE SCHOOLS 121 4. That a common state school, equally open to all, would prevent that class diflPerentiation so dangerous in a Republic. 5. That the old church and private school education had proved utterly inadequate to meet the needs of a changed society. 6. That a system of religious schools is impossible in such a mixed nation as our own. 7. That the pauper-school idea is against the best interests of society, inimical to public welfare, and a constant offense to the jioor, many of whom will not send their children because of the stigma attached to such schools. 8. That education as to one's civic duties is a necessity for the intelligent exercise of suffrage, and for the preserva- tion of republican institutions. 9. That the increase of foreign immigration (which became quite noticeable after 1825, and attained large propor- tions after 1845) is a menace to our free institutions, and that these new elements can be best assimilated in a sys- tem of publicly supported and publicly directed common schools. 10. That the free and general education of all children at public expense is the natural right of all children in a Republic. 11. That the social, moral, political, and industrial benefits to be derived from the general education of all compen- sate many times over for its cost. 12. That a State which has the right to hang has the right to educate. 13. That the taking over of education by the State is not based on considerations of economy, but is the exercise of the State's inherent right to self-preservation and improvement. 14. That only a system of state-controlled schools can be fi;ee to teach whatever the welfare of the State may demand. //. Arguments against •public tax-supported schools. 1. Impractical, visionary, and "too advanced" legislation. 2. Will make education too common, and will educate peo- ple out of their proper position in society. 122 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES 3. Would not benefit the masses, who are abeady as well cared for as they deserve. 4. Would tend to break down long-established and very desirable social barriers. 5. Would injure private and parochial schools, in which much money had been put and "vested rights" estab- lished. 6. Fear of the churches that state schools might injure their church progress and welfare. 7. Fear of the non-English speaking classes that state schools might supplant instruction in their languages. 8. The "conscientious objector" claimed that the State had no right to interfere between a parent and his child in the matter of education. 9. That those having no children to be educated should not be taxed for schools. 10. That taking a man's property to educate his neighbor's child is no more defensible than taking a man's plow to plow his neighbor's field. 11. That the^tate may be justified in taxing to defend the liberties of a people, but not to supiwrt their benevolences. 12. That the industrious would be taxed to educate the indolent. 13. That taxes would be so increased that no State could long meet such a lavish drain on its resources. 14. That there was priestcraft in the scheme, the purpose being first to establish a State School, and then a State Church. The work of propaganda. To meet the arguments of the objectors, to change the opinions of a thinking few into the common opinion of the many, to overcome prejudice, and to awaken the public conscience to the public need for free and common schools in such a democratic society as ours, was the work of a generation. With many of the older citi- zens no progress could be made; the effective work every- where had to be done with the younger men of the time. It was the work of many years to convince the masses of the people that the scheme of state schools was not only prac- ticable, but also the best and most economical means for BATTLE FOR FREE STATE SCHOOLS 123 giving their children the benefits of an education; to con- vince propertied citizens that taxation for education was in the interests of both public and private welfare; to convince legislators that it was safe to vote for free-school bills; and to overcome the opposition due to apathy, religious jeal- ousies, and private interests. In time, though, the desir- ability of common, free, tax-supported, non-sectarian, state- controlled schools became evident to a majority of the citizens in the different American States, and as it did the American State School, free and equally open to aU, was finally evolved and took its place as the most important institution in our national life working for the perpetuation of our free democracy and the advancement of the public welfare. For this work of propaganda hundreds of Sch ool Societies and Edujcanon al Associa tii3B&-were erganized: many con- ventions were held, and resolutions favoring state schools were 'adopted; many "Letters" and "Addresses to the' Public" were written and published; public-spirited citizens traveled over the country, making addresses to the people explaining the advantages of free state schools; many public- spirited men gave the best years of their lives to the state- school propaganda; and many governors sent communica- tions on the subject to legislatures not yet convinced as to the desirability of state action. At e ach meetijig of the legis- latm-es for years a deluge of resolutions, njemorials,„and peHfions for and against free schools met.tk4members- "^opaganda societies. One of the earliest of these propa- ganda societies for state schools was the "Pennsylvania Society for the Promotion of Public Economy," organized^ in 1817. Ten years later a branch of this Society became the "Penrisylvania Society for the Promotion of Public Schools." This Society for many years kept up a vigorous campaign for a state free-school law. Another early society of importance was the "Hartford Society for the Improve- ment of Common Schools," founded in 1827. Another was the "Western Academic Institute and Board of Education," 124 EDUCATION EST THE UNITED STATES formed in 1829, at Cincinnati, largely by New England people, for propaganda work in the State of Ohio. Another was the Boston "Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowl- edge," organized in 1829, with the promotion of public education as one of its objects. In 1830 the "American In- stitute of Instruction" was organized at Boston, and in 1838 this Association offered a prize of $500 for the best essay on "A System of Education best adapted to the Common Schools of our Country." A number of societies for propaganda were organized in New York State between ll830 and 1840. In New Jersey the " Society of Teachers and Friends of Education" held conventions, drew up memorials and petitions, and its members visited all parts of the State advocating general education at public expense, and espe- cially the elimination of pauper-school education. Much valuable work was done by associations of teachers in Penn- sylvania, between 1838 and 1852. In 1839 a national con- vention was held in Philadelphia to discuss the needs of education in the United States. In 1850 an important edu- cation convention was held in Harrisburg, the proceedings of which were printed and widely circulated. In 1838 a con- vention of the "Friends of Education " was held at Trenton, and a committee was appointed to prepare an "Address" to the people of the State. The result was a new school law which instituted a partial state school system, and secured an increase in the state appropriation for schools from $20,000 to $30,000 yearly. The decades of the thirties and the forties witnessed the formation of a large number of these educational associa- tions, organized to build up a sentiment for public educa- tion. They were founded not only in the older States of the East, but also in such widely scattered States as Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee. In 1829 the " Western Academic In- stitute and Board of Education" was formed at Cincinnati, such men as Samuel Lewis, Lyman Beecher, and Professor Calvin E. Stowe being prominent in its organization. For more than a decade this association and its successor, the BATTLE FOR FREE STATE SCHOOLS 125 "Western Literary Institute and College of Professional Teachers" (1832) made Cincinnati the center of educational propaganda in the then West. It raised money, employed an agent to visit the schools of the State, diffused informa- tion as to education, tried to elevate the character of the teachers of the State, and repeatedly sent delegations to the legislature to ask for action. It sent Professor Stowe to Europe to investigate education there, and on his return in- duced the legislature (1837) to print 10,000 copies of his Report on Elementary Education in Europe for distribution. This Report was also reprinted afterward by the legislatures of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Virginia. In 1836 it called a state convention of the "Friends of Education," in 1837 induced the legislature to create the office of Superintendent of Common Schools, and in 1838 the culmination of its efforts came in what has been frequently called "the great school law of Ohio." In 1834 over haff the counties of Illinois sent delegates to an "Illinois Educational Convention" at Vandalia, which appointed a committee of seven to draft a memorial to the legislature and outline a plan for common schools and an "Address" to the people of the State. In 1844 a conven- tion of "Friends of Education," held at Peoria, demanded of the legislature the appointment of a State Superintendent of Schools and the levying of a state school tax. In 1845 the Democratic Convention of Wilkinson County, Kentucky, adopted elaborate resolutions in favor of the establishment of free public schools, and instructed its delegates to the state convention to press the matter. In 1847 a number of "State Common School Conventions" were held in Indiana to build up sentiment for taxation for schools. These are but examples of the work of the numerous propaganda so- cieties, formed in increasing numbers between 1825 and 1850. Support from associations of workingmen. \y]orkin^men. too, throu^ their jtewIy^JOEgagd^ took ,a' prommeSt part in the propaganda for the estabhshment 126 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES of public tax-supported schools. Among the many resolu- tions adopted by these wage-earners the following are typical: At a General Meeting of Mechanics and Workingmen held in New York City, in 1829, it was: Resolved, that next to life and liberty, we consider education the greatest blessing bestowed upon mankind. Resolved, that the public funds should be appropriated (to a reasonable extent) to the purpose of education upon a regular system that shall insure the opportimity to every individual of obtainiag a competent education before he shall have arrived at the age of maturity. At a meeting of workingmen held in Philadelphia, in 1829, it was declared that: No system of education, which a freeman can accept, has yet been established for the poor; whilst thousands of dollars of the public money has been appropriated for building colleges and academies for the rich. Each candidate for the state legislature was formally asked to declare his attitude toward "an equal and general system of Education." In 1830 they adopted a long Report on the conditions of education in Pennsylvania, demanded schools, and declared that there could be "no real liberty in a repub- lic without a wide diffusion of real intelligence." In 1830 the Workingmen's Party of Philadelphia included, as the first plank in its platform: Resolved, that the time has arrived when it becomes the para- mount duty of every friend to the happiness and freedom of man to promote a system of education that shall embrace equally all the children of the state, of every rank and condition. In 1830 an Association of Workingmen was formed at New Castle, Delaware, and in their constitution they pro- vided: Let us unite at the polls and give our votes to no candidate who is not pledged to support a rational system of education to be paid for out of the public funds. BATTLE FOR FREE STATE SCHOOLS 127 At a Boston meeting of "Workingmen, Mechanics, and others friendly to their interests," in 1830, it was: Resolved, that the establishment of a liberal system of education, attainable by all, should be among the first efforts of every law- giver who desires the continuance of our national independence. In 1830 the "Farmers', Mechanics', and Workingmen's" Party of New York State, in convention at Salina, included as one of the planks in its platform the following: Resolved, that a scheme of education, more universal in its effects, is practicable, so that no child in the republick, however poor, should grow up without an opportunity to acquire at least a com- petent English education; and that the system should be adapted to the conditions of the poor both in the city and country. In 1835 the workingmen of the city of Washington enu- merated as one of their demands the establishment of "a imiversal system of education," and in 1836 the "General Trades Union" of Cincinnati, in an "Appeal to the Working- men of the West," urged that they try to elevate their con- dition by directing their efforts toward obtaining "a na- tional system of education." Recommendations of governors. A number of the early governors were public men of large vision, who saw the de- sirability of the State establishing a general system of edu- cation years before either the legislature or the people had clearly sensed the need. In Delaware, for example, almost every year from 1822 to 1829 succeeding governors urged the legislature to establish a genuine system of education, as provided for in the state constitution (p. 62). The peo- ple, however, were unwilling to tax themselves for schools, and only the city of Wilmington made any real headway in providing them. In Pennsylvania, in 1825, the governor made a strong plea for a system of education, and again in 1828 the legislature was urged to estabhsh a pubHc school system, but the first free school law dates from 1834. The messages of the New York governors, especially the two Chntons, form famous documents in favor of free tax-sup- 128 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES ported schools. In 1836, 1827, 1828, 1829, 1835, and 1836 New York governors urged the State's duty, and held that the establishment of a good system of public instruction was an evidence of good government. In Connecticut (1825, 1828), Massachusetts (1826, 1837), and Maine (1831) gov- ernors recommended an improvement in the schools, and a dependence upon a wide diffusion of education for the hap- piness and security of the State. After 1825, and especially through the decade of the thirties, governors generally began to give emphasis to edu- cation in their messages. In the new Western States the messages often were clear and emphatic, and the arguments for education strong. While usually at the time not in- fluencing a legislature to action, these messages were influ- ential in effecting a change in the attitude of the people toward the question of tax-supported schools. II. Phases of the Battle foe Statb-Suppobted Schools The problem which confronted those interested in estab- lishing state-controlled schools wagnot exactlv jthe.same in ^ai:^JtwQ.Sta±fiSy4hough the battle m many States possessed common elements, and hence was somewhat similar in char- acter. Instead of tracing the struggle in detail in each of the different States, it will be much more profitable for our purposes to pick out the main strategic points in the contest, and then illustrate the conflict for these by describing con- ditions in one or two States where the controversy was most severe or most typical. The seven strategic points in the struggle for free, tax-supported, non-sectarian, state-con- trolled schools were: 1. The battle for tax support. 2. The battle to eliminate the pauper-school idea. 3. The battle to make the schoob entirely free. 4. The battle to establish state supervision. 5 The battle to eliminate sectarianism. BATTLE FOR FREE STATE SCHOOLS 129 6. The battle to extend the system upward. 7. Addition of the state university to crown the system. In this and the two following chapters we shall consider each of these, in order. 1. The battle for tax support Early support and endowment funds. In New England, land endowments, local taxes, direct local appropriations, license taxes, and rate bills (that is, a per-capita tax levied on the parents of the children attending school) had long been common. Land endowments began early in the New England colonies, while rate bills date back to the earliest times and long remained a favorite means of raising money for school support. These means were adopted in the dif- ferent States after the beginning of our national period, and to them were added a variety of license taxes, while occu- pational taxes, lotteries, and bank taxes also were employed to raise money for schools. A few examples of these may be cited: F Connecticut, in 1774, turned over all proceeds of liquor licenses to the towns where collected, to be used for schools. New Orleans, in 1826, licensed two theaters on condition that they each pay $3000 annually for the support of schools in the city. New York, in 1799, authorized four state lotteries to raise $100,000 for schools, a similar amount again in 1801, and numerous other lotteries before 1810. Congress passed fourteen joint resolutions, between 1812 and 1836, authorizing lotteries to help support the schools of the city of Washington. Bank taxes were a favorite source of income for schools, between about 1825 and 1860, banks being chartered on condition that they would pay over each year for schools a certain sum or percentage of their earnings. These all represent what is known as indirect taxation, and were valuable in accustoming the people to the idea of public schools without appearing to tax them for their support. The National Land Grants, begun in the case of Ohio in ; 130 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES 1802 (p. 59), soon stimulated a new interest in schools. Each State admitted after Ohio also received the sixteenth section for the support of common schools, and two town- ships of land for the endowment of a state university. The new Western States, following the lead of Ohio (p. 60), dedicated these section lands and fimds to free common schools. The sixteen older States, however, did not share in these grants, so most of them now set about building up a permanent school fund of their own, though at first without any very clear idea as to how the income from the fund was to be used. Connecticut and New York both had set aside lands, before 1800, to create such a fund, Connecticut's fund dating back to 1750. Delaware, in 1796, devoted the income from marriage and tavern licenses to the same purpose, but made no use of the fund for twenty years. Connecticut, in 1795, sold its "Western Reserve" in Ohio for $1,200,000, and added this to its school fund. New York, in 1805, similarly added the proceeds of the sale of half a million acres of state lands, though the fund then formally created accumulated unused imtil 1812. Tennessee began to build up a perma- nent state school fund in 1806; Virginia in 1810; South Caro- lina in 1811; Maryland in 1812; New Jersey in 1816; Georgia in 1817; Maine, New Hampshire, Kentucky, and Louisiana in 1821; Vermont and North Carolina in 1825; Pennsylvania in 1831; and Massachusetts in 1834. These were estab- lished as permanent state funds, the annual income only to be used, in some way to be determined later, for the sup- port of some form of schools. Some of these funds, as has just been stated, accumulated for years before any use was made of the income (New York for twelve; Delaware for twenty; New Jersey for thirteen), while the income in other of the States was for a time used exclusively for the support of pauper schools. New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Georgia aU for a time belonged to this latter class. These permanent funds also represented a form of indirect taxation, and formed important accumulations of capital, the income of which BATTLE FOR FREE STATE SCHOOLS 131 later went for school support and to that extent relieved taxation. The beg innin gs of school taxation. The early idea, which seems for a time to have been generally entertained, that the income from land grants, license fees, and these perma- nent endowment funds would in time entirely support the necessary schools, was gradually abandoned as it was seen how little in yearly income these funds and lands really produced, and how rapidly the population of the States was increasing. By 1825 it may be said to have been clearly recognized by thinking men that the only safe reliance of a system of state schools lay in the general and direct tax- ation of all property for their support. "The wealth of the State must educate the children of the State" became a watchword, and the battle for direct, local, county, and state taxation for education was clearly on by 1825 to 1830 in all the Northern States, except the four in New England where the principle of taxation for education had for long been established. Now for the first time direct taxation for schools was likely to be felt by the taxpayer, and the fight for and against the imposition of such taxation was on in earnest. The course of the struggle and the results were somewhat different in the different States, but, in a general way, the progress of the conflict was somewhat as follows: 1. Permission granted to communities so desiring to organize a school taxing district, and to tax for school support the prop- erty of those consenting and residing therein. 2. Taxation of all property in the taxing district permitted. 3. State aid to such districts, at first from the income from per- manent endowment funds, and later from the proceeds of a small state appropriation or a state or county tax. 4. Compulsory local taxation to supplement the state or county grant. Types of early permissive legislation. In the older States, always excepting the four Calvinistic New England States, the beginnings of this permissive legislation were usually obtained by the cities. With their pressing new social prob- 132 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES lems they could not afford to wait for the rural sections of their States. Accordingly they sought and obtained per- missive city school-tax legislation, and proceeded to organ- ize their schools independently, incorporating them later into the general state organization. Thus Providence be- gan schools in 1800, and Newport in 1825, whereas the first Rhode Island general law was not enacted until 1828; the "Free School Society" of New York City was chartered by the legislature in 1805, and the first permanent state school law dates from 1812; Philadelphia was permitted to organize schools by special legislation in 1812 and 1818, while the first general school law for Pennsylvania dates from 1834; Baltimore secured a special law in 1825, a year ahead of the first Maryland general school legislation; and Mobile was given special permission to organize schools in 1826, though the first general state school law in Alabama dates from 1854. . As other examples typical of early permissive state legis- lation may be mentioned the Maryland law of 1816, giv- ing permission to the voters of Caroline County to decide whether they would support a school by subscription or taxa- tion; the New 'Jersey law of 1820, which permitted any county in the State to levy a county tax for the education of the children of the poor; the Missoiu:i law of 1824, which permitted a district tax for schools, on written demand of two thirds of the voters of the district, to maintain a school the length of time each year the majority of the parents should decide; the Illinois optional tax law of 1825, nuUified in 1827 by providing that the voters might decide to raise only half the cost of the school by taxation, and that no man could be taxed for schools unless he filed his consent in writ- ing; the Rhode Island law of 1828, giving the towns permis- sion to levy a tax for schools, if they saw fit; the optional district tax laws of 1830 in Kentucky, 1834 in Pennsylvania, and 1840 in Iowa; the Mississippi optional tax law of 1846, which permitted a district tax only after a majority of the heads of families in the district had filed their consent in BATTLE FOR FREE STATE SCHOOLS 133 writing; and the Indiana optional county tax law of 1848. Many of these early laws proved to be dead letters, except in the few cities of the time and in a few very progressive communities, partly because it was made too difficult to initiate and too easy to prevent action, and partly because they were too far ahead of public sentiment to be carried into force. The struggle to secure such legislation, weak and ineffec- tive as it seems to us to-day, was often hard and long. "Campaigns of education" had to be prepared for and car- ried through. Many thought that tax-supported schools ^£]!iL4_^?--^Sg6ESlis. f or_^ the _StatejJb.aJJnf ul jQ_indivJdual good, and thoroughly undemocratic. Many did not see the need for schools at all, and many more were in the frame of mind of the practical New England farmer who declared that "the Bible and figgers is all I want my boys to know." Often those in favor of taxation were bitterly assailed, and even at times threatened with personal violence. Henry Barnard, who rendered such useful service in awakening Connecticut and Rhode Island, between 1837 and 1845, to the need for better schools, tells us that a member of the Rhode Island legislature told him that a bill providing a small state tax for schools, which he was then advocating, even if passed by the legislature could not be enforced in Rhode Island at the point of the bayonet. A Rhode Island farmer threatened to shoot him if he ever caught him on his property advocating "such heresy as the partial confisca- tion of one man's property to educate another man's child." A member of the Indiana legislature, of 1837, declared that when he died he wanted engraved on his tombstone, "Here lies an enemy to free schools." Growth of a public school sentiment illustrated by taxa- tion in Ohio. The progress of the struggle to secure taxa- tion for the maintenance of public schools differed somewhat in detail in the different States, but Ohio and Indiana offer us good illustrative examples — the first of a slow but peaceful settlement of the question, the other of a settle- 134 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES ment only after vigorous fighting. The history in Ohio may be summarized as follows: 1802. State admitted to the Union. 1806, 1816. Organization of schools permitted. Only means of support rents of school section lands and rate-bills. 1821. All property of residents of district made taxable for schools. 1825. Building of schooLhouses permitted; site must be donated. 1825. A coimty school tax of one half mill required to be levied. 1827. State permanent school fund created. 1827. Building repairs limited to $300, and two thirds vote re- quired to authorize this expenditure. 1829. Special organization and tax law enacted for Cincinnati. 1831. Non-resident property-holders also made liable for district school taxes. 1834. Each parent sending a child to school must provide hia quota of wood. 1836. County tax increased to one and one half mills. 1838. Purchase of a school site permitted. Majority vote for repairs reduced to one half. 1838. First state school tax of one half mill levied. 1853. Rate-bill abolished, and schools made free. Some of the older States and a number of the newer States have had a somewhat similar history of a slow but gradual education of the people to the acceptance of the burdens of school support. The battle for taxation illustrated by Indiana. Ohio was predominantly New England in stock (see map, p. 73), but Indiana represented a more mixed type of population. The New England element dominated the northern part of the State, and was prominent along the eastern edge and down the Ohio, especially near Cincinnati. The Southern element was in the majority in the southern and central portion of the State. Between these two elements there was a conflict for a generation over the' question of tax- supported schools. Even more was it a battle between the charity and pauper-school conception of education of the Southern element, and the strong-state conception of the New England Yankee. BATTLE FOR FREE STATE SCHOOLS 135 Though admitted in 1816, with a constitution making careful provision for a complete state system of schools (see p. 75), the first general school law was not enacted until 1824. This merely authorized schools where wanted, and permitted their support by a district tax or by the rate-bill. Nothing more was done until 1836. In this year two laws were enacted which provided a form of compulsory town- ship taxation for schools. The first gave back to each town- ship one fourth of its state poU taxes, and the second gave back five per cent of the general state taxes collected therein, with the provision that these moneys should be used to help maintain schools in the townships. This was regarded as an entering wedge to state taxation for a system of pubUc edu- cation, and was so bitterly opposed that it became the chief election issue in 1837. The opponents of tax-supported schools carried the day, and the legislature then elected met and promptly repealed the law. Nothing more was done until 1848. In 1847 a "State Common School Convention" was held, and a bill was pre- pared which provided for a personal poll tax of 25 cents, a state tax of .6 of a mill, and a similar township tax for schools. This was presented to the legislature of 1848, with a demand for action. The legislature, however, was cautious and un- decided, and voted to obtain first a referendum on the sub- ject at the elections of 1848. This was done, with the result shown on the map on the following page. The New England element in the population came out strong for tax-supported schools, the Southern element opposing. Though 66 per cent of the counties and 56 per cent of the population fa- vored tax-supported schools, the legislature of 1849 was still afraid to act. Finally an optional law, providing for a 25-cent poll tax, a general county tax of 1 mill, and an insurance premiujp tax was enacted, with permission to levy additional taxes locally. The law, however, was not to apply to any county until accepted by the voters thereof, and a new referendum on the law was ordered for 1849. The vote in 1849 was not essentially different from that of 1848. Two 136 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES counties that had favored the tax in 1848 by very small mar- gins now fell below, while four counties reversed themselves Per Cent of Total Vota for Schools SI Counties No 8.8 to 26.0 I [ to 50.0 I?™! f 8.8 ^^26.1 / 50.1 to 75.0 [ B9 Counties Yes \ I to 93.8 ^^ Fig. 26. The Indiana Rbpbhendum of 1848 Thirty-four per cent of the counties and forty-four per cent of the electors voted No. the other way. The map for the referendum of 1848 is essentially true also for the referendum of 1849. The two referenda gave the following results: BATTLE FOR FREE STATE SCHOOLS 137 181^ 18i9 Total vote on the question 140,410 142,391 Vote for tax-supported schools 78,523 79,079 Vote against tax-supported schools 61,887 63,312 Majority for tax-supported schools 16,636 15,767 Voters favoring tax-supported schools 56% 55% Voters opposing tax-supported schools 41% 45% Counties favoring tax-supported schools 66% 68% Counties opposing tax-supported schools 34% 32% The new constitution of 1851 settled the matter, despite much opposition, by providing for a state tax-supported school system, and in 1852 the first general state school tax (of 1 mill) was levied on all property in the State. This ended the main battle in Indiana. The struggle to prevent misappropriation as illustrated by Kentucky. At approximately the same time as the struggle in Indiana a conflict was also taking place in Kentucky which was illustrative of early political standards regarding edu- cation and educational funds. The Kentucky Act of 1830 had provided for schools and local taxation, but so great was the indifference of the people to education and their unwill- ingness to bear taxation that the law remained practically a dead letter. In 1837 the State received $1,433,754 as a virtual gift from the National Government in the distri- bution of the so-called Surplus Revenue, and $850,000 of this was put into a state school fund and invested in state inter- nal improvement bonds. At that time an investigation showed that one half the children of school age in the State had never been to school, and that one third of the adult population could not read or write. In 1840 the State refused to pay the interest on the school fund bonds, and in 1845 the legislature ordered the bonds destroyed and repudiated the state's debt to the school fund. Now began a battle to change conditions, led by the Rever- end Robert J. Breckinridge, a descendant of a Scotch Cove- nanter who had come to Kentucky from Pennsylvania, and who became State Superintendent of Common Schools in 1847. He first obtained from the legislature of 1848 a 138 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES new bond for the confiscated school funds for $1,235,768, thus adding all unpaid interest to the principal of the bond. The next year he secured legislation permitting the people to vote at the fall elections for a two-mill state school tax, stumped the State for the measure, and carried the proposal by a majority of 36,882. In the constitutional convention of 1850 he not only secured the first constitutional mention of education and made provision for a state system of schools, but also had the debt to the state school fund recognized at $1,326,770, and the fund declared inviolable. In the legislature of 1850, against the determined opposition of the governor, he secured further legislation making the interest on the school fund due to the schools a first charge on any moneys in the state treasury. This closed the fight of ten years to force the State to be honest with and sup- port education in the State. Similar fights, involving school lands or funds, took place in some of the other States, though not always so successfully as in Kentucky. State support fixed the state system. With the begin- nings of state aid in any substantial sums, either from the income from permanent endowment funds, state appropria- F*".oris, or direct state taxation, the State became, for the rst time, in a position to enforce quite definite require- anents in many matters. Communities which would not meet the State's requirements would receive no state funds. One of the first requirements to be thus enforced was that commimities or districts receiving state aid must also levy a local tax for schools. Commonly thej-equirement was a -duplication of state aid. ^Trenerally speaking, and recognizing exceptions in a few States, this represents the beginnings of compulsory local taxation for education. As early as 1797 Vermont had required the towns to support their schools on penalty of forfeiting their share of state aid. New York in 1812, Delaware in 1829, and New Jersey in 1846 required a duplication of all state aid received. Wisconsin, in its first constitution of 1848, required a local tax for schools equal to one half the state aid received. The BATTLE FOR FREE STATE SCHOOLS 139 next step in state control was to add still other require- ments, as a prerequisite to receiving state aid. One of the first of such was that a certain length of school term, com- monly three months, must be provided in each school dis- trict. Another was the provision of free heat, and later on free school books and supplies. When the duplication-of-state-aid-received stage had been reached, compulsory local taxation for education had been established, and the great central battle for the crea- tion of a state school system had been won. The right to tax for support, and to compel local taxation, was the key to the whole state system of education. From this point on the process of evolving an adequate system of school support in any State has been merely the further education of pubUc opinion to see new educational needs. The proc- ess generally has been characterized by a gradual increase in the amount of the required school tax, the addition of new forms of or units for taxation, and a broadening of the scope and purpose of taxation for education. The develop- ment has followed different lines in different States, and probably no two States to-day stand at exactly the same place in the evolution of a system of school support. So vital is school finance, however, that the position of any state school system to-day is in large part determined by how successful th^ State has been in evolving an adequate system of public school support. 2. The battle to eliminate the pauper-school idea The pauper-school idea. The home of the pauper-school idea in America, as will be remembered from the map given on page 70, was the old Central and Southern States. New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Georgia were the chief representatives, though the idea had friends among certain classes of the population in other of the older States. The new and democratic West would not tolerate it. The pauper-school conception was a direct inheritance from English rule, belonged to a society based on 140 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES classes, and was wholly out of place in a Republic founded on the doctrine that '^all men are created equal, and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights." Still more, it was a very dangerous conception of education for a demo- cratic form of government to tolerate or to foster. Its friends were found among the old aristocratic or conserva- tive classes, the heavy taxpayers, the supporters of church schools, and the proprietors of private schools. Citizens who had caught the spirit of the new Republic, public men of large vision, intelligent workingmen, and men of the New England type of thinking were opposed on principle to a plan which drew such invidious distinctions between the future citizens of the State. To educate part of our children in church or private pay schools, they said, and to segregate those too poor to pay tuition and educate them at public expense in pauper schools, often with the brand of pauper made very evident to them, was certain to create classes in society which in time would prove a serious danger to our democratic institutions. Large numbers of those for whom the pauper schools were intended would not brand themselves as paupers by sending their children to the schools, and others who accepted the advantages offered, for the sake of their children, despised the system. Concerning the system "The Philadelphia Society for the Establishment and Support of Charity Schools" in an "Address to the Public," in 1818, said: In the United States the benevolence of the inhabitants has led to the establishment of Charity Schools, which, though affording individual advantages, are not likely to be followed by the political benefits kindly contemplated by their founders. In the country a parent will raise children in ignorance rather than place them in charity schools. It is only in large cities that charity schools suc- ceed to any extent. These dispositions may be improved to the best advantage, by the Legislature, in place of Charity Schools, establishing Public Schools for the education of all children, the offspring of the rich and the poor alike. The battle for the elimination of the pauper-school idea was fought out in the North in the States of Pennsylvania BATTLE FOR FREE STATE SCHOOLS 141 and New Jersey, and the struggle in these two States we shall now briefly describe. The Pennsylvania legislation. In Pennsylvania we find the pauper-school idea fully developed. The constitution of 1790 (p. 64) had provided for a state system of pauper schools, but nothing was done to carry even this constitu- tional direction into effect until 1802. A pauper-school law was then enacted, directing the overseers of the poor to notify such parents as they deemed sufficiently indigent that, if they would declare themselves to be paupers, their children might be sent to some specified private or pay school and be given free education. The expense for this was assessed against the education poor-fund, which was levied and collected in the same manner as were road taxes or taxes for poor relief. No provision was made for the estab- lishment of public schools, even for the children of the poor, nor was any standard set for the education to be provided in the schools to which they were sent. No other general provision for elementary education was made in the State until 1834. With the growth oLthe cities, and J;he rise of their special problems, jpmething more than this.. very inadequate pro- vision for schoghngjbecame necessary. "The Philadelphia Society for the Establishment and Support of Charity Schools " had long been urging a better system, and in 1814 "The Society for the Promotion of a Rational System of Education" was organized in Philadelphia for the purpose of educational propaganda. Bills were prepared and pushed, and in 1818 Philadelphia was permitted, by special law, to organize as "the first school district" in the State of Penn- sylvania, and to provide, with its own funds, a system of Lancastrian schools for the education of the children of its poor. In 1821 the counties of Dauphin (Harrisburg), Alle- gheny (Pittsburg), Cmnberland (Cariisle), and Lancaster (Lancaster) were also exempted from the state pauper-school law, and allowed to organize schools for the education of the children of their poor. 142 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES That this plan for the education of the children of the poor reached but few children in the State not otherwise pro- vided for was shown by a Report made to the legislature, in 1829. At that time but 31 of the 51 counties of the State reported children as being educated imder the poor-law act, and these showed that the number of poor children be- ing paid for had been only: 4940, in 1825; 9014, in 1827; 7943, in 1826; 4477, in 1828. There were at that time estimated to be 400,000 children in the State between the ages of 5 and 15, not over 150,000 of whom were attending any kind of school. In 1833, the last year of the pauper-school system, the number educated had increased to 17,467 for the State, and at an expense of $48,466.25 to the counties, or an average yearly expense per pupil of $2.10. No wonder the heavy taxpayers regarded favorably such an inexpensive plan for public education. In 1824 an optional free-school law was enacted which permitted the organization of public schools, but provided that no child could attend school at public expense longer than three years. Even this was repealed in 1826, and the old pauper-school law was reinstated. The Law of 1834. In 1827 " The Pennsylvania Society for the Promotion of Public Schools" began an educational propaganda, which did much to bring about the Free-School Act of 1834. In an "Address to the Public" it declared its objects to be the promotion of pubhc education throughout the State of Pennsylvania, and the "Address" closed with these words: This Society is at present composed of about 250 members, and a correspondence has been commenced with 125 members, who reside in every district in the State. It is intended to direct the continued 'attention of the public to the importance of the subject; to collect and diffuse all information which may be deemed valu- able; and to persevere in their labors until they shall be crowned with success. BATTLE FOR FREE STATE SCHOOLS 143 Memorials were presented to the legislature year after year, governors were interested, "Addresses to the Public" were prepared, and a vigorous propaganda was kept up until the P^ree-School Law of 1834< was the result. This law, though, was optional, ficreated every ward, township, and borough in the State a school district, a total of 987 being created for the State. Each school district I l O to 20% EZn321 to^^ii 111141 to 60% ^^61 to 8096 ^^81 to 100% FiQ. 27. The Pennsylvania School Elections op 1835 Showing the percentage of school districts in each county organizing under and accepting the School Law of 1834. Percentage of district accepting indicated on the map for a few of the counties. was ordered to vote that autumn on the acceptance or re- jection of the law. Those accepting the law were to organ- (ize under its provisions, while those rejecting the law were to continue under the educational provisions of the old Pauper- School Act. The results of the school elections of 1834 are shown, by counties, on the above map. Of the total of 987 districts created, 502, in 46 of the then 52 counties (Philadelphia County not voting), or 52 per cent of the whole number, voted to accept the new law and organize under it; 264 dis- 144 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES tricts, in 31 counties, or 27 per cent of the whole, voted de- finitely to reject the law; and 221 districts, in 46 counties, or 21 per cent of the whole, refused to take any action either way. In 3 counties, indicated on the map, every district ac- cepted the law, and in 5 counties, also indicated, every dis- trict rejected or refused to act on the law. A study of this map, in comparison with the map given on page 73, shows once more the influence of the New England element settled along the northern border of the State. The democratic West, with its Scotch-Irish Presbyterian population, is also in evidence. It was the predominantly German coimties, located in the east-central portion of the State, which were strongest in their opposition to the new law. One reason for this was that the new law provided for English schools; another was the objection of the thrifty Germans to taxa- tion; and another was the fear that the new state schools might injure their German parochial schools. The final victory over the pauper-school forces. The real fight for free versus pauper schools was yet .to come. Legis- lators who had voted for the law were bitterly assailed, and, though it was but an optional law, the question of its repeal and the reinstatement of the old Pauper-School Law became the burning issue of the campaign in the autumn of 1834. Many legislators who had favored the law were de- feated for reelection. Others, seeing defeat, refused to run. Petitions for the repeal of the law, and remonstrances against its repeal, flooded the legislature. Some 32,000 persons petitioned for a repeal of the law, 66 of whom signed by making their mark, and "not more than five names in a hundred," reported a legislative committee which inves- tigated the matter, "were signed in English script." It was from among the Germans that the strongest opposition to the law came. This same committee further reported that so many of the names were "so illegibly written as to afford the strongest evidence of the deplorable disregard so long paid by the Legislature to the constitutional injunction to estabhsh a general system of education." BATTLE FOR FREE STATE SCHOOLS 146 The Senate at once repealed the law, but the House, largely under the leadership of a Vermonter by the name of Thaddeus Stevens, refused to reconsider, and finally forced the Senate to accept an amended and a still stronger bill. This defeat finally settled, in principle at least, the pauper- school question in Pennsylvania, though it was not until 1873 that the last district in the State accepted the new sys- tem. The law provided for state aid, state supervision of schools, and coimty and local taxation, but districts refusing to accept the new system could receive no portion of the new funds. During the first year a three and one-half months' free school was provided. By 1836 the new free-school law had been accepted by 75 per cent of the districts in the State, by 1838 by 84 per cent, and by 1847 by 88 per cent. In 1848 the legislature ordered free schools in all districts, but, not attaching a compulsory featiure to the enactment beyond the forfeiting of any state aid, it was twenty-five years longer before the last district gave in and accepted the law. In 1849 a four months' free school was made neces- sary to receive any state aid. Eliminating the pauper school idea in Kew Jersey. No constitutional mention of education was made in New Jer- sey until 1844, and no educational legislation was passed until 1816. In that year a permanent state school fund was begun, and in 1820 the first permission to levy taxes "for the education of such poor children as are paupers" was granted. In 1828 an extensive investigation showed that one third of the children of the State were without educational opportunities, and as a result of this investiga- tion the first general school law for the State was enacted, in 1829. This provided for district schools, school trustees and visitation, licensed teachers, local taxation, and made a state appropriation of $20,000 a year to help estabUsh the system. The next year, however, this law was repealed and the old pauper-school plan reestabhshed, largely due to the pressure of church and private-school interests. In 1830 and 1831 the state appropriation was made divisible 146 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES among private and parochial schools, as well as the public pauper schools, and the use of all public money was limited "to the education of the children of the poor." Between 1828 and 1838 a number of conventions of friends of free public schools were held in the State, and much work in the nature of propaganda was done. At a convention in 1838 a committee was appointed to prepare an "Address to the People of New Jersey" on the educational needs of the State, and speakers were sent over the State to talk to the people on the subject. That "every free State must provide for the education of all its children" was held to be axiomatic. The pauper-school idea was vigorously con- demned. Concerning this the "Address" said: We utterly repudiate as unworthy, not of freemen only, but of men, the narrow notion that there is to be an education for the poor as such. Has God provided for the poor a coarser earth, a thinner air, a paler sky.'' Does not the glorious sun pour down his golden flood as cheerily on the poor man's hovel as upon the rich man's palace? Have not the cotter's children as keen a sense of all the freshness, verdure, fragrance, melody, and beauty of luxu- riant nature as the pale sons of kings? Or is it on the mind that God has stamped the imprint of a baser birth, so that the poor man's child knows with an inborn certainty that his lot is to crawl, not climb? It is not so. God has not done it. Man cannot do it. Mind is immortal. Mind is imperial. It bears no mark of high or low, of rich or poor. It asks but freedom. It requires but light. The campaign against the pauper school had just been fought to a conclusion in Pennsylvania, and the result of the appeal in New Jersey was such a popular manifestation in favor of free schools that the legislature of 1838 insti- tuted a partial state school system. The pauper-school laws were repealed, and the best features of the short-lived Law of 1829 were regnacted. In 1844 a new state constitu- tion limited the income of the permanent state school fund exclusively to the support of public schools. With the pauper-sdiool idea eliminated from Pennsylvaaia BATTLE FOR FREE STATE SCHOOLS 147 and New Jersey, the North was through with it. The wis- dom of its elimination soon became evident, and we hear little more of it among Northern people. The_democratic Westnever tolerated it. It continued some time longer in Maryland, Virginia, and Georgia, and at places for a time in other Southern States, but finally disappeared in the South as well in the educational reorganizations which took place following the close of the Civil War. 3. The battle to make the schools entirely free The schools not yet free. The ratfebill, as we have pre- viousty stated, was an old institution, also brought over from England, as the term "rate" signifies. It was, as we have said, a charge levied upon the parent to supplement the school revenues and prolong the school term, and was assessed in proportion to the number of children sent by each parent to the school. In some States, as for example Mas- sachusetts and Connecticut, its use went back to colonial times; in others it was added as the cost for education in- creased, and it was seen that the income from permanent funds and authorized taxation was not sufficient to maintain the school the necessary length of time. The deficiency in revenue was charged against the parents sending chil- dren to school, pro rata, and collected as ordinary tax-bills. The charge was small, but it was sufficient to keep many poor children away from the schools. This is well illustrated by the case of New York City, where The Public School Society, finding its funds inade- quate to meet its growing responsibilities, attempted, in 1836, to raise additional funds by adding the rate-bill for those who could afford to pay. The rates were moderate, as may be seen from the following schedule of charges: Per quarter For the Alphabet, Spelling, and Writing on Slates, as far as the 3d Class, inclusive $0.25 Continuance of above, with Reading and Arithmetical Tables, or the 4th, 6th, and 6th Classes 0.50 148 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES Continuance of last, with Writing on Paper, Arithmetic, and Definitions, or the 7th, 8th, and 9th Classes , 1 .00 The preceding, with Grammar, Geography, with the use of Maps and Globes, Bookkeeping, History, Composition, Mensuration, Astronomy, etc 2.00 No additional charge for Needlework, nor for Fuel, Books, or Stationery. Two days before the system went into effect there were 3457 pupils in the schools of the Society, six months later there were but 2999, while the number taking the $2 per quarter studies dropped from 137 to 13. The amount re- ceived from fees in 1826 was $4426, but by 1831 this had fallen to $1366. What to do was obvious, and, securing ad- ditional funds, the schools were made absolutely free again in 1832. The rising cities, with their new social problems, could not and would not tolerate the rate-bill system, and one by one they seciu-ed special laws from legislatiu'es which en- abled them to organize a city school system, separate from city council control, and under a local "board of educa- tion." One of the provisions of these special laws nearly always was the right to levy a city tax for schools sufficient to provide free education for the children of the city. In New York State, to illustrate, we find special legis- lation,, which provided free schools for the city, enacted as follows: 1832. New York City. 1848. Syracuse. 1838. Buffalo. 1849. Troy. 1841. Hudson. 1850. Auburn. 1841. Rochester. 1853. Oswego. 1843. Brooklyn. 1853. Utica. 1843. Williamsburg. The State of New York did not provide for free schools generally until 1867. In other States, it might be added, that the schools in Providence, Baltimore, Charleston, Mobile, New Orleans, Louisville, Cincinnati, Chicago, and Detroit were free for about a quarter-century before the coming of free state schools. BATTLE FOR FREE STATE SCHOOLS 149 The fight against the rate-bill in New York. The attempt to abolish the rate-bill and make the schools wholly free was most vigorously contested in New York State, and the con- test there is most easily described. From 1828 to 1868, this tax on the parents produced an average annual sum of $410,- 685.66, or about one half of the sum paid all the teachers of the State for salary. While the wealthy districts were se- curing special legislation and taxing themselves to provide free schools for their children, the poorer and less populous districts were left to struggle to maintain their schools the four months each year necessary to secure state aid. Fi- nally, after much agitation, and a number of appeals to the legislature to assume the rate-bill charges in the form of gen- eral state taxation, and thus make the schools entirely free, the legislature, ia 1849, referred the matter back to the people to be voted on at the elections that autumn. The legislature was to be thus advised by the people as to what action it should take. The result was a state-wide cam- paign for free, public, tax-supported schools, as against partially free, rate-bill schools. The result of the 1849 election was a vote of 249,873 in favor of making "the property of the State educate the chil- dren of the State," and 91,952 against it. This only seemed to stir the opponents of free schools to renewed action, and they induced the next legislature to resubmit the question for another vote, in the autumn of 1850. The result of the referendum of 1850 is shown on the next map. The opponents of tax-supported schools now mus- tered their full strength, doubling their vote in 18497 while the majority for free schools was materially cut down. The interesting thing shown on this map was the clear and un- mistakable voice of the cities. They would not tolerate the rate-bill, and, despite their larger property "iiiterests, they favored tax-supported free schools. The rural dis- tricts, on the other hand, strange to say, opposed the idea. We have here dearly^set forth a_^owing. conflict between city and rural interests, in matters of education, which con- 150 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES tinued to become more acute with time. The cities de- manded educational progress and were determined to have it, regardless of cost. If it could be had by general legisla- Syr T a Troy Eludson •ftfct % •V «^«. Kingston (j 'Pouffhjf '-ti."-'^ I I For Free Schools l.-.''::::':':':l Against Free Schools l l l l ll ll l l l N.Y.C.aH.K.By. Pig. 28. The New York Referendum op 1860 Total vote; For free schools, 17 counties and 209,346 voters; against free schools, 4S counties and 184,308 voters. tion, in which the whole State shared, well and good; if not, then special laws and special taxing privileges would be sought and obtained. The result of iJiis attitude, clearly shown in the New York referendum of 1850, was that the substantial progress in almost every phase of public educa- tion dm-ing the second half of the nineteenth century was made by the cities of our country, while the rural districts lagged far behind. BATTLE FOR FREE STATE SCHOOLS 161 The rate-bill in other States. These two referenda vir- tually settled the question in New York, though for a time a compromise was adopted. The state appropriation for schools was very materially increased, the rate-bill was re- tained, and the organization of "union districts" to provide free schools by local taxation where people desired them was authorized. Many of these "union free districts" now arose in the more progressive communities of the State, and finally, in 1867, after rural and other forms of opposition had largely subsided, and after almost all the older States had abandoned the plan, the New York legislature finally abolished the rate-bill and made the schools of New York entirely free. The dates for the abolition of the rate-bill in the other older Northern States were: 1834. Pennsylvania. 1864. Vermont. 1848. Rhode Island. 1867. New York. 1852. Indiana. 1868 Connecticut. 1853. Ohio. 1869. Michigan. 1855. lllmois. 1871. New Jersey. The New York fight of 1849 and 1850 was the pivotal fight; in the other States it was abandoned by legislative act, and without a serious contest. In the Southern States free education came with the educational reorganizations fol- lowing the close of the Civil War. Other school charges. Another per-capita tax usually levied on parents, in the early days of pubUc education, was the fuel or wood tax. Unless each parent had hauled, or paid some one to do so, his proper "quota of wood" to the schoolhouse during the summer, it was assessed against him as was the rate-bill. This was vexatious, because small, and often hard to collect. PniaUy State after State aban- doned the charge and assessed it, with other necessary ex- penses, against the property of the school district, thus mak- ing wood or coal a public charge. The provision of textbooks has been another charge gradu- ally assumed by cities and States. The earliest provision 152 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES of free textbooks, as in the case of free schooling, was made by the cities. The earliest city to provide free textbooks was probably Philadelphia, in 1818. New Hampshire or- dered free textbooks for indigent children as early as 1827. Jersey City began to provide free textbooks in 1830, and Newark in 1838. Charleston, South Carolina, began in 1856; and Elizabeth and Hoboken, New Jersey, some time before 1860. Massachusetts gave permission to furnish free textbooks in 1873, and made them obligatory in 1884. Maine followed in 1889, and New Hampshire in 1890. Many other States have since ordered free textbooks provided for their schools. Free school supplies — pens, ink, paper, pencils — have also been shifted gradually from an individual charge to general taxation, and, within recent years, as we shall see in later chapters, many new charges have been assumed by the pubUc as in the interests of better school edu- cation. QUESTIONS FOB DISCUSSION 1. Explain the theory of "vested rights" as applied to private and parochial schoob. 2. How do you explain the intense bitterness developed over the transi- tion from Church to State education? 3. Take each of the leading arguments advanced for tax-supported state schools and show its validity, viewed from a modem standpoint. 4. Take each of the leading arguments advanced against tax-supported state schools and show its weakness, viewed from a modem stand- point. 5. Does every great advance in provisions for human welfare require a period of education and propaganda? Illustrate. 6. Explain why the legislatures were so unwilling to follow their gover- nors in the matter of establishing schools. 7. What items have gone into the huilding up of the permanent state school fund in your State? What are its present total and per-capita- income values? 8. What is the size of the permanent state school fund in your State, how is its income apportioned, and what percentage of the total cost per pupil each year does it pay? 9. What has been the history of the development of school taxation in your State? BATTLE FOR FREE STATE SCHOOLS 153 10. Explain just what is meant by "the wealth of the State must educate the children of the State." 11. Show how, with the beginnings of state support, general state require- ments could be enforced for the first time. 12. Show how the retention of the pauper-school idea would have been dangerous to the life of the Republic. 13. Why were the cities more anxious to escape from the operation of the pauper-school law than were the towns and rural districts? 14. Why were the pauper-school and rate-bill so hard to eliminate? 15. Enumerate the items furnished free, in your State, in addition to tuition. TOPICS FOR INVESTIGATION AND REPORT 1. Thaddeus Stevens and the Pennsylvania school law of 1834. (Monroe; Stevens; Wickersham.) 2. Caleb MiUs and the Indiana awakening. (Barnard; Boone.) 3. A comparison of educational development in Ohio and Indiana before 1850. (Boone; Miller; Orth; Rawles.) 4. The fight for free schools in New Jersey. (Murray.) 5. Use of the lottery for school endowment and support. 6. History of the Connecticut state school fund. 7. History of the New York state school fund. 8. Work of the western Academic and Literary Institutes. SELECTED REFERENCES Barnard, Henry, Editor. The American Journal of Education, 31 vols. Consult Analytical Index to; 128 pp. Published by United States Bureau of Education, Washington, 1892. Boone, R. G. Edvcation in the United States. 402 pp. D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1889. Chapter Tl forms good suppleoiental reading on the formation of permanent school funds. *Boone, R. G. Eistory of Edtication in Indiana. 454 pp. D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1892. CliapteTs Vni and IX give very good descriptions of the awakening, the enactment of the law of 1848, and the referendum of 1349, *Fairlie, John A. Centralization of Administration in New York State. Columbia University Studies in History, Economics, and PubUc Law, vol XI, No. 3, New York, 1898. Chapter IE describes briefly the centralizing tendencies in educational administration in New York State. Mayo, Rev. A. D. "Original Establishment of State School Funds"; in Report of the United States Commissioner of Education, 1874-95, vol. n, pp. 1503-11. A brief descriptive article. 154 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES *MiIIer, E. A. History 0/ Editcational Legislation in Ohio, 180S-18S0. 286 pp. University of Chicago Press, 1918. A good digest of educational legislation and progress. ♦Monroe, Paul. Cyclopedia of Education. The Macmillan Co., New York,. 1911-13. 5 vols. The following articles form good supplemental references: 1. "Dbtrict of Columbia"; vol. n, pp. S42-45. i. "Philadelphia, City of"; vol. iv, pp. 666-67. 3. "School Funds"; vol. v, pp. 269-73. 4. The historical portions of the articles on state school systems, such as Indiana, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, etc. Murray, David. History of Education in New Jersey. 344 pp. United States Bureau of Education, Circular of Information, No. 1, Washing- ton, 1899. Chapter III describes the struggle to establish free schools in New Jersey. *Orth, S. P. Centralization of Administration in Ohio; Columbia Univer- sity, Studies in History, Economics, and Public Law, vol. xn. No. 3, New York, 1903. Chapter II gives a good sketch of the centralization in educational aSairs, and the development of taxation for education. *Randall, S. S. The Common School System of the State of New York. 94 pp. Troy, New York, 1851. An old classic, now out of print, but still found in many libraries. Pages 72-79 de- scribe the battle to abolish the rate-bill in New York. *Eawles, W. A. Centralizing Tendencies in the Administration of Indiana. Columbia University Studies in History, Economics, and Pubhc Law, vol. XVII, No. 1, New York, 1903. Pages 26 to 141 very good on the development of educational administration in Indiana. *Stevens, Thaddeus. "Speech in defense of the Pennsylvania Free School System"; in Report of the United States Commissioner of Educaiion, 1898- 99, vol. I, pp. 516-24. Historical note, and the speech made in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, in 1835, in opposition to the attempt to repeal the Law of 1834. *Wickersham, J. P. A History of Educaiion in Pennsylvania. 683 pp. Lancaster, Pa., 1886. A very valuable volume, now somewhat rare. Chapters XIII, XV, and XVI very good on pauper education and the fight to establish free schools. CHAPTER VI THE BATTLE TO CONTROL THE SYSTEM II. Phases of the Battle foe State-Suppokted Schools — continued 4. The battle to establish school supervision Local nature of all early schools. The history of our edu- cational evolution as so far described must have clearly re- vealed to the reader how completely local the evolution of schools has been with us. Evexywiere-development has been from, the community -outward- and upward^ and not from, the State downward. At first the schools were those of individual teachers, churches, philanthropic societies, towns, or districts, organized and maintained without any thought of connection or state relationship. Even in Massa- chusetts and 'Connecticut the local nature of the education provided was one of its marked characteristics. After the New England towns, in response to the demand for greater local rights and local control of affairs, had split their town governments up into fragments, known at first as parishes and later as school districts, as described in Chap- ter II, and after the Massachusetts district school system thus evolved had been confirmed in the new state laws (1789) it spread to other States, and soon became the almost universal unit for school organization and control. The reasons for its early popularity are not hard to find. It.5vas well suited JLothe.^ primitive -needs and ..conditions of our early national life. Among a sparse and hard-working. rural population, between whom intercourse was Kmited and in- tercommunication difficult, and with whom the support of schools by taxation was as yet an unsettled question, it answered a very real need. The simplicity and democracy of the system was one of its chief merits. Communities or 156 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES neighborhoods which wanted schools and were willing to pay for them could easily meet and organize a school dis- trict, vote to levy a school tax on their own property, em- ploy a teacher, and organize and maintain a school. On the other hand, communities which did not desire schools or were imwilling to tax themselves for them could do with- out them, and let the free-school idea alone. The first state laws generally, as we have pointed out in Chapter V, were permissive in nature and not mandatory, and under these permissive laws the progressive communities of each State " gradually organized a series of local schools. These have since been brought together into township, county, and state organizations to form the state systems which we know to-day. The schools thus established would naturally retain their local character so long as their support was entirely local. Schools might even be ordered estabUshed, as in the case of the town schools of Massachusetts and Connecticut, or the pauper schools of Pennsylvania, and, so long as the State contributed nothing to their maintenance, their organiza- tion, management, and control would almost of necessity be left to local initiative. The more progressive coi^nu- mtLes_woiUd obey thte. law and pro'dde scHpoIs supported largely or wholly by taxation; the imwilling communities would eitjier ignore the law or provide schools dependent upon tuition fees and rate-bills. Beginnings of state control. The great battle for state schools, which we have briefly described^ in the preceding chapter, was not only for taxation to stimulate their devel- opment where none existed, but was also indirectly a battle for some form of state control of the local systems which had aheady grown up. The establishment of permanent state school funds by the older States, to supplement any other aid which might be granted, also tended toward the estab- lishment of some form of state supervision and control of the local school systems. Under the early permissive laws all) state aid for schools might of course be rejected, and fre- BATTLE TO CONTROL THE SYSTEM 157 quently was, and usually large option and power of initia- tive had at first to be left to the local units, but the State, once any aid from permanent state endowment funds or any form of state taxation was accepted by a community school system, was now in position to make and enforce demands in return for the state aid granted. In return for the state aid accepted the local school authorities must now make reports as to attendance, length of term, kind of teacher, and income and expenses, and must comply with the re- quirements of the state school laws as to district meetings, levying of local taxes to supplement the state aid, subjects to be taught, certificate for the teacher, and other similar matters. The acceptance of state aid inevitably meant a small but a g-adually ijicreasing state control. The &st step was the establishment of some form of state aid; the next was the imposing of conditions necessary to secure this state aid. State oversight and control, however, does not exercise itself, and it soon became evident that the States must elect or appoint some officer to represent the State and en- force the observance of its demands. It would be primarily his duty to see that the laws relating to schools were carried out, that statistics as to existing conditions were collected and printed, and that communities were properly advised as to their duties and the legislature as to the needs ofsthe State. We find now the creation of a series of school officers to represent the State, the enactment of new laws extending control, and a struggle to integrate, subordinate, and reduce to some semblance of a state school system the hundreds of community school systems which had grown up. The communities were usually very willing to accept the state aid offered, but many of them resented bitterly any attempt to curb their power to do as they pleased, or to force them to make reports and meet general state requirements. The first state school officers. The first American State to create a state officer to exercise supervision over its schools was New York, in 1812. It will be remembered that this State had enacted an experimental school law, and made an 158 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES annual state grant for schools, from 1795 to 1800. Then, unable to reenact the law, the system was allowed to lapse and was not reestablished until the New England element gained control, in 1812. In enacting the new law providing for state aid for schools the first State Superintendent of Common Schools in the United States was created. So far as is known this was a distinctively American creation, unin- fluenced by the practice in any other land. It was to be the duty of this officer to look af ter_tiie establishment and. maintenance of the schools throughout the State. By his vigorous work in behalf of schools the first appointee, Gideon Hawley, gave such offense to the poKticians of the time that he was removed from office, in 1821, and the legislature then abolished the position and designated the Secretary of State to act, ex officio, as Superintendent. This condition continued imtil 1854, when New York again created the separate office of Superintendent of Public In- struction. Maryland created the office in 1826, but two years later abolished it and did not re-create it until 1864. Illinois directed its Secretary of State to act, ex officio, as Superintendent of Schools in 1825, as did also Vermont in 1827, Louisiana in 1833, Pennsylvania in 1834, and Tennes- see in 1835. Illinois did not create a real State Superintend- ent of Schools, though, until 1854, Vermont until 1845, Louisiana until 1847, Pennsylvania imtil 1857, or Tennes- see until 1867. The first States to create separate school officials who have been continued to the present time were Michigan and Kentucky, both in 1837. Influenced by Cousin's Re- port (Chapter IX) on the organization of schools in Prussia, the leaders in the Michigan constitutional convention of 1835 — Pierce and Crary — insisted on the title of Super- intendent of Public Instruction and on constitutional pro- visions which would instu-e, from an administrative point of view, a state school system rather than a series of local systems of schools. Kentucky, on the other hand, evolved, as had New York, a purely American-type official, known BATTLE TO CONTROL THE SYSTEM 169 as Superintendent of Common Schools. The Michigan title in time came to be the one commonly used, though few States in adopting it have been aware of its Prussian origin. Other States followed these, creating a state school officer under one of a number of titles, and in some States, such as Connecticut, Ohio, Iowa, and Missouri, the office was created, abolished, and re-created one or more times before it became permanently established. Often quite a legisla- tive struggle took place to secure the establishment of the office, and later on to prevent its abolition. I I Ko ffchool Bttp«ntlloD pre.liln] ' ' NAraika vni IHa\ utrt T.mloi ];:::i HaduiM-offialoSiat. Sshool OfflcS I 1 Had t'risnUl Sl»k> School Offloer lljlllll Bad Cdud^ BajMBlntandaiiU of Schooll ^^ DAd bofl) BU(« imd Conoty Bcbool Offlc.i' • CIt[ot ba.toc a Oltj SupcrliilandaDt orSohoola Fig. 29. Status of School Supervision m the United States bt 18G1 For a list of the 28 City Superintendenciea established up to 1870, see Cubberley's Pullie School AdminidTaiiont p. fiS. For the history of the state educational office in each State see Cubberley and Elliott, State and County School Adminietration, Source Book, pp. 28S-87. By 1850 there were ex-officio state school officers in nine, and regular school officers in seven, of the then thirty-one States, and by 18&1 there were ex-officio officers in nine and regular officer&dn nineteen of the then thirty-four States, as well as one of each in two of the organized Territories. The above map shows the growth of supervisory oversight by 1861 — forty-nine years from the time the first American 160 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES state school officer was created. The map also shows the ten of the thirty-four States which had, by 1861, also created the office of County Superintendent of Schools, as well as the twenty-five cities which had, by 1861, created the office of City Superintendent of Schools. Only three more cities — Albany, Washington, and Kansas City — were added before 1870, making a total of twenty-eight, but since that date the number of city superintendents has increased to something like fourteen hundred to-day. Early duties; selection by election. The office of State Superintendent of Common Schools, Superintendent of Free Schools, Superintendent of Education, Superintendent of Public Instruction, or Commissioner of Education — terms which are significant of the educational evolution through which we have passed — was thus evolved with us to represent the State in its dealings with the local school systems to which it now proposed to extend some financial aid. At the time the office arose there were few of our present-day problems to be solved, and the early functions attached to the office were almost exclusively clerical, statis- tical, and exhortatory. These early functions have become crystallized in the laws and have formed the traditions of the office. Even more have they formed the traditions of the office of County Superintendent of Schools. To collect, tabulate, and edit the school statistics as to attendance, teachers, term, and finances demanded by the law; to ad- vise as to the law; to apportion the state aid to the school districts; to visit the different counties and advise the local school authorities; to exhort the people to found and improve their schools; and to advise the legislature as to the condi- tion and needs of the schools, — these constitijted the chief duties of these early officials. With time, and with the gradual change in the popular conception as to the place and purpose of public education, so many new duties have been added to the office that it has now come to be conceived of in an entirely new light. The creation of these new state officials came just at the BATTLE TO CONTROL THE SYSTEM 161 time when the rising democratic consciousness and distrust of legislatures and governors had reached its height, and when the belief in the abiUty of the people to select all their pubUc servants had reached, with the general attainment of full manhood suffrage, a maximum. The appointed city- school superintendent had not as yet arisen to point the way to a better method of selection, — there were but ten such in the United States by 1850, — the analogy to a state auditor or a coimty clerk seemed clear, the expert functions which now ought to characterize the office had not devel- oped, and nomination and election by the people seemed the perfectly natural method to follow. In consequence, al- most everywhere these new state and county officials were placed in the elective column, instead of being appointed to office. Even in the cities the elective method was at first tried, though all but one have now discarded it as a means for selecting a city superintendent of schools. In the earlier period, when the duties of these new officials were far simpler than they now are, and when almost no professional functions had arisen, the elective method of choosing a person to fill these educational offices naturally gave much better results than it does to-day. Only in New England was a better method followed from the first. Curbing the district system. One of the chief duties of these early state school officials, aside from the collection of statistics and exhorting "the people to establish and main- tain schools, was that of trying to institute some control over the local school communities, and the introduction of some uniformity into school practices. By the time the States began to create state and county school officers, the Massachusetts district system, the origin of which we de- scribed in Chapter II, had overrun the country. The first school law enacted by Massachusetts (1789) recognizpd and legalized the district system of school organization and con- trol, as it had evolved in the State during the preceding hundred years. In 1800 the districts were given full local power to tax for schools; in 1817 full power was given them 162 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES to contract and to sue and be sued; and in 1827 the full cul- mination of the district system was attained by laws which authorized the districts to select district school trustees, and gave to these trustees the power to choose the textbooks and employ and certificate their teachers. Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut also accepted the district system early. It spread to New York in 1812, and was carried by New Eng- land people in their great migration toward the West and South. Ohio definitely accepted the district system of organization in 1821, Illinois in 1825, Tennessee in 1830, Indiana in 1833, Michigan in 1837, Kentucky and Iowa in 1838, North Carolina in 1839, and Virginia in its optional law of 1846. Once established amid pioneer people it be- came firmly rooted, and has since been changed only after much effort, though almost all the conditions which gave rise to it have since passed away. In most of the States the system soon ran rampant. The district meeting became a forensic center in which ques- tions the most remote and personal animosities of long standing were fought out. Petty local interests and a "dog- in-the-manger spirit" too often prevailed, to the great detri- ment of the schools. ■ District jealousies prevented needed development. An exaggerated idea of district rights, dis- trict importance, and district perfection became common. District independence was often carried to a great extreme. In Massachusetts, for example, Horace Maim found that in two thirds of the towns teachers were allowed to begin teach- ing without any examination or certification, and frequently were paid without either; that the trustees refused generally to require uniform textbooks, or to furnish them to poor children, as required by the law; and that one third of the children of school age in the State were absent from school in the winter and two fifths in the summer, without the trustees concerning themselves in any way about the situa- tion. In Ohio the trustees "forbade the teaching of any branches except reading, writing, and arithmetic," and in BATTLE TO CONTROL THE SYSTEM 163 1840 the early laws requiring schools in the English language were repealed, and the districts were permitted to authorize schools in the German language. In Indiana the system went to such an extreme as almost to destroy the schools. In 1836 and 1837 laws were passed which permitted house- holders to make individual contracts with teachers to teach their children, and in 1841 the requirement of any form of a teacher's certificate was made optional with the district trustees. In many States school district trustees were allowed to determine what subjects should be taught and how, and the people determined who should teach and how long a term of school should be maintained. To enforce reports giving statistics as to the schools, to enforce local taxation to supplement the state aid, to enforce the requirement of some form of a teacher's certificate, to see that the school subjects required in the law were taught in the schools, and that the schools were maintained at least the length of time demanded by the State, were among the early functions of these state, county, and township school superintendents. All these were important as establishing some form of state control over the school districts, and , marked the beginnings of their integration into a series of county and state school systems. Creating supervision in Massachusetts. The struggle to subordinate and control the district system is well illus- trated by the history of Massachusetts. Once foremost in general education, a great decline had set in after the com- ing of statehood, and this decline continued steadily up to about 1826. The decline in the importance of its schools was closely paralleled by the growth in importance of the district system of school control. The growth of manu- facturing, the social changes in the cities, and the philan- thropic and humanitarian movements we have described in Chapter IV, all tended in Massachusetts, as elsewhere, to awaken an educational consciousness and a demand for educational reform. As early as 1821 a young Harvard graduate and teacher, by the name of James G. Carter 164 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES (1795-1845), had published a series of Letters . . . on the Free Schools of New England. In these letters the glaring defects of the district system and the decline in importance of the schools were pointed out. Deeply impressed with conditions, he soon became a leader in educational propa- ganda and educational reform. The first result of the agitation he started was the law of 1826, whereby each town (township) was required to ap- point a Town School Committee (School Board) to exercise general supervision over all the district schools in the town, select the textbooks, and examine and certificate all the teachers employed. This law met with bitter opposition from many districts, it being regarded as an infringement of district "rights." In 1834 the state school fund was created, and to share in its income all towns were required to raise a town tax of one dollar per child and to make sta- tistical reports as required. In 1837 came the culmina- tion of Mr. Carter's labors, when he secured passage of a bill creating the first real State Board of Education in the United States. Instead of following the practice of the time, and creating an elected State Superintendent of Schools, Mr. Carter, much more wisely, provided for a small appointed State Board of Education which in turn was to select a Secretary, who was to act in the capacity of a state school officer and report to the Board, and through it to the legislature and the people. Neither the Board nor the Secretary were given any powers of compulsion, their work being to investigate conditions, report facts, expose defects, and make recommendations as to action to the, legislature. The permanence and influence of the Board thus depended very largely on the character of the Secre- tary it selected. The new Secretary and his problems. A prominent Brown University graduate and lawyer in the State Senate, by the name of Horace Mann (1796-1859), who as president of the Senate had been of much assistance in securing pas- sage of the bill creating the State Board of Education, was HORACE MANN (1796-1859) (Froin a paintiiig IQ the Weetfield, Maasacliufeetts, Normal School) HEXKY I!AKNAI!I> iisu-r.iuoi Friiiii a picture taken aliout ISOO BATTLE TO CONTROL THE SYSTEM 165 finally induced by the Governor and the Board to accept the position of Secretary. He entered on his duties in June, 1837. The choice proved to be a particularly fortunate one, as Mr. Mann possessed the characteristics needed for such an oflBce — enthusiasm, courage, vision, lofty ideals, and practical legislative experience. Few State Superintend- ents of Public Education since his time have risen to a higher conception of the importance of their office, and his career forms a worthy study for any one interested in educa- Itional leadership. He gave up a promising career in the law and in politics to accept the office at a beggarly salary that often left him without money for his dinner, but, once he had made up his mind to do so, he entered upon the work with all the energy he possessed. To a friend he wrote: My law books are for sale. My ofSce is to let. The bar is no longer my forum. I have abandoned jurisprudence and betaken myself to the larger sphere of mind and morals. (On the day he accepted the office he wrote in his diary: Henceforth so long as I hold this ofiBce I devote myself to the supremest welfare of mankind upon earth. ... I have faith in the improvability of the race — in their accelerating improvability. This efiPort may do, apparently, but little. But mere beginning a good cause is never little. If we can get this vast wheel into any perceptible motion, we shall have accomplished much. The problems which Mr. Mann faced, growing out of bad legislation in the past and the resulting state of affairs, are |hus stated by Hinsdale: 1. The whole State needed to be thoroughly aroused to the iportance and value of public instruction. 2. The public schools needed to be democratized; that is, the time had more than come when they should be restored to the people of the State, high as well as low, in the good old sense of the name. 3. The public necessities demanded an expansion of public education in respect to kinds of schools and range of instruction. 4. The legal school organization and machinery, as existing. 166 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES were not in harmony with the new social conditions. Moreover, current methods of administration were loose and mibusinesslike. 5. The available school funds were quite insufficient for main- taining good schools, and called loudly for augmentation. 6. The schools were, to a great extent, antiquated and outgrown in respect to the quantity and quality of the instruction that they furnished, as well as in methods of teaching, management, dis- cipline, and supervision. The Work of Horace Mann. Mr. Mann now began a most memorable work of educating pubKc opinion, and soo became the acknowledged leader in school organization i the United States. State after State called upon him fo ' advice and counsel, while his twelve annual Reports to the State Board of Education will always remain memorable documents. Public men of all classes — lawyers, clergy- men, college professors, literary men, teachers — were laid under tribute and sent forth over the State explaining to the people the need for a reawakening of educational interest in Massachusetts. Every year Mr. Mann organized a "cam- paign." It resembled somewhat the recent national cam- paign to explain to our people the meaning and moral signifi- cance of our participation in the World War in Europe. So successful was he, and so ripe was the time for such $ movement, that he not only started a great common school revival in Massachusetts which led to the regeneration of the schools there, but one which was felt and which influ- enced development in every Northern State. His controversy with the Boston schoolmasters, whose sensibilities he had wounded by his praise of European/ schools, attracted much attention, made a deep impressio^i on the public mind, and did much to fix Mr. Mann's place in educational history. His controversy with the religious societies marked the beginning oFEhe striiggle"inltEetJnite(i States for non-sectarian schools. Everywhere he preached the doctrine of liberal taxation for public education, with the result that during the twelve years of his secretaryship the appropriations for public education were more than BATTLE TO CONTROL THE SYSTEM 167 doubled, salaries of teachers greatly increased, and a full month added to the length of the school term. He organ- ized the first three state normal schools in America, and some of the earliest teachers' institutes. He labored con- tinually at the improvement of teaching method, and espe- cially worked for the introduction of Pestalozzian reforms and the substitution of the word-method in teaching reading for the slow, wasteful, and unintelligent alphabet method. He edited the Massachusetts Common School Journal, wrote ''■ careful report on schoolhouse hygiene, introduced school fibraries throughout the State, and stimulated the develop- aient of the high school. In his hands the printed "school feturns," first required by the law of 1826, became "power- ful instruments in educating the public." His vigorous condemnation of the district system, to which he devoted his fourth Report, contributed to its ultimate abandonment. The Massachusetts Law of 1789, which legalized it, he repeatedly stated to have been "the most unfortunate law on the subject of common schools ever enacted in the State," and he declared that "no substantial and general progress can be made so long as the district system exists." So en- trenched was the system "behind statutory rights and im- memorial usage" that it required thirty years longer to free the State from its inimical influence. His twelve carefully written Reports on the condition of education in Massachusetts and elsewhere, with his intelli- gent discussion of the aims and purposes of public educa- tion, occupy a commanding place in the history of American education, while he wiU always be regarded as perhaps the greatest of the "founders" of our American system of free public schools. No one did more than he to establish in the minds of the American people the conception that edu- cation should be universal, non-sectarian, and free, and that its aim should be social eflSciency, civic virtue, and charac- ter, rather than mere learning or the advancement of sec- tarian ends. Under his practical leadership an unorganized and heterogeneous series of community school systems was 168 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES reduced to organization and welded together into a state school system, and the people of Massachusetts were efifec- tively recalled to their ancient belief in and duty toward the education of the people. Heniy Barnard in Conaecticut and Rhode Island. Al- most equally important, though of a somewhat different character, was the work of Henry Barnard in Connecticut and Rhode Island. A graduate of Yale, and also educated for the law, he turned aside to teach and became deeply interested in education. The years 1835-37 he spent in Europe studying schools, particularly the work of Pesta- lozzi's disciples. On his return to America he was elected a member of the Connecticut legislature, and at once formu- lated and secured passage of the Connecticut law (1839) providing for a State Board of Commissioners for Common Schools, with a Secretary, after the Massachusetts plan. Mr. Barnard was then elected as its first Secretary, and ^ . reluctantly gave up the law and accepted the position at the munificent salary of $3 a day and expenses. Until the legislature aboUshed both the Board and the position, in 1842, he rendered for Connecticut a service scarcely less important than the better-known reforms which Horace Mann was at that time carrying on in Massachusetts. It will be remembered that Connecticut had estabUshed a state school fund as early as 1750, and on the sale of the Western Reserve for $1,200,000, in 1795, had added this sum to the fund. The fimd experienced excellent manage- ment, and by the time of the creation of the State Board had reached nearly $2,000,000 in value, producing a yearly income large enough to pay a substantial portion of the then cost of maintaining the schools. This had made the people neghgent as to taxation, and this, combined with the grow- ing strength of the district system, led to a decline in interest in education in Connecticut similar to that which had taken place in Massachusetts. The schools were poor, private schools were increasing, the people objected to taxa- tion, the teachers were without training or professional BATTLE TO CONTROL THE SYSTEM 169 interest, the pauper-school idea began to be advocated, and a general decline in educational affairs had set in. An investigation, made in 1838, showed that not one half of the children of the State were attending school. From probably the best schools of any State at the end of the colonial period, the Connecticut schools had fallen to a very inferior position. It was the work of Barnard to recall Connecticut to her ancient duty. He visited and inspected the schools, and made many public addresses. In 1839 he organized the first teachers' institute in America which met for more than a few days (his was for six weeks, with daily instruction in classes), and he used this new instrument extensively to awaken the teachers of the State to proper conceptions of their work. He established the Connecticut Common School Journal to disseminate his ideas. He also organized school libraries, and urged the establishment of evening schools. He strove to improve the physical condition of the schools by writing much on schoolhouse construction. He studied the "school returns," and used the statistical data to arouse interest. In 1843, through the animus of a governor who objected to the "useless expense," and the "dangerous innovation" of union schools to provide advanced educa- tion, the Board was abolished, the laws repealed, and Mr. Barnard was legislated out of office. In 1843 he was called to Rhode Island to examine and report upon the existing schools, and from 1845 to 1849 acted as State Commissioner of PubUc Schools there, where he rendered a service similar to that previously rendered in Connecticut. In addition he organized a series of town hbraries throughout the State. For his teachers' institutes he devised a traveling model school, to give demonstration lessons in the art of teaching. From 1851 to 1855 he was again in Connecticut, as principal of the newly established state normal school and ex-officio Secretary of the Connecti- cut State Board of Education. He now rewrote the school laws, increased taxation for schools, checked the power of 170 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES the districts, there known as "school societies," and laid the foundations of a state system of schools. Barnard as the scholar of the " awakening." In 1855 he began the editing of his famous American Journal of Edvxiation, a vast encyclopaedia of educational information which finally reached thirty-one volumes. In this venture he stmk his entire private fortune, and in his old age was a poor man. The collection stiU remains a great storehouse of educational information and biography, covering almost every phase of the history of education from the earliest times down to 1870. It gave to American educators, who had so long been isolated and who had been slowly evolving a thoroughly native school system out of the Enghsh inher- itance, a needed conception of historical development in other lands and a useful knowledge of recent development and practice in other lands and nations. From 1858 to 1860 he served as president of the University of Wisconsin, and from 1867 to 1870 as the first United States Commissioner of Education. He published much, was distinctively the scholar of the great public school awakening of the second quarter of the nineteenth century, and was closely associ- ated with the most progressive movements in American education for approximately forty years. Mann and Bar- nard stand out as the two conspicuous leaders during the formative period of American education. Mann in particu- lar pointed the way to many subsequent reforms in the administration of public education, while to Barnard we owe a special debt as our first great educational scholar. i \ The " awakening" elsewhere; the leaders. The work ^of Mann and Barnard had its influence throughout all the Northern States, and encouraged the friends of education everywhere. Almost contemporaneous with them were leaders in other States who helped fight through the battles of state establishment and state organization and control, among the more prominent of whom should be mentioned Calvin Stowe, Samuel Lewis, and Samuel Galloway in Ohio; Caleb Mills in Indiana; Ninian W, Edwards La Illi- ^- i L M' 0- 'l^ £ 1::; -M ~^% ! 2 5 "■■ o K w >^ Si Vj o BATTLE TO CONTROL THE SYSTEM 171 nois; John D. Pierce and Isaac E. Crary in Michigan; Robert J. Breckinridge in Kentucky ; Calvin H. Wiley in North Caro- lina; and John Swett in California. It is not perhaps without its significance, as showing the enduring influence of the Calvinistic educational traditions, that of these Stowe was a graduate of Bowdoin College ir Maine, and that the Stowe family goes back to 1634, in Roxbury, Massachusetts; that Lewis was bom in Massa- chusetts, was descended from one of the first colonists in Plymouth, and floated down the Ohio with his parents to Cincinnati in the great westward migration of New Eng- land people; that Galloway was of Scotch-Irish ancestry, and was educated among New England people in Ohio; that Mills was born in New Hampshire, and had been graduated from Dartmouth; that Pierce was born in New Hampshire, educated in Massachusetts, and had been graduated from Brown; that Crary was of Puritan ancestry, born and edu- cated in Connecticut, and a graduate of Trinity College; that Breckinridge was a descendant of a Scotch Covenanter who fled to America, at the time of the restoration of the Stuarts in England, and settled in Pennsylvania; that Wiley was of early Scotch-Irish Presbyterian stock ; and that Swett was born and educated in New Hampshire, taught school in Massachusetts in the days of Horace Mann, and was descended from a family of that name which landed at Massachusetts Bay in 1642. 5. The batUe to eliminate sectarianism The secularization of American education. The Church,' it will be remembered, was with us from the earliest colonial times in possession of the education of the young. Not only were the earhest schools controlled by the Church and dominated by the religious motive, but the right of the Church to dictate the teaching in the schools was clearly recognized by the State. Still more, the State looked to the Church to provide the necessary education, and assisted it in doing so by donations of land and money. The min- 172 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES ister, as a town ofiScial, naturally examined the teachers and the instruction in the schools. After the establishment of our National Government this relationship for a time con- tinued. New York and the New England States specifi- cally set aside lands to help both church and school. When Connecticut sold its Western Reserve, in 1795, and added the sum to the Connecticut school fimd, it was stated to be for the aid of "schools and the gospel." In the sales of the first national lands in Ohio (1,500,000 acres to The Ohio Company, in 1787; and 1,000,000 acres in the Symmes Pur- chase, near Cincinnati, in 1788), section 16 in each town- ship was reserved and given as an endowment for schools, and, section 29 "for the purposes of religion." After about 1800 these land endowments for religion ceased, but grants of state aid for religious schools continued for nearly a half- fcentury longer. Then it became common for a town or city to build a schoolhouse from city taxation, and let it out rent- free to any responsible person who would conduct a tuition school in it, with a few free places for selected poor children. Still later, with the rise of the state schools, it became quite common to take over church and private schools and aid them on the same basis as the new state schools. In colonial times, too, and for some decades into our na- tional period, the warmest advocates of the establishment of schools were those who had in view the needs of the Church. Then gradually the emphasis shifted, as we have shown in Chapter III, to the needs of the State, and a new fJass of advocates of public education now arose. Still ater the emphasis has been shifted to industrial and civic and national needs, and the religious aim has been almost completely eliminated. This change is knoffin.as_the-sec- ularization^olAm^ricaneducation. It also required many a bitter struggleT^nH^was accomplished in the different States but slowly. The two great factors which served to produce this change have been: 1. The conviction that the life of the Republic demands an educated and intelligent citizenship, and hence the general BATTLE TO CONTROL THE SYSTEM 173 education of all in common schools controlled by the State; and 2. The great diversity of religious beliefs among our people, which has forced tolerance and religious freedom through a consideration of the rights of minorities. The secularization of education with us must not be re- garded either as a deliberate or a wanton violation of the rights of the Church, but rather as an unavoidable incident connected with the coming to self-consciousness and self- government of a great people. So long as there was httle intercommunication and mi- gration, and the people of a community remained fairly homogeneous, it was perfectly natural that the common religious faith of the people should enter into the instruction of the school. When the schools were purely local and voluntary this was not a serious objection. With the rise of state support, and the widening of the units for main- tenance and control from the lone commimity or district to the town, the county, and the State, the situation changed. With the coming of foreign immigration, which began to be marked after about 1825, and the intermingling of peoples of different faiths in the rapidly evolving cities, religious uniformity ceased to exist. Majority rule now for a time followed, but this was soon forced to give way to the still more important governmental principle of religious free- dom. As necessity gradually compelled the State to provide education for its children, sectarian differences made it in- creasingly evident that the education provided must be non-sectarian in character. As Brown (S. W.) has so well stated it: Differences of religious belief and a sound regard on the part of the State for individual freedom in religious matters, coupled with the necessity for centralization and uniformity, rather than hos- tility to religion as such, lie at the bottom of the movement toward the secular school. Gradual nature of the change. The change to non-sec- tarian schools came very gradually, and it is hard to assign a 174 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES Cc Standi for Camel, viha lives in the toft; Dd Standi for Drankard, a worfe looking beaft. Fig. so. The Alphabet From The Columbian Primer, 1802. A amall, 84-page, modernized and secularized imitation of the New England Primer, Each letter was illustrated; the illustrations for C and D are here reproduced. date for its beginning. The chart between pages 44 and 45, showing the process of evolving the civic out of the ear- her religious schools, discloses a gradual fading out of reli- gious influence and control diu-ing the eighteenth century, and the gradual assumption of state control early in the nine- teenth century. The change began early in our national history — in a way it was but a sequel to the waning reUgious interest which characterized the last fifty years of the colonial period — but it was not until the de- cade of the forties that the question became at all acute. At first it was largely a matter of change in the character of instruction, marked by a decreasing emphasis on the re- ligious element and an increasing emphasis on secular mate- rial. The use of the English Dilworth's A New Guide to the English Tongue, after about 1760; the publication of Noah Webster's American Spelling Book, a combined speller and reader, in 1783; and the Columbian Primer and the Franklin Primer, in 1802; soon broke the almost exclusive hold of the New England Primer, with its Shorter Catechism, on the schools. By 1806 the Primer had been discarded in the dame schools of Boston, as well as in the lower schools in most other cities, though it continued to be used in the rural dis- tricts until near 'the beginning of the second quarter of the nineteenth century. Other American textbooks, more liter- ary and less rehgious in character, also helped along the pro- cess of change. Some of the more prominent of these were Caleb Bingham's American Preceptor (1794) and Columbian Orator (1806), Lindley Murray's Grammar (1795), and the Franklin Primer (1802). Readings from these new books now took the place of yeadings from the Bible. BATTLE TO CONTROL THE SYSTEM 175 The Lancastrian schools also gave but little attention to religious instruction as such, though having religious exer- cises, and these, it will be remembered, became for a time exceedingly popular throughout the country. The most significant single fact, and one clearly expressive of the proc- ess which had for long been under way, was the Massa- chusetts Act of 1827 which declared that School Committees should "never direct to be used or purchased in any of the town schools any school books which were calculated to favor the tenets of any particular sect of Christians." This Act merely registered what the slow operation of public opinion had abeady decided. In 1833 Massachusetts gave up taxing for church support, as had Connecticut in 1818. The fight in Massachusetts. The educational awakening in Massachusetts, brought on by the work of Carter and Mann, was to many a rude awakening. Among other things, it revealed that the old school of the Puritans had gradually been replaced by a new and purely American type of school, with instruction adapted to democratic and national rather than religious ends. Mr. Mann stood strongly for such a conception of public education, and being a Unitarian, and the new State Board of Education being almost entirely liberal in religion, an attack was launched against them, and for the first time in our history the cry was raised that "The public schools are Godless schools." Those who believed in the old system of religious instruc- tion, those who bore the Board or its Secretary personal ill- will, and those who desired to break down the Board's au- thority and stop the development of the public schools, united their forces in this first big attack against secular education. Horace Mann was the first prominent educator in America to meet and answer the religious onslaught. A violent attack was opened in both the pulpit and the press. It was claimed that the Board was trying to eUmi- nate the Bible from the schools, to abolish correction, and to "make the schools a counterpoise to religious instruction at home and in Sabbath schools." The local right to demand 176 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES religious instruction was insisted upon. Even as conserva- tive a journal as the Princeton Review declared: The people of each school district have the right to make the schools as religious as they please; and if they cannot agree they have the right severally of withdrawing their proper proportion of the public stock of funds. Mr. Mann felt that a great public issue had been raised which should be answered carefully and fully. In three pubhc letters and in one of his Reports he answered the criticisms and pointed out the errors in the argument. The Bible, he said, was an invaluable book for forming the char- acter of children, and should be read without comment in the schools, but it was not necessary to teach it there. He showed that most of the towns had given up the teaching of the Catechism before the establishment of the Board of Education. He contended that any attempt to decide what creed or doctrine should be taught would mean the ruin of the schools. The attack culminated in the attempts of the religious forces to abolish the State Board of Education, in the legis- latures of 1840 and 1841, which failed dismally. Most of the ortjhodox people of the State took Mr. Mann's side, and Governor Briggs, in one of his messages, commended his stand by inserting the following: Justice to a faithful public officer leads me to say that the inde- fatigable and accomplished Secretary of the Board of Education has performed services in the cause of common schools which will earn him the lasting gratitude of the generation to which he belongs. The attempt to divide the school funds. As was stated earlier, in the beginning it was common to aid church schools on the same basis as the state schools, and sometimes, in the beginnings of state aid, the money was distributed among existing schools without at first establishing any public schools. In many Eastern cities church schools at first shared in the public fimds. In Pennsylvania church and BATTLE TO CONTROL THE SYSTEM 177 private schools were aided from poor-law funds up to 1834. In New Jersey the first general school law of 1829 had been repealed a year later through the united efforts of church and private school interests, who fought the development of state schools, and in 1830 and 1831 new laws had per- mitted all private and parochial schools to share in the small state appropriation for education. After the beginning of the forties, when the Roman Catho- lic influence came in strongly with the increase in Irish immigration to the United States, a new factor was intro- duced and the problem, which had previously been a Pro- testant problem, took on a somewhat different aspect. Largely through the demands of the CathoHcs one of the most interesting fights in the whole process of secularizing American education was precipitated in the City of New York. It will be remembered that the Public School Society, founded in 1805, had become the greatest single educational organization in the city, and had received state money, after 1807, to assist it in its work. In 1820 the Bethel Baptist Church was admitted to a share in the state appro- priation. To this the Public School Society objected, and the legislature in 1825 turned over the quota of New York City to the city council, to divide as it thought best. The council cut off the Baptist schools, three of which were by that time running, and refused to grant public money to any religious society. In 1828 the Public School Society was permitted to levy a local tax to supplement its resoiu-ces, it being estimated that at that time there were 10,000 chil- dren in the city with no opportunities for education. The Society was regarded as a non-denominational organization, though chartered to teach "the subhme truths of rehgion and morality contained in the Holy Scriptures" in its schools. In 1831 the Catholic Orphan Asylum applied to the city council for a grant of funds, which was allowed. The Methodists at once applied for a similar grant, and were 178 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES refused. The religious question now became more and more prominent, though without any progress being made toward its settlement. By 1840 the Massachusetts conflict was on, and in that year Governor Seward, of New York, urged the establishment of schools in the cities of the State in which the teachers should be of the same language and religion as the foreign patrons. This dangerous proposal encouraged the Catholics, and they immediately apphed to the New York City council for a division of the city school fund, and, on being refused, carried their demand to the legislature of the State. A Hebrew and a Scotch Presbyterian Church also applied for their share, and supported the CathoUcs in their demands. On the other hand the Methodists, Epis- copalians, Baptists, Dutch Reformed, and Reformed Pres- byterians united with the Public School Society in opposing all such divison of the funds. The legislature deferred action until 1842, and then did the unexpected thing. The heated discussion of the ques- tion in the city and in the legislature had made it evident that, while it might not be desirable to continue to give funds to a privately organized corporation, to divide them among the quarreling and envious religious sects would be much worse. The result was that the legislature created for the city a City Board of Education, to estabUsh real public schools, and stopped the debate on the question of aid to religious schools by enacting that no portion of the school funds was in the future to be given to any school in which "any religious sectarian doctrine or tenet should be taught, inculcated, or practiced." Thus the real public school sys- tem of New York City was evolved out of this attempt to divide the public funds among the churches. The Public School Society continued for a time, but its work was now done, and in 1853 it surrendered its buildings and property to the City Board of Education and disbanded. The contest in other States. As early as 1830, Lowell, Massachusetts, had granted aid to the Irish Catholic parochial schools in the city, and in 1835 had taken over BATTLE TO CONTROL THE SYSTEM 179 two such schools and maintained them as public schools. In 1853 the representatives of the Koman Catholic Church made a demand on the state legislature for a division of the school fund of the State. To settle the question once for all a constitutional amendment was submitted by the legis- lature to the people, providing that all state and town moneys raised or appropriated for education must be ex- pended only on regularly organized and conducted public schools, and that no religious sect should ever share in such funds. This measure failed of adoption at the election of 1853 by a vote of 65,111 for and 65,512 against, but was re-proposed and adopted in 1855. This settled the question in Massachusetts, as Mann had tried to settle it earlier, and as New Hampshire had settled it in its constitution of 1792 and Connecticut in its constitution of 1818. Other States now faced similar demands, but no demand for a share in or a division of the public school funds, after 1840, was successful. The demand everywhere met with intense opposition, and with the coming of enormous num- bers of Irish Catholics after 1846, and German Lutherans after 1848, the question of the preservation as unified state school systems of the schools just established now became a burning one. Petitions deluged the legislatm-es, and these were met by counter-petitions. Mass meetings on both sides of the question were held. Candidates for office were forced to declare themselves. Anti-Catholic riots occurred in a number of cities. The Native American Party was formed, in 1841, "to prevent the union of Church and State," and to "keep the Bible in the schools." In 1841 the Whig Party, in New York, inserted a plank in its platform against sectarian schools. In 1855 the national council of the Know- Nothing Party, meeting in Philadelphia, in its platform favored public schools and the use of the Bible therein, but opposed sectarian schools. This party carried the elections that year in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maryland, and Kentucky. To settle the question in a final manner legislatures now 180 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES began to propose constitutional amendments to the people of their several States which forbade a division or a diver- sion of the funds, and these were ahnost uniformly adopted at the first election after being proposed. The States, with the date of adoption of such a constitutional prohibition, are: totes amending constUulion Adopted when a dmitted New Jersey- 1844 Wisconsin 1848 Michigan 1850 Oregon 1857 Ohio 1851 Kansas 1859 Indiana 1851 Nevada 1864 Massachusetts 1855 Nebraska 1867 Iowa 1857 West Virginia 1872 Mississippi 1868 Colorado 1876 South Carolina 1868 North Dakota 1889 Arkansas 1868 South Dakota 1889 Illinois 1870 Montana 1889 Pennsylvania 1872 Washington 1889 Alabama 1875 Idaho 1890 Missouri 1875 Wyoming 1890 North Carolina 1876 Utah 1896 Texas 1876 Oklahoma 1907 Minnesota 1877 New Mexico 1912 Georgia 1877 Arizona 1912 California 1879 Louisiana 1879 Florida , 1885 Delaware 1897 In 1875 President Grant, in his message to Congress, urged the submission of an amendment to the Federal Con- stitution making it the duty of the States to support free public schools, free from religious teaching, and forbidding the diversion of school funds to church or sectarian pur- poses. In a later message he renewed the recommendation, but Congress took no action because it considered such action unnecessary. That the people had thoroughly de- cided that the school funds must be kept intact and the system of free public schools preserved may be inferred from the fact that no State admitted to, the Union after BATTLE TO CONTROL THE SYSTEM 181 1858, excepting West Virginia, failed to insert such a pro- vision in its first state constitution. Hence the question may be regarded as a settled one in our American States. Our people mean to keep the public school system united as one state school system, well realizing that any attempt to divide the schools among the different religious denomina- tions (The World Almanac for 1917 lists 49 different denom- inations and 171 different sects in the United States) could only lead to inefficiency and educational chaos. QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. Explain why with us schools naturally developed from the community outward. 2. Why did state organization and compulsion eventually become necessary? 3. Do state support and state control always go together? 4. State your explanation for the older States beginning to establish permanent school funds, often before they had established a state system of schools. 6. What was the reason the local school communities so resented state control, when anxious to accept state funds? 6. Compare the duties of the chief state school oflBcer in your state to- day with those described for the early state officials. 7. Explain how the different titles for the chief state school officer, given on page 160, are "significant of the educational development through which we have passed." 8. Explain how the district system naturally became what it did. 9. Show the gradual transition from church control of education, through state aid of church schools, to secularized state schools. 10. Show why secularized state schools were the only possible solution - for the United States. 11. Show that the quotation from Brown, on page 173, represents the statesman-like manner in which we have handled the question. 12. Show that secularization would naturally take place in the textbooks and the instruction before manifesting itself in the laws. 13. What would be the effect on education if every one followed the declaration of the writer in the Princeton Review (p. 176)? Would the attempt of the Cathohcs to divide the school funds have resulted in the same thing? 14. What would have been the probable result had the New York legis- latme followed Governor Seward's recommendation? 15. Would a good system of high schools ever have been possible had we divided the school funds among the churches? 182 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES TOPICS FOR INVESTIGATION AND REPORT 1. The work of Horace Mann. 2. The work of Henry Barnard. 3. The work of James G. Carter. (Barnard.) 4. The messages of Caleb Mills. (Boone; TutUe.) 6. Barnard's Rhode Island school survey report. (Wells.) 6. The work of Lewis and Stowe in Ohio. (Barnard.) 7. The work of Pierce and Crary in Michigan. (Hoyt-Ford.) 8. The work of Breckinridge in Kentucky. (Barnard.) 9. The work of Calvin Wiley in North Carolina. (Barnard; Knight.) 10. The work of John Swett in California. SELECTED REFERENCES Barnard, Henry, Editor. The American Journal of Education. SI vols. Consult Analytical Index to; 128 pp. Published by United States Bureau of Education, Washington, 1892. Barnard, Henry. American Teachers and Educators. 526 pp. C. W. Bardeen, Syracuse, New York. A reprint of articles found in different volumes of the Ajnfirican Journal of Education, Contains biographies with portraits of Carter, Lewis, Mann, Feirce, Stowe, and others, Barnard, Henry. Memorial Addresses on; in Proceedings of the Naiitmni Education Associaivm, 1901, pp. 390-439. 1. Influence in establishing normal schools — I^^. 8. Influence on schools in West — Dougherty. S. Home Life and Work in Connecticut and Rhode Island — Keyes. 4. As an educational critic — Parker. B. His relation to the establishment of the office of United States Cbmnussioner of Education, with historical reviews — Harris, *Boese, Thos. PublicEducalionintheCityofNewYork. 288pp. Harper & Bros., New York, 1869. An important work, compiled from the documents. Still found in many libraries. Boone, R. G. Education in the United States. 402 pp. D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1889, Chapter VII forms good supplemental reading on the establishment of state and local school supervision, *Brown, S, W, The Secularization of American Education. 160 pp. Teachers College Contributions to Education, No. 49. New York, 1912. A standard work on the subject. Chapters IX and X form especially good supple- mental reading for this chapter. Harrb, Wm. T. "Horace Mann"; in Educational Review, vol, xn, pp, 105- 19, (Sept., 1896,) Same in Proceedings of the National Education Asso- ciation, 1896, pp. 52-63; and in Report of the United States Commissioner of Education, 1896-96, part i, pp, 887-97. BATTLE TO CONTROL THE SYSTEM 183 *Hiiisdale, B. A. Horace Mann, and the Common School Revival in the United States. 326 pp. Chas. Scribner's Sons, New York, 1898. A very good and a very readable sketch of the work and influence of Mann. Hoyt, C. O., and Ford, Ri C. John D. Pierce. 162 pp. Ypsilanti, Mich- igan, 1905. A study of education in the Northwest, and of the founding of the Michigan school system. *Martin, Geo. H. " Horace Mann and the Educational Revival in Massa- chusetts"; in Educational Review, vol. 5, pp. 434-50. (May, 1893.) A good brief sketch. *Martin, Geo. H. The Evolution of the Massachusetts Public School System. 284 pp. D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1894. Chapter IV describes the work of Horace Mann and the revival in Massachusetts. *Monroe, Paul. Cyclopedia of Education. The Macmillan Co., New York, 1911-13. 6 volumes. The following articles form good supplemental references: 1. "Barnard, Henry"; vol. i, pp. 324-25. 2. "Bible in the Schools"; vol. I, pp. 870-77. 3. "Mann, Horace"; vol. iv, pp. 118-20. 4. The historical portion of the articles on state school systems, such as Indiana, New York, etc. 6. "Superintendent of Schools,'' vol. v, pp. 463-64. *Monroe, W. S. The Educational Labors of Henry Barnard. 32 pp. C. W. Bardeen, Syracuse, New York, 1893. A good brief sketch, with bibliography of his writings. *Tuttle, Jos. F. Caleb Mills and Indiana Common Schools; in Barnard's Am£rican Journal of Education, vol. 31, pp. 185-44. A sketch of his life and work, and an outline of his six messages to the people regarding education. Wells, Guy F. "The First School Survey"; in Educational Review, vol. 50, pp. 166-74. (Sept., 1915.) On Barnard's 1845 Rhode Island Report. Winship, A. E. Great American Educators. iSS pp. Werner School Book Co., Chicago, 1900. Good short biographical articles on Mann and Barnard, as well as Mary Lyon, David Page, and others. "Henry Barnard: His Labors in Connecticut and Rhode Island"; in Barnard's American Journal of Education, vol. 1, pp. 659-738. A detailed statement of his work, reproducing many documents. CHAPTER VII THE BATTLE TO EXTEND THE SYSTEM III. Phases of the Battle fob State-Supported Schools — continued 6. The battle to establish the American high school The elementary or common schools which we have seen had been established in the different States, by 1850, sup- plied an elementary or common-school education to the children of the masses of the people, and the primary schools which, as we have also seen, were added, after about 1820, carried this education downward to the needs of the begin- ners. In the rural schools the American school of the 3-Es provided for all the children, from the little ones up, so long as they could advantageously partake of its instruction. Education in advance of this common school training was in semi-private institutions — the academies and colleges — in which a tuition fee was charged. The next struggle came in the attempt to extend the system upward so as to pro- vide to pupils, free of charge, a more complete education than the common schools afforded. The transition Academy. About the middle of the eighteenth century a tendency manifested itself, in Europe as well as in America, to establish higher schools offering a more practical curriculum than the old Latin schools had provided. In America it became particularly evident, after the coming of nationality, that the old Latin grammar- school type of instruction, with its limited curriculum and exclusively college-preparatory ends, was wholly inadequate for the needs of the youth of the land. The result was the gradual dying out of the Latin school and the evolution of the tuition Academy, previously referred to briefly at the close of Chapter III. BATTLE TO EXTEND THE SYSTEM 185 Franklin's Academy at Philadelphia, which began instruc- tion in 1751 with three organized departments — the Latin School, the English School, and the Mathematical School — and which later evolved into the University of Pennsylvania, was probably the first American academy. Others claim the honor of earlier establishment, but this is the first the foimdation of which is perfectly clear. The first academies in Massachusetts were the Dummer Academy, in South Byfield, founded in 1761, and opened for instruction in 1763; and the Phillips Academy at Andover, founded in 1778, and opened for in- struction in 1780. The academy movement spread rapidly during the first half of the nineteenth cen- tury. By 1800 there were 17 academies in Massa- chusetts, 36 by 1820, and 403 by 1850. By 1830 there were, according to Hins- dale, 950 incorporated academies in the United States, and many unincor- porated ones, and by 1850, according to Inglis, there were, of all kinds, 1007 academies in New England, 1636 in the Middle Atlantic States, 2640 in the Southern States, 753 in the Upper Mississippi Valley States, and a total reported for the entire United States of 6085, with 12,260 teachers employed and 263,096 pupils enrolled. The movement gained a firm hold everywhere east of the Missoiu-i River, the States incorporating the largest number being New York with 887, Pennsylvania with '524, Massachusetts with 403, Kentucky with 330, Virginia with 317, North Carolina mth 272, and Tennessee with 264. Some States, as Kentucky and Indiana, provided for a system of county academies, while many States ex- FiG. 31. A Ttpical New England Academy , Pittafield Academy, New Hampshire, where John Swett went to school. 186 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES tended to them some form of state aid. In New York State they foimd a warm advocate in Governor De Witt Clinton, who urged (1827) that they be located at the county towns of the State to give a practical scientific education suited to the wants of farmers, merchants, and mechanics, and also to train teachers for the schools of the State. The greatest period of their development was from 1820 to 1830, though they continued to dominate secondary education imtil 1850, and were very prominent until after the Civil War. Characteristic features. The most characteristic features of these academies were their semi-public control, their broadened curriculum and religious purpose, and the exten- sion of their instruction to girls. The Latin Grammar School was essentially a town free school, maintained by the towns for the higher education of certain of their male children. It was aristocratic in type, and belonged to the early period of class education. With the decUne in zeal for education, after 1750, these tax-supported higher schools largely died out, and in their place private energy and benevolence came to be depended upon to supply the needed higher education. Many of the earlier foundations were from estates left by will for the purpose by some public- spirited citizen, and others were organized by private sub- scriptions, or as private stock companies. A few others were organized along denominational lines, and were under ecclesiastical control. Practically all charged a tuition fee, and most of them had dormitories and boarding halls. The board of trustees was usually a local private corporation, usually reported to the state school authorities, and often was constituted as a self-perpetuating body. Many of these academies became semi-state institutions through the state aid extended to them. One of the main purposes expressed in the endowment or creation of the academies was the estabhshment of courses which should cover a number of subjects having value aside from mere preparation for college, particularly subjects of a modem nature, useful in preparing youths for the changed BATTLE TO EXTEND THE SYSTEM 187 conditions of society and government and business. The study of real things rather than words about things, and useful things rather than subjects merely preparatory to college, became prominent features of the new courses of study. The new emphasis given to the study of EngUsh, mathematics, and book-science is noticeable. New subjects appeared in proportion as the academies increased in num- bers and importance. Of 149 new subjects for study appear- ing in the academies of New York, between 1787 and 1870, 23 appeared before 1826, 100 between 1826 and 1840, and 26 after 1840. Between 1825 and 1828 one half of the new subjects appeared. This also was the maximum period of development of the academies. Among the most com- monly found new subjects were algebra, astronomy, botany, chemistry, general history. United States history, English literature, surveying, intellectual philosophy, declamation, debating, etc. Not being bound up with the colleges, as the earlier Latin grammar schools had largely been, the academies became primarily independent institutions, taking pupils who had completed the English education of the common school and giving them an advanced education in modern languages, the sciences, mathematics, history, and the more useful subjects of the time, with a view to "rounding out" their studies and preparing them for business hfe and the rising professions. They thus built upon instead of running parallel to the common school course, as the old Latin gram- mar school had done (see Fig. 23, p. 99), and hence clearly mark a transition from the aristocratic and some- what exclusive college-preparatory Latin grammar school of colonial times to the more democratic high school of to- day. The academies also served a very useful purpose in supplying to the lower schools the best-educated teachers of the time. Governor CUnton strongly urged their exten- sion because of their teacher-training value. They offered no instruction in pedagogy, except in rare instances, but be- cause of their advanced instruction in subjects related to 188 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES the work of the common school they served as the fore- rumiers of the normal schools. In religious matters, too, the academies also represent such a transition. They were nearly always pervaded by a genuine religious spirit, but were usually kept free from the doctrines of any particular church. The foimdation grant of one of the earUest, the PhiUips Academy, at Andover, Massachusetts, states well this broader religious purpose. The aim of the Academy was to be to lay the foundation of a public free school or ACADEMY for the purposes of instructing Youth, not only in Englidi and Latin Grammar, Writing, Arithmetic, and those Sciences wherein they are commonly taught; but more especially to learn them the GREAT END AND REAL BUSINESS OF LIVING . . . it is again declared that theirs* and principle object of this Institution is the promotion of TRUE PIETY and VIRTUE; the second, in- struction La the English, Latin, and Greek Languages, together with Writing, Arithmetic, Music, and the Art of Speaking; the third, practical Geometry, Logic, and Geography; and the fourth, such other liberal Arts and Sciences or Languages, as opportunity and abUity may hereafter admit, and as the TRUSTEES shall direct. Though this breathes a deep reUgious spirit it does not evi- dence a narrow denominationalism, and this was a char- acteristic of the academies. They bridged over the transi- tion from the ecclesiasticism of the Latin grammar schools of colonial times to the secularized high school of the present. The old Latin grammar school, too, had been maintained exclusively for boys. Girls had been excluded as "Im- proper & inconsistent w* such a Grammar Schoole as y* law injoines, and is y* Designe of this Settlem* . ' ' The new acad- emies soon reversed this situation. Almost from the first they began to be established for girls as well as boys, and in time many became co-educational. In New York State alone 32 academies were incorporated between 1819 and 1853 with the prefix "Female" to their title. In this re- spect, also, these institutions formed a transition to the mod- BATTLE TO EXTEND THE SYSTEM 189 era co-educational high school. The higher education of women in the United States clearly dates from the estab- lishment of the academies. Troy (New York) Seminary, founded by Emma Willard, in 1821, and Mt. Holyoke (Massachusetts) Seminary, foimded by Mary Lyon, in 1836, though not the first institutions for girls, were never- theless important pioneers in the higher education of women. The demand for higher schools. The different move- ,ments tending toward the building up of free pubHc school Uystems in the cities and States, which we have described in the two preceding chapters, and which became clearly d^ned in the Northern States after 1825, came just at the titffe when the Academy had reached its maximum develop- ment. The settlement of the question of general taxation for education, the elimination of the rate-biU by the cities and later by the States, the establishment of the American common school as the result of a long native evolution (Fig. 23, p. 99), and the complete establishment of public control over the entire elementary-school system, all tended to bring the semi-private tuition academy into question. Many asked why not extend the public school system up- ward to provide the necessary higher education for all in one common state-supported school. The existence of a number of colleges, basing their entrance requirements on the completion of the classical course of the academy, and the establishment of a few embryo state universi- ties in the new States of the West and the South, natiu-ally raised the further question of why there should be a gap in the pubhc school system. The increase of wealth in the cities tended to increase the number who passed through the elementary course and could profit by more extended education; the academies had popularized the idea of more advanced education; while the new manufacturing and com- mercial activities of the time called for more training than the elementary schools afforded, and of a different type from that demanded for entrance by the small colleges of the time. 190 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES The demand for an upward extension of the public school, which would provide academy instruction for the poor as well as the rich, and in one common pubUc higher school, now made itself felt. As the colonial Latin grammar school had represented the educational needs of a society based on classes, and the academies had represented a transition period and marked the growth of a middle class, so the ris- ing democracy of the second quarter of the nineteenth cen- tury now demanded and obtained the democratic high school, supported by the pubKc and equally open to all, to* meet the educational needs of a new society built on the basis of a new and aggressive de- mocracy. Where, too, the academy had represented in a way a mis- sionary effort — that of a few pro- viding something for the good of the people — the high school on the other hand represented a coopera- tive effort on the part of the people to provide something for them- selves. The first American high school The first high school in the United States was established in Boston, in 1821. For three years it was known as the "English Classical School," but in 1824 the school ap- pears in the records as the "Eng- lish High School." The name seems to be Scotch in ori^, having been suggested by the description of the High School at Edinburgh, by Professor Griscom, in an article in the North American Review, then published in Boston, in Jan- uary, 1824. In 1826 Boston also opened the first high school for girls, but abolished it in 1828, due to its great popularity, and instead extended the course of study for girls in the elementary schools. The matter of establishing an English high school was Fig. 32. The First High School in the United States Established at Boston in 1821. BATTLE TO EXTEND THE SYSTEM 191 first considered in 1820, and a committee was appointed to consider the matter further. This committee reported, in January, 1821, among other things, that: The mode of education now adopted, and the branches of knowl- edge that are taught at our English grammar [elementary] schools are not sufficiently extensive nor otherwise calculated to bring the powers of the mind into operation nor to quality a youth to fill usefully and respectably many of the stations, both public and private, in which he may be placed. A parent who wishes to give a child an education that shall fit him for active life, and shall serve as a foundation for eminence in his profession, whether mercantile or mechanical, is under the necessity of giving him a different education from any which our public schools can now furnish. Hence many children are separated from their parents and sent to private academies in the vicinity, to acquire that instruction which cannot be obtained at the public seminaries. The report recommended the establishment of a new type of higher school. The report was approved; the course of study as recommended was adopted; and the school was opened in May, 1821, as a three-year high school. Boys to be admitted were required to be at least twelve years of age, instead of nine, as in the Latin grammar school (see Fig. 42, p. 226), and to "be well acquainted with reading, writing, English grammar in all its branches, and arithmetic as far as simple proportion." Three years later English literature and geography were added. The teach- ers were required to have been educated at some univer- sity. No other language than English was to be taught; English, declamation, science, mathematics and its appK- cations, history, and logic were the principal studies. The coin-se of instruction was definitely built upon that of the English reading and writing and grammar schools, instead of paralleling these. It was in consequence clearly Ameri- can in natrn-e and purpose, rejecting entirely the English parallel-class-education idea of the Latin grammar school. The aim of the school, too, as stated in the report of the com- mittee, was quite practical. This aim was restated in the 192 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES Regulations of the School Committee for the school, adopted in 1833, which read: It was instituted in 1821, with the design of furnishing the young men of the city who are not intended for a collegiate course of study, and who have enjoyed the usual advantages of the other public schools, with the means of completing a good English edu- cation to fit them for active life or qualify them for eminence in private or public station. 112,000 |:'' '.■':'•."•■•; ':| The Latin Grammar School [The Tuition Academy {The Free Pablic High School (ProportiDDa] heights fodleate eatfmated relative developmedt) ■■-'■'■'■'irflffpf,. 1630 1660 1700 1.51. .._«. 18 PiQ. 33. The Development op Secondart Schools in the Dnited States The transitional character of the Academy is well showo in this diagram. Josiah Quincy, who was mayor of Boston at the time of the establishment of the school, gives further corroborative evi- dence, in his Municipal History of the Town and City of Boston, as to the purpose in estabUshing the new high school. He says: In 1820 an English Classical School was established, having for its object to enable the mercantile and mechanical classes to obtain an education adapted for those children, whom their parents wished to qualify for active life, and thus relieve them from the necessity of incurring the expense incident to private academies. BATTLE TO EXTEND THE SYSTEM 193 The free public high school thus arose, to provide at pub- lic expense what the public schools had failed to provide, and had been provided privately. The history of many an extension of public education since that day has had a simi- lar origin. This same conception of the aim and purpose of the new high school is well expressed in the First Annual Report of the High School Society of New York City, which opened a pubhc high school there in 1825. This document reads: It should never be forgotten, that the grand object of this insti- tution is to prepare the boys for such advancement, and such pur- suits ia life, as they are destined to after leaving it. All who enter the school do not intend to remaiu for the same period of time — and many who leave it exjject to enter immediately upon the active business of life. It is very plain that these circumstances must require corresponding classifications of scholars and of studies. Some pursuits are nevertheless common to all. All the scholars in this department attend to Spelling, Writing, Arithmetic, Geography, Elocution, Composition, Drawing, Philosophy, Nat- ural History, and Book-Keeping. Philosophy and Natural His- tory are taught chiefly by lectures and by questions; and these branches, together with Elocution and Composition, are severally attended to one day in every week. The Massachusetts Law of 1827. Though Portland, Maine, established a high school in 1821; Worcester, Massa- chusetts, in 1824; and New Bedford, HaverhiU, and Salem, Massachusetts, in 1827; copying the Boston idea, the real beginning of the American high school as a distinct insti- tution dates from the Massachusetts Law of 1827, enacted through the influence of James G. Carter. This law formed the basis of all subsequent legislation in Massachusetts, and deeply influenced development in other States. The law is significant in that it required a high school in every town having 500 famihes or over, in which should be taught United States history, bookkeeping, algebra, geometry, and surveying, while in every town having 4000 inhabitants or over, instruction in Greek, Latin, history, rhetoric, and 194 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES logic must be added. A heavy penalty was attached for failure to comply with the law. In 1835 the law was amended so as to permit any smaller town to form a high school as well. This Boston and Massachusetts legislation clearly initi- ated the public high school movement in the United States. It was there that the new type of higher school was founded, there that its curriculum was outlined, there that its stand- ards were established, and there that it developed earliest and best. With two or three exceptions the high schools of the United States, says Inglis, owe the basis of their aim, theory, and practice to the high school first created and earliest developed in Massachusetts. As in most other educational matters, Massachusetts led the way in the older Latin grammar school education and in the newer type of second- ary education — the public high school. It is all the more to her glory that no direct influence from other countries has been traced in regard to the high school system. The American high school was an institution peculiarly adapted to the needs and wants of the American people, and is an everlasting tribute to the democracy of Massachusetts and America. Among the early high schools estabhshed before 1850, the dates of which seem certain, may be mentioned the fol- lowing: 1821. Boston, Mass. 1838. Philadelphia, Pa. Portland, Me. Cambridge, Mass. 1824. Worcester, Mass. Taunton, Mass. 1825. New York City. 1839. Buffalo, N.Y. 1826. Boston H. S. for Girls (abold. 1841. Springfield, Mass. 1828). 1842. Binghampton, N.Y. 1827. New Bedford, Mass. (abold. 1843. New Orleans, La. 1829). Providence, R.I. Salem, Mass. 1844. Detroit, Mich. Haverhill, Mass. 1845. Chelsea, Mass. 1829. Burlington, Vt. 1846. Cleveland, Ohio. 1830. Fitchburg, Mass. 1847. Cincinnati, Ohio. 1831. Lowell, Mass. Hartford, Conn. 1835. Augusta, Me. 1849. Toledo, Ohio. Brunswick, Me. Lyim, Mass. Medford, Mass. Lawrence, Mass. 1837. Pittston, Me. Lancaster, Pa. Harrisburg, Pa. Fig. 34. The First High School at Providence, Rhode Island Established by city ordmance in 1838. In 1843 a superintendent of schools was employed, this building dedicated, and the bigh school opened, with the superintendent acting as its principal. The floor plan shows how completely it was a teacher-and -text book high school. Almost all high school buildings erected before 1860 were of this type. 196 EDUCATION EST THE UNITED STATES The struggle to establish and maintain high schools. The development of the American high school, even in its home, was slow. Up to 1840 not much more than a dozen high schools had been established in Massachusetts, and not more than an equal number in the other States. The Acad- emy was the dominant institution, the district system for common schools stood in the way of any higher develop- ment, the cost of maintenance was a factor, and the same opposition to an extension of taxation to include high schools was manifested as was earHer shown toward the establish- ment of common schools. The early state legislation, as had been the case with the common schools, was neatly al- ways permissive and not mandatory. Massachusetts forms a notable exception in this regard. The support for the schools had to come practically entirely from increased local taxation, and this made the struggle to establish and main- tain high schools in any State for a long time a series of local struggles. Years of propaganda and patient effort were required, and, after the establishment of a high school in a community, constant watchfulness was necessary to prevent its abandonment. Many of the early schools ran for a time, then were discontinued for a period, and later were reestablished. In an address given at the dedication of a new building at Norwich, Connecticut, in 1856, one of the founders of the school thus describes these early struggles to establish and maintain high schools: . . . The lower schools up to the grade of the grammar school were well sustained. Men were to be found in' all our communities who had been themselves educated up to that point, and under- stood, practically, the importance of such schools, in suflBcient numbers to control popular sentiment, and secure for them ample appropriations and steady support. But the studies of the high school, Algebra, Geometry, Chemistry, Natural Philosophy, Ancient History, Latin, Greek, French and German, were a perfect terra incognita to the great mass of the people. While the High School was a new thing and while a few enlightened citizens had the control of it, in numerous instances it was carried to a high BATTLE TO EXTEND THE SYSTEM 197 state of perfection. But after a time the burden of taxation would begin to be felt. Men would discuss the high salaries paid to the accomplished teachers which such schools demand, and would ask, "To what purpose is this waste?" Demagogues, keen-scented as wolves, would snuff the prey. "What do we want of a High School to teach rich men's children?" they would shout. "It is a shame to tax the poor man to pay a man $1800 to teach the children to make a;'s and pot-hooks and gabble parley-vous." The work would go bravely on; and on election day, amid great excitement, a new school committee would be chosen, in favor of retrenchment and popular rights. In a single day the fruit of years of labor would be destroyed. The struggle to establish and maintain high schools in Massachusetts and New York preceded the development in most other States, because there the common school had been established earlier. In consequence, the struggle to extend and complete the pubKc school system came there earlier also. The development was likewise more peaceful there, and came more rapidly. In Massachusetts this was in large part a result of the educational awakening started by James G. Carter and Horace Mann. In New York it was due to the early support of Governor De Witt Clinton, and the later encouragement and state aid which came from the Regents of the University of the State of New York. Maine, Vermont* and New Hampshire were like Massachusetts in spirit, and followed closely its ex- ample. In Rhode Island and New Jersey, due to old condi- tions, and in Connecticut, due to the great decline in educa- tion there after 1800, the high school developed much more slowly, and it was not imtil after 1865 that any marked de- velopment took place in these States. The democratic West soon adopted the idea, and established high schools as soon as cities developed and the needs of the population war- ranted. In the South the main high school development dates from relatively recent times. Establishing the high school by court decisions. In many States, legislation providing for the estabUshment of high 198 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES schools was more diflScult to secure than in New England and New York, and often when secured was afterward at- tacked in the courts. In most of the States shown on the map in Figure 35, west of New England and New York, the constitutionality of the estabhshment of the high school or of taxation therefor was at some time attacked in the courts and decided in favor of the schools. r ^"yfy^ S •/^v :^^ yXiw >»■ ,\ ^M^ ^. \ \ • " ■' • 1 • * y • • 1 • n ^"'ws^M 1 ^g Fig. 37. A StnuMEE School From BoIIes's SpeUing Book, 1831. CHARACTER OF THE SCHOOLS ESTABLISHED 217 reader, marked an epoch in the teaching of spelling and reading. , It was after the plan of Dilworth, but was thor- oughly American in character and put up in better teaching form. It at once superseded the expiring New England Primer in most of the cities. Spelling and word analysis now became and long con- tinued to be one of the most popular subjects in the schools, and inter- school ' 'spelling matches" became a favorite social amusement of both the old and the young. So great was the sale of the book that the author was able to support his family during the twenty years (1807-1827) he was at work on his Dictionary of the English Language en- tirely from the royalties from the Speller, though the copyright returns to EhOWLEDGEuuI Fame uegalnM not tiysmprin; Jiim mpro Uaa tVian nnf He that would win, must LABOHB for the prize: mm were less tnan one .h, mu. the youth, from inping a, b. c, cent a eopy. At the time Attaine, »t length, a MMter'e high degree. of his death (1843) the Fig. 38. Frontispiece to Noah Web- sales were still approxi- steb's"Ambbican Spelling Book" mately a million copies T""' " f™" "■« ^^^ Edition, reduced one third ■ , . , in size. a year, and durmg the thirty-five-year period from 1855 to 1890, when the copyright was controlled by D. Appleton & Company, of New York, its sales still averaged 865,419 copies a year. In 1890 the American Book Company took over the copyright, and the book may still be obtained from them. This was the first distinctively American textbook, and the most popular of all our early schoolbooks. Its publication was followed by a long line of spellers and readers, the most famous of 318 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES which were Webster's The Little Reader's Assistant (1790); The Columbian Primer (180^), a modernized and secularized imitation of the old New England Primer (see Fig. 30); the Franklin Primer (1802), "containing a new and ufeful felection of Moral Leffons adorned with a great variety of elegant cuts calculated to ftrike a lafting impreffion on the Tender Minds of Children"; and Caleb Bingham's American Preceptor (1794) and Columbian Orator (1806). The Preceptcrr was a graded reader and soon replaced the Bible as an advanced reading book, while the Orator was one of the earliest of a long list of books containing selections from poetry and .prose for reading and declama- tion. These books suited well the new democratic spirit of the times, and became very popular. Selections from English poetry and the patriotic orations of Revolutionary leaders predominated. Many were illus- trated with cuts, showing how to bow, stand, make gestures suitable to different types of declamation, etc. The speeches of John Adams, Hancock, and in particular Patrick Henry's "Give me Liberty or give me Death" were soon being declaimed in the schoolhouses all over the land. The English Dilworth's The Schoolmaster's Assistant, "being a compendium of Arithmetic, both practical and theoretical, in five parts," which went through many American editions before 1800, did much to popularize the study of arithmetic. In 1788 Nicholas Pike's Arithmetic:, the first American text, appeared. It was a voluminous work of five hundred and twelve pages. It was soon "ufed as a claffical book in all the Newengland Univerfities," but was too advanced for the schools. A number of briefer American arithmetics soon appeared and, in 1821, with the publication of Warren Colburn's First Lessons in Ariih- Fig. 39. Making THE PrELIMI- NART Bow TO THE Audience From Lovell's The Young Speaker, IS44. CHARACTER OF THE SCHOOLS ESTABLISHED 219 metic on the Plan of Pestalozzi, another famous American textbook, one that must be ranked with Webster's Speller, appeared. Arithmetic, and especially mental arithmetic, now became one of the great subjects of the common schools. These early books, together with a long list of imitators, firmly fixed reading, spelling, declamation, and arithmetic as the fundamental subjects for the evolving American common school. New subjects of study appear. New subjects of study also began to appear. The English Dilworth's A New Guide to the English Tongue had made the beginnings of the teaching of English word usage, and in 1795 the first of a large number of editions of Lindley Murray's Grammar made its appearance. This was soon followed by an almost equally popular text by Caleb Bingham, known as The Young Lady's Accidence (1799). The title page of this book declared it to be "a fhort and eafy Introduction to EngUsh Grammar. Def igned principally for the uf e of young Learners, more efpecially thofe of the FAIR SEX, though proper for either." These two books became very popular, were extensively used and imitated, and firmly fixed the new study of English Grammar as a common-school subject. The pubhcation of the Reverend Jedediah Morse's Geog- raphy, in 1784, and his Elements of Geography, in 1795, added another subject which also became very popular. In 1821 the first Uttle booklet on United States history ap- peared, though some historical material had been included in the earher readers under the subject of Geography. In 1822 Goodrich's A History of the United States was pub- lished, and this at once leaped mto popular favor. One hundred and fifty thousand copies had been sold by 1832, when Noah Webster's History of the United States appeared to contest its popularity. Both these histories long con- tinued popular as school texts, and the introduction of a study of the Constitution of the United States by Webster into his book marked the beginning of the study of Civics in our grammar schools. 220 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES The elementary-school subjects fixed. The publication of these new texts opened up entirely new possibilities of instruction in the evolving American common school. The teaching of the old subjects was greatly enriched and ex- panded, while the new subjects made possible more advanced instruction and the upward extension and lengthening of the common-school course. John Howland, founder of the Providence schools, writing in 1824, said that up to about that time the instruction there had remained as prescribed in 1800 (p. 223), but that grammar and geography had re- cently been introduced. Of these subjects he said: Up to this time I had never seen a grammar — a sorry confes- sion for a school committeeman, some may think — but observing that The Young Lady's Accidence was in use in the Boston schools, I sent to the principal bookseller in that town, and purchased one hundred copies for the use of ours. The introduction of grammar was quite an advance in the system of education, as it was not taught at all except in the better class of private schools. The same was true of geography, which had never been taught before. I sent to Boston and purchased as many as were wanted for our schools. Dr. Morse, of Charlestown, had published the first volume of his geography, and that was the work we adopted. Many thought it an unnecessary study, and some in private objected to it because it would take ofiE their atten- tion from arithmetic. But it met with no public opposition. A race now began between arithmetic and the new subject of English grammar -^ a race unhappily too long continued — to see which subject should take the place of first impor- tance in the school. Fact-geography and fact-history also became important older-pupil subjects. Sewing and knit- ting also became common subjects of instruction for the girls, and, as the culmination of such instruction, each girl made a "Sampler," of which the copy opposite is a good example. These were made on linen, though in the girls' "boarding-schools" elaborate work on silk was sometimes executed. The name "Sampler" came from the expected future use in showing the proper form of letters to be used CHARACTER OF THE SCHOOLS ESTABLISHED 221 in marking the household linen. Much attention also was paid to manners, morals, and good behavior. These repre- sented the secularized successor of the old religious instruc- ABCDEFGHIJK LMNOPQRSTU VWXYZ.;234^. r abcdefghijklmnop q StUVWyZ.78;'/d/; a:b c J — V / 1864 vim J b J • 7 s. V ^ 2- State Nonnal School • — y—-^ of the Teachers' Institute Fig. 48. Teachek Traininq in the United States bt 1860 A few private training schools also existed, though less than half a dozen in all. Agun compare this development with the spread of New England people, as shown in the figure on page 73. into but fifteen other States by 1860, and these all in the northeastern quarter of the United States. But few books of a professional nature, aside from the School Joumak which began to appear in the twenties and thirties (p. 260) had as yet been published. Samuel R. Hall's Lectures on Schoolkeeping, pubhshed in 1829, was the first professional book for teachers published in America, and David Page's Theory and Practice of Teaching, first issued in 1847, was one of the earliest, as well as one of the most successful of all professional books. Our best teachers were graduates CHARACTER OF THE SCHOOLS ESTABLISHED 243 of the academies and the rising high schools, and the masters in the larger cities of the East were nearly always well- educated men, but the great mass of the teachers had little education beyond that of the schools they themselves taught. Terms were short, wages low and paid in part through "boarding-around" arrangements, and profes- sional standards, outside a few cities, were almost completely absent. In place of the written examination in many sub- jects or the professional training now quite generally de- manded for a teacher's certificate, in the earlier period teachers were given a short personal examination "in regard to moral character, learning, and ability to teach school." Not being satisfied with such requirements, the cities were early permitted to conduct separate examinations for the teachers they employed. It was customary in rural dis- tricts to hold both a summer and a winter term, and to con- tract separately for each. Women frequently taught in the summer, but the teachers in the winter were practically always men. The cities then, as since, drew the best of the teachers, both in training and character. In the rural districts the teachers were men who worked on the farms or at day labor in the summer, and frequently left much to be desired. Con- tracts and rules of the time not infrequently required that the teacher conduct himself properly and "refrain from all spirituous liquors while engaged in this school, and not to enter the school house when intoxicated, nor to lose time through such intemperance." On the contrary, many schoolmasters of the time were excellent drill masters and kind of heart, and well merited George Arnold's description: He taught his scholars the rule of three. Writing, and reading, and history too; - He took the little ones up on his knee. For a kind old heart in his breast had he, And the wants of the littlest child he knew. The required studies were reading, writing, spelling, and arithmetic everywhere, with geography and grammar gen- 244 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES erally added by 1845. Composition, United States history, and simple bookkeeping were usually included for the town schools. These subjects the teacher obUgated himself in his contract to teach "to all the youth of the district that may be placed under his care," and they constituted the instruction of the school and were taught by methods quite different from those now in use. Oral instruction, the word method in teaching reading, language lessons, instruc- tions about realities, elementary science, geography built on the child's environment instead, of the pages of a book, arithmetic by analysis instead of sums by rule, music, draw- ing, reasoning instead of memorizing, and teaching that comes from the full mind of the teacher rather than from the pages of a book — with all of which we are now so fa- miliar — were hardly known in the forties in the best of our schools, or before 1860 outside of the more progressive cities. It was also made the duty of the teacher "to keep strict rules and good order," and the ability to discipline the school was an important part of the teacher's qualifications. There was little "soft pedagogy" in the management of either town or rural schools in the days before the Civil War. The schoolhouses and their equipment. Up to the time Henry Barnard began to write on schoolhouse construction (about 1840), no one had given any particular attention to the subject. Schoolhouses were "home-made," and, out- side of the few large cities, were largely built without plans or specifications. For one of the early schoolhouses built in Providence, Rhode Island, the entire contract consisted of a very rough pen-and-ink sketch, on a single sheet of paper, showing windows, rafters, steeple, and length and breadth, and across this the contractor had written: For the confider one thoufan two hundred dollars erect & build finde the matearels & paintent the fame and lay the foundations build the chimney and compleated faid building fit for youse; and signed his name. Many schoolhouses in the towns and rural districts were built in a similar manner until well after CHARACTER OF THE SCHOOLS ESTABLISHED 245 the close of the Civil War. In the rural districts "a weather- boarded box" or an old log schoolhouse, with two or three windows on each side, a few wooden benches, and an un- jacketed stove in the middle of the room, answered all needs. In the cities a very ornate school architecture came in after the building of high schools began, but few high-school build- ings erected before 1860 contained any rooms beside class recitation rooms, an oflBce, and an assembly hall (see Fig. 34, p. 195). The instruction was stiU almost entirely book instruction, and little else than recitation rooms were needed. The school furniture consisted of long home-made benches in the rural schools, and double desks in the cities. The Fig. 49. One of the "Weatheh-boarded ^^^^ tf ^^^ ^ ^^^^^^^^^ tH d L Ik 1 ^^ 1800 to 1845 1845 to 1860 Fig. 50. School Desks before 1860 These represent the best types of city school furniture in general use at the time. Quincy School, built in Boston in 1848, introduced a new type of school architecture in that the building contained a small classroom for each teacher — twelve in all, with seats for fifty-five pupils in each — an assembly room, a coat and 246 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES cloak room off each classroom, and "a separate desk and chair for each pupil, this being the first grammar school- house," wrote the principal thirty years later, "hCTe or elsewhere, so far as I know, into which this feature was introduced." Blackboards were not in use until about 1830, and globes and maps were not common till later. The early geogra- phies contained almost no maps, and the early histories few illustrations. Steel pens did not replace the use of quills until near the middle of the nineteenth century. Purposes in instruction. The knowledge aim dominated all instruction, itnowledge was the important thing, as it was rather firmly believed that knowledge and virtue were somewhat synonymous terms. The fundamental subjects of the common-school course were drilled upon, and the trustees or the school committee, when they visited the school, examined the pupils as to' their ability to read and spell, inspected the copybooks, and quizzed the pupils as to their knowledge of the rules of arithmetic and grammar, and the location of towns and rivers and capes. Competi- tive spelling and reading contests were common, to write a good and ornate hand was a matter of note, while the solving of arithmetical puzzles, parsing and diagramming of sentences, and locating geographical points were accom- plishments which marked the higher stages of a com- nion-school education. Arithmetic and English grammar became firmly fixed as the great subjects of the com- mon-school course of study, and the momentum these two subjects accumulated in the early days of public education is as yet far from spent. rV. The Civil War checks Development Education in the Southern States. But little mention has so far been made of the school systems of the Southern States, for the reason that education there, as has already been stated, was much slower in getting under way than in the Northern States. In most of the Southern States, de- ^ CHARACTER OF THE SCHOOLS ESTABLISHED 247 spite some promising beginnings, an educational system was not created until after the close of the Civil War. A brief digest of the important educational legislation enacted in the different States before the outbreak of the war will make this evident. 1. The original States Delaware. State school fund created in 1796, but unused until 1817; then $1000 a year given to each county to educate pauper children in reading, writing, and arithmetic. In 1821 aid extended to Sunday Schools. First permissive free school law in 1821, and schools of Wilmington begun. People unwilling to tax themselves, and by 1833 only 133 school districts organized in the State. In 1843 an educational convention adopted a resolution opposing taxation for education, and little more was done until 1861, the date of the first law to really start the schools. Maryland. Many academies chartered, and lottery much used before 1817. School fund begun by a bank tax, in 1812, and first property tax authorized, in 1816, to provide charity schools. Lot- tery to raise $50,000 a year for five years for such schools, between 1816 and 1821. First general school law in 1825, providing for State Superintendent and Lancastrian schools. Too advanced, never in operation, law repealed and superintendency abolished in 1827, and little more done. Virtually no school system outside of Baltimore iby 1860. Real beginning of state school system dates from 1865. Virginia. Optional school law in 1796, but little done under it. Literary Fund created in 1810. Second school law in 1818, pro- vided for a charity school system, and $45,000 a year state aid for such. By 1843 estimated that one half the indigent children in the State were receiving sixty days schooling each year. Much educational agitation after 1837. Third school law in 1846, pro- viding for school districts, taxation, and county school commis- sioners. Good law, but optional, and as only nine counties adopted it, the charity school law of 1818 virtually continued. The Civil War ended the old system; real begiiming of state school system dates from 1870. North Carolina. This State made a good beginning before the Civil War, and an excellent record during the war. State univer- sity opened in 1795. Many academies chartered, and lottery much 248 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES used to aid them. School law reported in 1817, but failed of pas- sage. Charity-school law reported in 1824, but also failed. Lan- castrian system proposed in 1833, and also failed. Elementary school system created in 1839, and state superintendency in 1852. Schools well under way after 1852. From 1853 to 1865 history of school system almost a biography of the Scotch-Irish Superin- tendent, Calvin H. Wiley. Temptation to use the $2,000,000 school fund for war needs resisted, and schools kept open during the war. System abolished by reconstruction government in 1865. Present system dates from 1868. Wiley, in his last Report, well said: To the lasting credit of North Carolina, her public. schools survived the terrible shock of the cruel war. . . . The common schools lived and dis- charged their useful mission through all the gloom and trials of the conflict, and when the last gun was fired, and veteran armies once hostile were meeting and embracing in peace upon our soil, the doors were still kept open, and they numbered their pupils by scores of thousands. South Carolina. First law, in 1811, created virtually a charity school for Charleston. Report in 1836 recommended charity schools for the State, but no action. In 1854 Charleston asked to be permitted to provide free schools; granted in 1856. Between 1790 and 1856 state constitution amended seven times, without including any mention of education. Present state school system dates from 1868. Georgia. The first state university chartered here in 1784, and opened in 1800. In 1817 a fund created for free schools, and in 1822 income designated for tuition of poor children. By 1820 thirty-one academies chartered, and academy fund permitted to be used to aid charity schools. Free School Societies begun in Savannah in 1818, and Augusta in 1821, to provide charity schools. In 1837 the academy fimd turned over to the common-sqhool fund, and a good free-school system established, but in 1840 law repealed and charity-school system reestablished. In 1858 word "poor" eliminated from school law, but by 1860 only one county had established a free-school system. Present state school system dates from the Law of 1870. S. New States, in order of admission Kentucky. Admitted in 1792. No general interest in education before 1820. In 1821 first provision for aid to common schools and a fund created, but piroved abortive, and legislature used the fund. CHARACTER OF THE SCHOOLS ESTABLISHED 249 In 1830 first general law for schools, but proved a dead letter, due to lack of interest in education. In 1837 real interest began, and law provided for district organization. State Board of Education, and State Superintendent of Schools. At that time estimated that one half of the children of the State had never been to school, and one third of the adult population illiterate. Louisville schools date from 1819, were made free during 1829-30, and permanently after 1840. In 1848 the debt of the State to the school fund was acknowledged (see p. 138), in 1849 the first state school tax was levied, and the new constitution of 1850 made the first mention of education. By 1853 a school existed in each county for the first time. The Civil War interrupted the old system; present state system dates from 1870. Tennessee. Admitted in 1796. In 1817 declared that "colleges and academies should form a complete system of education." First general school law, in 1830, provided for districts, trustees, and coimty commissioners, but no tax for maintenance. It also provided that no distinctions be made between rich and poor in schools. State school fund safeguarded in new constitution of 1834. In 1835 Secretary of State made ex-officio State Superin- tendent of Schools. Schools increased, but system lacked vigor before 1860. From 1860 to 1867 schools closed. Real beginnings of present state school system made by the Law of 1870. Louisiana. Admitted in 1812. A University of Louisiana cre- ated in 1805, and a system of free schools in 1806, after the French mo(^l, but not put into effect. No mention of education in con- stitution of 1812, and nothing done toward a state system of free schools imtil new constitution of 1845. Law of 1847 began sys- tem, provided for state superintendent, and taxation. By 1851 estimated that one half the children of the State were attending public schools. The Civil War put an end to this system. Though the military government established schools in 1864, the present school system dates from 1877, when the withdrawal of Northern rule left the people free to inaugurate one of their own choice. Mississippi. Admitted in 1817. Schools permitted in 1818. Literary Fund created in 1821, to be used in each county for edu- cation of selected poor in reading, writing, and arithmetic. In 1833 the fimd was turned over to the counties, and the state system abandoned. Much agitation for schools from 1844, and new law of 1846 permitted schools, but no tax for without consent, each year, of majority of heads of families. This nullified the law. 250 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES Some special legislation to permit cities to organize schools. Present state system dates from 1868. Alabama. Admitted in 1819. Constitutional mandate ineffec- tive. School law for Mobile in 1826, and first general law for State in 1854. Latter provided for a state superintendent, county com- missioners, a city superintendent for Mobile, and tuition schools, with aid from public funds to private teachers. The Civil War ended this system; real state system dates from 1875, when the people became free to adopt one in harmony with local wishes. Missouri. Admitted in 1821. First public school in State organized at St. Louis, in 1838. First permissive law in 1839, but too advanced in nature, and little done under it. State univer- sity opened in 1844. Secretary of State made ex-offido state school oflBcer in 1841, and state superintendency created in 1853. First high school in St. Louis in 1853. The Civil War interrupted the schools which had been created; present state school system dates from 1865. Arkansas. Admitted in 1836. First general school law in 1843, providing for sale of 16th section lands, distribution of funds, and examination of teachers. In 1853 Secretary of State made ex- offido Superintendent of Schools. By 1854 estimated that 25 per cent of children of school age in some form of school. The Civil War ended this system; present state system dates from 1867. Florida. Admitted in 1845. In 1849 schools authorized, and in 1850 county tax for schools permitted. By 1860 a sentiment favorable to education had developed, but little had been accfem- plished up to then. Beal beginning of state school system (£tes from 1869, and real progress from about 1880. Texas. The Mexican Government had organized Lancastrian tuition schools in the State in 1829. First constitution, in 1836, provided for state superintendent of schools. In 1840 each county given land endowments for schools, thus creating the county school funds. Entered the American Union, in 1845, and consti- tution provided for state schools. First law providing for their establishment in 1854, and first school established that year at San Antonio. The Civil War checked this development, and the present system dates from 1866. The problem faced by the South. It will be seen from the above digest that, although the "common-school awak- ening" which took place in the Northern States after CHARACTER OF THE SCHOOLS ESTABLISHED 251 Horace Mann began his work in Massachusetts (1837) was felt in some of the Southern States as well, and although some very commendable beginnings had been made in a few of these States before 1860, the estabUshment of state educational systems in the South was in reality the work of the period following the close of the Civil War. The com- ing of this conflict, evident for a decade before the storm broke, tended to postpone further educational development. Following the close of the war the different Southern States started the work of building up state free public school systems with an energy which their depleted resources and lost school funds hardly warranted. This they did because they realized that the education of all classes of their people was the surest means for promoting the prosperity of the South. Robert E. Lee well expressed the best Southern feeling when he wrote, in 1866, to his friend Leyburn: So greatly have those interests [educational] been disturbed at the South, and so much does its future condition depend upon the rising generation, that I consider the proper education of its youth one of the most important objects now to be attained, and one from which the greatest benefits may be expected. Nothing will compensate us for the depression of the standard of our moral and in tactual culture, and each State should take the most energetic measures to revive the schools and colleges, and, if possible, to increase the facilities for instruction and to elevate the standard of learning. ^ It was a tremendous undertaking, and called for much energy and pluck from a people whose property had been largely swept away and whose school funds had been largely lost. In addition, foiu- millions of uneducated new citizens were added to the educational burden of the South as a result of the Civil War. The National Congress was re- peatedly appealed to (1881-89) for assistance, and although a bill intended to aid the South passed the Senate three times, it each time failed of passage in the House. As a result the aid which would have been so useful and which 252 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES ought to have been extended was denied. In consequence it required nearly a quarter of a century for the Southern States to get their school systems satisfactorily under way, and to take their proper educational position among the States of the Nation. Development checked and changed in direction. The coming of the Civil War largely checked development at the North as well. The war itself absorbed the energies of our people, and it was a decade and a half after its close before any marked signs of expansion and development were evident, even in the North. The second quarter of the nineteenth century had been essentially a period of the establishment of the American free public school in the minds of the people and in the laws of the States. By 1850 the main Unes for future development had been laid down, and the main battles had been won. The American people had definitely decided that they intended to establish and maintain a series of state systems of free, publicly controlled, tax-supported, non-sectarian common schools, and that these common-school systems should provide whatever educational advantages the needs of the States might seem to demand. Many minor points still remained to be de- cided, and many local struggles still remained to be fought out, but the main lines of future development had been firmly established. After 1850 a number of additions to and extensions of the public-education idea began to be noted — evidences of a desire to extend the school systems and to make of them more useful instruments for state and national service. Evening schools, probably first begun in New York City, about 1833, began to be added by a number of cities to their school systems, and the first evening high school was opened in Cincinnati, in 1856. Music had been introduced into the schools of Boston in 1837, and Providence (see p. 227) before 1848, and was beginning to find favor here and there. Draw- ing first became an optional public school subject in Massa- chusetts in 1858, and was first taught regularly in Boston CHARACTER OF THE SCHOOLS ESTABLISHED 253 in 1860. In 1842 Massachusetts enacted the first child- labor law, and in 1852 the first compulsory school attend- ance law. School supervision was being extended, addi- tional high schools were being created, the school term was being lengthened, increasing sums were being spent on the schools, and educational opportunity was being broadened. Taking into account all public and private schooKng of whatever grade, the United States Bureau of Education estimated that each individual in our population received, during his Ufetime, at the dates given, an average of the number of days and months (of 20 school days each) of schooUng shown in the adjoining table. We had also, by 1860, made marked progress in opening up education of all grades to girls as well as boys, though in many places the girls were still taught in separate classrooms or schools. The coming of the Civil War for a time checked al- most all material develop- ment at the North, and almost completely closed the schools in the South. Up to about 1880 at the North, and 1890 to 1895 at the South, further development and expansion came but slowly; expenses were kept down, school buildings were kept simple and along established lines, few new features were added to the curriculum, and few new school super- visory officers were employed. Then came the wonderful development in public education which has characterized the past twenty-five to thirty years. In the meantime our educational system was being devel- oped in another way. Up to 1835 certainly, and in most places for from one to two decades longer, all development was a purely native development. After about 1835 to 1840 we began to be touched by new influences from the outside, through new citizens and returning travelers who Year Total number of day) montha 1800 82 4m. 2d. 1840 208 10 m. 8d. 1850 ■ 450 22 m. 10 d. 1860 434 21 m. 14 d. 1870 682 29m. 2d. 1880 690 34 m. 10 d. 1890 770 38 m. 10 d. 1900 934 41 m. 14 d. 1910 1080 54 m. Od. 1916 1192 59 m. 12 d. 254 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES described for us the work of Pestalozzi and his disciples in Switzerland and the Pestalozzian organization of instruction in Holland and the German States. After 1860 we began seriously to introduce among our teachers a new method of instruction, based on the psychological foundations worked out by Pestalozzi and his successors. The period from about 1850 or 1860 to about 1880 or 1890 was the period of the m- troduction and organization of teaching method, when we made up in internal organization what we lacked in external development, and to this interestitig addition to our educa- tional ideas and practices we next turn. QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. Explain why declamation should have been so natural a subject to add to the school of the 3-Hs. 2. Show why English grammar, once introduced, wovdd naturally be- i come a popular subject of study. 3. Explain how the publication of the new textbooks on the new subjects "opened up entirely new possibilities in instruction." 4. Show how the spirit with which the introduction of new subjects at Providence was met, as described by Howland, was quite modem in character. 6. Was the Boston school system of 1823 a thoroughly democratic one, or not? Why? 6. Show how the absence of any professional supervision naturally tended to the independence of teachers and schools in the early period of our history. 7. Why should the new high schools have been fitted on to the grammar- school course, instead of beginning as the Latin grammar schools did at an earlier period? 8. What does the list of college entrance subjects given indicate as to the change in character of the colleges? 9. Why was it a natural condition to find the district system in the cities during their early history? 10. Show how city boards of education wer^ a natural evolution out of city-council control of the early schools, and then how a city super- intendent of schools came as a further natiu-al evolution. 11. About what percentage of the school children of Buffalo could have been cared for in the seven public schools of 1837? 12. Picture the results in Chicago or Detroit or Buffalo to-day if the schools of the city were still managed imder the district system. 13. Explain, historically, why so many cities in the older States have CHARACTER OF THE SCHOOLS ESTABLISHED 255 special city boards of examination for teachers' credentials, instead of accepting the certificates issued by county or state authorities. 14. Show how natural it was that the knowledge aim should have domi- nated instruction during the 1830 to 1860 period. 15. Do you agree that the North should have aided the South in develop- ing its schools after the close of the Civil War? Why? 16. Show how natural it was that the Civil War should have checked expansion and material development, and forced the schools to a de- velopment within. TOPICS FOR INVESTIGATION AND REPORT 1. Early school buildings; plans and types. (Barnard.) 2. Early city courses of study. (Barnard.) S. Subjects taught in the early high schools. (Barnard.) 4. Early standards for certificating teachers. (Barnard.) 5. History and character of the teachers' institutes. (Barnard.) 6. Educational opportunities for girls before 1850. 7. The Springfield Tests. (Riley.) 8. The Springfield and Norwich Tests compared. (Riley; Tbrell.) 9. Give the Springfield Tests to an equivalent school class to-day and compare results. 10. Character of the early instruction in reading, arithmetic, geography, or other subject before 1850. SELECTED REFERENCES Barnard, Henry, Editor. The American Journal of Education. 31 vols. Consult Analytical Index to; 128 pp. Published by United States Bureau of Education, Washington, 1892. Fitzpatrick, E. A. The Educational Views and Influences of De Witt Clin- ton. 157 pp. Teachers College Contributions to Education, No. 44, New York, 1911. Describes the schools of 1830. Fitzpatrick, Frank A. "The Development of the Course of Study"; in Educational Review, vol. 49, pp. 1-19. (Jan., 1915.) Takes Boston as a type and treats the subject historically. Hedgepeth, V. W. B. "Spelling and Arithmetic in 1846 and Today"; in School Review, vol. 14, pp. 352-56. (May, 1906.) The Springfield test at Goshen, Indiana. One of the many comparative studies. *Johnson, Clifton. Old-Time Schools and School Boohs. 380 pp. The Macmillan Co., New York, 1904. Chapter IV describes the district schools of the first h.ilf of the nineteenth century, and succeeding chapters the textbooks used. A valuable book. 256 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES Martin, G. H. "Boston Schools 100 Years Ago"; in New England, Maga- zine, vol. 26, pp. 628-42. (July, 1902.) A very general article. McManis, John T. "History in the Elementary Schools, 1825-1850"; in Ediwational Bimonthly, vol. 6, pp. 322-32. (April, 1912.) Historical. *Monroe, W. S. Development of Arithmetie aa a School Subject. 170 pp. Bulletin No. 10, United States Bureau of Education, Washington, 1917. An excellent collection of illustrative material on early arithmetic teaching. *Murray, David. History of Education in New Jersey. 344 pp. Circular of Information No. 1, United States Bureau of Education, Washington, 1899. Chapter VIII very good on the character of the schools during the colonial period aad up to the middle of the nineteenth century. Nelson, A. H. "The Little Red Schoolhouse"; in Educaiional Review, vol. 23, pp. 304-17. (April, 1902.) Description of a rural school taught in Maine in the winter of 1858-59, which wai characteristic of many rural school positions before 1870. *Providence, Rhode Island. Centennial Report of the School Committee, 1899-1900. Providence, 1901. Contains many valuable historical documents. *Reeder, Rudolph R. The Historical Development of School Readers and Methods of Teaching Reading. Columbia University Contributions to Philosophy, Psychology, and Education, vol. vni, No."2. The Hacmillan Co., New York, 1900. *Riley, J. L. The Springfield Tests, 18JiB-1906. 51 pp. Holden Patent Book Cover Co., SpringBeld, Mass., 1908. A reprint of the results of the two examinations, showing the comparative results of the pupils in spelling, arithmetic, writing, and geography. *TirrelI, Henry A. " The Norwich Tests, 1862-1909"; in School Revieic, vol. 18, pp. 326-32. (May, 1910.) A comparative study, similar to the one at Springfield, and equally conclusive as to arithmetic, geography, history, and grammar. CHAPTER IX NEW IDEAS FROM ABROAD I. English Origins and Early Independeince Early influences largely English. As will have been seen from a study of the earlier chapters, the chief source from which our early educational ideas came was England. Throughout all the colonial period, and well into our national period also, we were English in our history, traditions, and development. Though the Dutch and Swedish parochial schools were introduced into New Amsterdam, though many French Huguenots settled along the Carolina coast, and though the German parochial school was firmly planted in Pennsylvania, these really influenced American development but little. The Dutch, Swedish, and French were rapidly absorbed and largely lost their identity after the English oc- cupation, while the Germans became isolated and influenced development but little outside of eastern Pennsylvania. The great source of all our early educational traditions, types of schools, textbooks, and educational attitudes was England, and education was established and conducted here much after the fashion of the practices in the mother country. In New England it was the English Puritan with his Calvinistic viewpoint, and to the southward it was the AngUcan churchman interpreting the Englishman's " no-bus- iness-of-the-State " attitude as to education. The dame school, the tutor in the home, private and pa- rochial pay schools, apprenticeship training, the pauper- school idea, the Latin grammar school, and the college — all were typical Enghsh institutions brought over by the early colonists and established here. For a century and a half the textbooks, and many of the teachers, were also im- ported from England. After the coming of nationality. 258 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES the creation of distinctively American textbooks, and the evolution of more American-type schools, we still continued to draw our new educational ideas and creations from the old mother land. The Sxmday School, the Charity School, the Church Society idea, the Lancastrian Monitorial Schools, and the Infant-School idea all came directly from England and were fitted into and onto the slowly evolving native American school. Even the Academy idea goes back in part to the Puritan academies of England. Early French influences. After the French had extended aid to us in the War for Independence there was a tendency, for a time, to imitate French examples. The University of the State of New York, a governing body controlling all higher educational activities in the State, established in 1784 and organized in its permanent form in 1787, shows unmis- takably the influence of the chief educational ideas of the French revolutionists. Jefferson was a great propagandist for French ideas, and tried, unsuccessfully, to secure the establishment of a complete system of public education for Virginia which would have embraced the best of French revolutionary conceptions. His proposed system compre- hended the establishment of free elementary schools in every " hundred " (township), a number of secondary schools scattered throughout the State, and a state college (William and Mary) as the culmination of the State's educational system. Had he succeeded, a free education through col- lege would have been provided for every worthy boy in Virginia, but his scheme was too far in advance of Amer- ican educational ideas at the time to be accepted. He later (1819) secured the establishment of the University of Virginia, which to-day stands as a monument to his memory. The College of New Orleans, created in 1805 with provi- sion for academies for the counties, and the elementary school system organized for the State in 1806, were clearly modeled after Napoleon's law of 1802, organizing instruc- tion throughout France. Only the college was ever put NEW IDEAS FROM ABROAD 259 into operation. The early constitutional provisions regard- ing education in Indiana, providing for a system of free education " ascending in regular gradation from township schools to State University" (p. 75), probably owed their formulation to the influence in the constitutional conven- tion of the French refugees then living in Vincennes. The founding of the University of Michigan, in 1817, with the absm-d name of Catholepistemiad, and its whimsical organi- zation, embodied the same French idea of a state organi- zation of education extending from the elementary school to the university. We have comparatively little, though, that can be traced back to French sources, partly because we were so soon estranged from France by the unfriendly actions of Napoleon, and partly because France had, be- fore the estrangement, done so little in education that we could imitate. Our early isolation and independence. Up to the close of the first third of the nineteenth century we remained iso- lated and followed purely native lines of development, modi- fied, as we have seen, by new ideas brought over from Eng- land and a few ideas as to organization from France. We were a young and a very independent nation, traveling but little, reading but little, and depending almost entirely upon our own ideas and resources. Schools were being evolved along purely native lines, and adapted to the needs of a new nation on a new continent which it was busily en- gaged in reducing to civilization. Our teachers and schoolmasters were of the same native homespun variety, as were our early leaders as well. They were all alike innocent of such a thing as normal training, had read no professional literature, had attended few if any teachers' institutes, and knew little as to what even their neighbors, much less what peoples in other states and lands, were doing in the matter of organizing and directing schools. New ideas were spread by teachers moving about rather than by other means. As an evidence of this, it was almost twenty years after Warren Colburn's famous Intellectual 260 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES Arithmetic was published in Boston (1821) before it began to be used in New Jersey, "when those who had studied it in New England," according to Murray, "became teachers there." Yet this was the great book of its day, and shaped all subsequent teaching of the subject. Educational journalism begins. It was not until the twenties that our educational literature began, and not until the decade between 1835 and 1845 that we really be- gan to learn, for the first time, of what had been and was being done on the continent of Europe in the matter of organizing instruction. The earliest educational journals published in the United States were: 1. The Academician, New York, 1818-20. Twenty-five num- bers, edited by Albert and John Picket. 2. The American Journal of Education, Boston, 1826-31. Five volumes, edited by William Russell. 3. The American Annals of Education, Boston, 1831-39. Nine volumes. A continuation of no. 2. Edited by Wm. C. Woodbridge. 4. The ComTnon School Assistant, Albany, 1836-40. Five vol- umes, edited by J. Orville Taylor. 5. The Common School Journal, Boston, 1839-48. Ten volumes, edited by Horace Mann. 6. The Connecticut Common School Journal, Hartford, 1838-42. Four volumes, edited by Henry Barnard. 7. The Rhode Island School Journal, Providence, 1845-48. Three volumes, edited by Henry Barnard. 8. Barnard's American Journal of Education, Hartford, 1855-81. Thirty-one volumes, edited by Henry Barnard. A monu- mental work. The circulation of these various journals was not large or extended, and for a time was confined almost altogether to New England, but they gradually reached the leaders of the time, and slowly but positively influenced public opinion. Their great service was that of spreading information as to what was being done, and in extending the work of propa- ganda for the maintenance of schools. With the beginnings of Barnard's American Journal of Education, in 1855, an '^w*.;.* F (^ NEW IDEAS FROM ABROAD 261 educational journal was brought out which interpreted for American educators the best results of educational practice in all lands and times, and greatly extended the vision and enlarged the point of view of the American schoolman. II. Work and Influence of Pestalozzi The inspiration of Pestalozzi. One of the greatest books of the eighteenth century, the JSmile of Jean-Jacques Rous- seau, a French Swiss by birth then living in Paris, appeared in 1762. In this Rousseau vigorously attacked the formal- ism of the age in religion, manners, and education. The book described the education of the boy, Emile, by a new plan, that of rejecting the formal teaching of the schools and permitting him to grow up and be educated according to na- ture. The volume was extensively read, and made a deep impression throughout all Europe, but was particularly in- fluential among the thinkers of Switzerland. Gathering up the current idea of his age that the "state of nature" was the ideal one, and the one in which men had been intended to Uve; that the organization of society had created inequali- ties which prevented man from realizing his real self; and that human duty called for a return to the "state of na- ture," whatever that might be; Rousseau stated them in terms of the education of the boy, fimile. Despite its many exaggerations, much faulty reasoning, and many imperfec- tions, the book had a tremendous influence on Europe in laying bare the defects and abuses of the formal and eccle- siastical education of the time. Though Rousseau's enthu- siasm took tEe form of theory run mad, and the educational plan he proposed was largely impossible, he nevertheless popularized education. He also contributed much to chang- ing the point of view in instruction from subject-matter to the child to be taught, and the nature of instruction from formal religious doctrine, preparatory for life hereafter, to the study of the life and universe amid which man lives here. The iconoclastic nature of Rousseau's volume may be inferred from its opening sentence, where he says: "Every- 262 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES thing is good as it comes from the hand of the author of nature; everything degenerates in the hands of man." Among those most deeply influenced by Rousseau's book was a young German Swiss by the name of Johann Hein- rich Pestalozzi, who was born and brought up in Zurich. Inspired by Rousseau's writings, he spent the early part of his life trying to render service to the poor, and the latter part in working out for himself a theory and method of in- struction based on the natural development of the child. Trying to educate his own child according to Rousseau's plan, he not only discovered its impracticability but also that the only way to improve on it was to study the children themselves. Accordingly he opened a school and home on his farm at Neuhof, in 1774. Here he took in fifty aban- doned children, to whom he taught reading, writing, and arithmetic, gave them moral discourses, and trained them in gardening, farming, and cheese-making. It was an at- tempt to regenerate beggars by means of education, which Pestalozzi firmly beUeved could be done. At the end of two years he had spent all the money he and his wife possessed, and the school closed in f ailiu-e — a blessing in disguise — though with Pestalozzi's faith in the power of education unshaken. Of this experiment he wrote: "For years I have lived in the midst of fifty little beggars, sharing in my pov- erty my bread with them, living hke a beggar myself in order to teach beggars to live like men." Turning next to writing, while continuing to farm, Pesta- lozzi now tried to express his faith in education in printed form. His Leonard and Gertrude (1781) was a wonderfully beautiful story of Swiss peasant life, and of the genius and sympathy and love of a woman amid degrading sur- roundings. From a wretched place the village of Bonnal, under Pestalozzi's pen, was transformed by the power of education. The book was a great success from the first, and for it Pestalozzi was made a "citizen" of the French Republic, along with Washington, Madison, Kosciusko, Wilberforce, and Tom Paine. He continued to farm and NEW IDEAS FROM ABROAD 263 to think, though nearly starving, until 1798, when the op- portunity for which he was really fitted came. Pestalozzi's educational experiments. In 1798 "The Helvetic Republic" was proclaimed, an event which divided Pestalozzi's life into two parts. Up to this time he had been interested wholly in the philanthropic aspect of edu- cation, believing that the poor could be regenerated through education and labor. From this time on he interested him- self in the teaching aspect of the problem, in the working out and formulation of a teaching method based on the natural development of the child, and in training others to teach. Much to the disgust of the authorities of the new Swiss Gov- ernment, citizen Pestalozzi applied for service as a school- teacher. The opportunity to render such service soon came. That autumn the French troops invaded Switzerland, and, in putting down the stubborn resistance of the three German cantons, they shot down a large number of the people. Orphans to the number of 169 were left in the little town of Stanz, and citizen Pestalozzi was given charge of them. For six months he was father, mother, teacher, and nurse. Then, worn out himself, the orphanage was changed into a hospital. A little later he became a schoolmaster in Burgdorf ; was dismissed ; became a teacher in another school; and finally, in 1800, opened a school himself in an old castle there. He provided separate teachers for drawing and singing, geography and history, language and arithmetic, and gymnastics. The. year following the school was en- larged into a teachers' training school, the government ex- tending him aid in return for giving Swiss teachers one month of training as teachers in his school. Here he wrote and published How Gertrude teaches her Children, which ex- plained his methods and forms his most important pedagogi- cal work; a Guide jor teaching Spelling and Reading; and a Book for Mothers, devoted to a description of "object teach- ing." In 1805, the castle being needed by the government, Pestalozzi moved to Yverdon, where he opened an Institute, and where the next twenty years of his life were spent and his greatest success achieved. 264 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES The contribution of Pestalozzi. The great contribution of Pestalozzi lay in that, following the lead of Rousseau, he rejected the teaching of mere words and facts, which had characterized all elementary education up to near the close of the eighteenth century, and tried instead to reduce the educational process to a well-organized routine, based on the natiu-al and orderly development of the instincts, capacities, and powers of the growing child. Taking Rousseau's idea of a return to nature, he tried to apply it to the education of children. This led to his rejection of what he called the "empty chattering of mere words" and "outward show" in the instruction in reading and the catechism, and the in- troduction in their place of real studies, based on observa- tion, experinientation, and reasoning. "Sense impression" became his watchword. As he expressed it, he "tried to or- ganize and psychologize the educational process" by har- monizing it with the natural development of the child. To this end he carefully studied children, and developed his methods experimentally as a result of his observation. To such art extreme was this idea carried at Burgdorf and Yver- don that all results of- preceding educators and writers were rejected, for fear that error might creep in. Read noth- ing, discover everything, and prove all things, came to be the working guides of himself and his teachers. The development of man he believed to be organic, and Ato proceed according to law. It was the work of the teacher to discover these laws of development and to assist nature in securing "a natural, symmetrical, and harmonious de- velopment" of all the "faculties" of the child. Real edu- ^tJation must develop the child as a whole — mentally, phys- ically, morally — and called for the training of the head and the hand and the heart. The only proper means for develop- ing the powers of the child was use, and hence education must guide and stimulate self -activity, be based on intuition and exercise, and the sense impressions must be organized /and directed. Education, too, if it is to follow the organic de- / velopment of the child, must observe the proper progress PESTALUZZI MONUMENT AT YVERDUN A picture of this monument occupies a prominent place in every schoolroom in Switzerland H H SI o NEW IDEAS FROM ABROAD 265 of child development and be graded, so that each step of the process shall grow out of the preceding and grow into the following stage. To accomplish these ends the train- ing must be all-round and harmonious: much liberty must be allowed the child in learning; education must proceed largely by doing instead of by words; the method of learning must be largely analytical; real objects and ideas must pre- cede symbols and words; and finally the organization and correlation of what is learned must be looked after by the teacher. Still more, Pestalozzi possessed a deep and abiding faith, new at the time, in the power of education as a means of regenerating society. He h^d begun his work by trying to "teach beggars to live like men," and his belief in the potency of education in working this transformation, so touchingly expressed in his Leonard and Gertrude, never left him. He believed that each human being could be raised through the influence of education to the level of an intel- lectually free and morally independent life, and that every human being was entitled to the right to attain such freedom and independence. The way to thjs lay through the full use of his developing powers, under the guidance of a teacher, and not through a process of repeating words and learning by heart. Not only the intellectual qualities of perception, judgment, and reasoning need exercise, but the moral powers as well. To provide such exercise and direction was the work of the school. Pestalozzi also resented the brutal discipline which for ages had characterized all school instruction, believed it by its very nature immoral, and tried to substitute for this a strict but loving discipline — a "thinking love," he calls it — and to make the school as-nearly as possible Uke a gentle and refined home. To a Swiss father, who on visiting his school exclaimed, "Why, this is not a school, but a fam- ily," Pestalozzi answered that such a statement was the greatest praise he could have given him. The consequences of these ideas. The educational con- &66 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES sequences of these new ideas were very large. They'in time "gave aim and purpose to the elementary school of the nine- teenth century, transforming it from an instrmnent of the Church for church ends, to an instrument of society to be used for its own regeneration and the advancement of the ^welfare of all. The introduction of the study of natural ob- jects in place of words, and much talking about what was seen and studied instead of parrot-like reproductions of the words of a book, revolutionized both the methods and the subject-matter of instruction in the developing elementary school. Observation and investigation tended to super- sede mere memorizing; class discussion and thinking to supersede the reciting of the words of the book; thinking about what was being done to supersede routine learning; and class instruction to supersede the wasteful individual teaching which had for so long characterized all school work. It meant the reorganization of the work of elementary edu- cation on a modern basis, with class organization and group instruction. The work of Pestalozzi also meant the introduction of new subject-matter for instruction, the organization of new teaching subjects for the elementary school, and the redirec- tion of the elementary education of children. Observation led to the development of elementary-science study, and the study of home geography; talking abbut what was observed led to the study of language usage, as distinct from the older study of grammar; and counting and measuring fed to the study of number, and hence to a new type of primary arith- metic. The reading of the school also changed both in char- acter and purpose. In other words, in place of an elementary education based on reading, a little writing and speUing, and the catechism, all of a memoritor type with religious ends in view, a new primary school, much more secular in character, was created by the work of Pestalozzi. This new school was based on the study of real objects, learning through sense impressions, the individual expression of ideas, child activity, and the development of the child's powers in NEW roEAS FROM ABROAD 267 an orderly way. In fact, "the development of the facul- ties" of the child became a by-word with Pestalozzi and his followers. Pestalozzi's deep abiding faith in the power of education to regenerate society was highly influential in Switzerland, throughout Western Europe, and later in America in show- ing how to deal with orphans, vagrants, and those suffering from physical defects or in need of reformation, by providing for such a combination of intellectual and industrial training. The spread and influence of Pestalozzi's work. So fa- mous did the work of Pestalozzi become that his schools at Burgdorf and Yverdon came to be "show places," even in a land filled with natural wonders. Observers and students came from all over Europe to see and to teach in his school. In particular the educators of Prussia were attracted by his work, and, earlier than other nations, saw the far-reaching significance of his discoveries. Herbart visited his school as early as 1799, when but a young man of twenty-three, and wrote a very sympathetic description of his new methods. Froebel spent the years 1808 to 1810 as a teacher at Yver- don, when he was a young man of twenty-six to eight. "It soon became evident to me," wrote Froebel, "that 'Pesta- lozzi' was to be the watchword of my life." Many Swiss teachers were trained by Pestalozzi, and these spread his work and ideas over Switzerland. Particularly in German Switzerland did his ideas take root and reorgan- ize education. Of his Swiss followers one of the most in- fluential was Emanuel Fellenberg, who, adopting Pestaloz- zi's idea of combined intellectual and industrial training, de- veloped a combined intellectual and manual-labor school at Hofwyl, near Berne, which he conducted very successfully from 1806 to 1844. By 1829, when his work was first made known to American educators through the articles of Wil- liam Woodbridge, his school included: 1. A farm of about six hundred acres. 2. Workshops for manufacturing clothing and tools. 8. A printing and lithographing establishment. 268 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES 21 io Jl9 .§--|-H ■g-i — 0) — w- .& « ■■£■-8- Ig J 3 I -i— .i.-L — i-:S-|ig-|~ 4- j-eil.i V. r i ^ ■/ / 4. A literary institution for the education of the well-to-do. b. A lower school which trained for handicrafts and middle- class occupations. 6. An agricultural school for the education of the poor as farm laborers, and as teachers for the rural schools. Fellenberg's work was widely copied in Switzerland, Ger- many, England, and the United States, and contained the germ-idea of both agricultural and reformatory education. Pestalozzi's ideas in Prussia. It was in Prussia that Pestalozzi's ideas made the deepest impression, and there that they were most successfully transplanted and carried out. As early as 1803 an envoy, sent by the Prussian king, reported fav- orably on the methods used by Pestalozzi, and in 1804 Pestaloz- zian methods were authorized for the primary schools of Prussia. In 1807-08, after the severe defeat inflicted on Prussia by Napoleon, the German philosopher Fichte, who had taught in Zurich and knew Pestalozzi, exploited Pes- talozzi's work in Berlin, and emphasized the importance of reorganizing the work of the com- mon schools of Prussia, as a phase of the work of national regenera- tion, along the lines laid down by him. To popular education, Fichte declared, must the nation turn to develop new strength to face the future. As a result the civil service was put on an effi- ciency basis; the two-class school system, shown in the accompany- ing drawing, was reorganized and freed from clerical con- is IT 16 16 09 14 O 13^ 12 11 Educates about 92? / 10 // Transfer 9— foint 3 7 e yr" Educates about 8 % Fig. 51. The German State School Systems Compare with Fig. 45, page S35, and note the difference between a European two-clasa school system and the American democratic educa- lionaL ladder. NEW IDEAS FROM ABROAD 269 trol; and the basis of the strong military state which set Europe afire in 1914 was laid. The Prussian Government now sent seventeen teachers to Switzerland to spend three years, at the expense of the Government, in studying Pestalozzi's ideas and methods, and they were particularly enjoined that they were not sent primarily to get the mechanical side of this method, but to warm yourselves at the sacred fire which burns in the heart of this man, so full of strength and love, whose work has remained so far below what he originally desired, below the essential ideas of his life, of which the method is only a feeble product. You will have reached perfection when you have clearly seen that education is an art, and the most sublime and holy of all, and in what connection it is with the great art of the education of nations. On their return these, and others, spread Pestalozzian ideas throughout Prussia, and so effective was their work, and so readily did the Prussian people catch the spirit of Pesta- lozzi's endeavors, that at the Berlin celebration of the cen- tennial of his birth, in 1846, the German educator Diester- weg said: By these men and these means, men trained in the Institution at Yverdon under Pestalozzi, the study of his publications, and the applications of his methods in the model and normal schools of Prussia, after 1808, was the present Prussian, or rather Prussian- Festalozzian school system established, for he is entitled to at least one-half the fame of the German popular schools. Pestalozzianism in England. Pestalozzi's ideas were also carried to England, but in no such satisfactory manner as to the German States. Where German lands received both the method and the spirit, the English obtained only the form. The introduction into England was due chiefly to the Reverend Charles Mayo and his sister Elizabeth, but England was at that time so deeply immersed in monitorial instruction that the country was not in a frame of mind to profit greatly from the new ideas. Mayo spent the years 1819-32 at Yverdon, when Pestalozzi's institute was in its 270 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES decline, rent by dissensions, and rapidly approaching its end. On his return to England he opened a private Pestalozzian school for children of the wealthy. His sister shortly after- ward published a Pestalozzian manual for teachers, called Lessons on Objects, but missed the spirit of Pestalozzi's work. The lessons were formal, scientific, far too detailed and analytical, and much beyond the comprehension of children. For example, if common salt were the "object" for the lesson, the children would be expected to learn its chemical composition, its uses, how and where found in nature, how mined and refined, that its crystalline form is cubical, that it varies in color from white to bluish and reddish, that it is transparent to translucent, that it is soluble in water and saline in taste, that it imparts a yellow color to a fiame, etc., without more contact with a piece of real salt than see- ing the "specimen" passed around by the teacher. "Ob- ject teaching" soon became the great educational fad in England, and was later brought to the United States. The effect of this instruction was to "formalize" the Pesta- lozzian movement in England, and in consequence much of the finer spirit and significance of Pestalozzi's work was lost. The Mayos were prominent in the Infant-School move- ment, which made such great headway in England after about 1820, and in 1836 they helped organize "The Home and Colonial Infant Society" to spread the idea at home and abroad. This Society adopted the English interpretation of Pestalozzian methods, established a Model Infant School and a Training College for teachers, and had an important influence in introducing the English type of formaUzed Pestalozzianism into the schools of the United States. III. Eablt American Tkavelebs and Official Repoets Early American travelers. Our first contact with the edu- cational thought and practices of continental Europe came through some half-dozen Americans who studied at the Prussian university of GSttingen, then almost imknown NEW roEAS FROM ABROAD 271 outside of German lands, before 1820. Our first contact with the work of Pestalozzi in Switzerland came through Joseph Naef , one of Pestalozzi's teachers, who came to America and taught a private school in Philadelphia for a time between 1806 and 1809, and who later wandered westward and for a short time taught in a little communistic colony at New Harmony, Indiana. So little had been done, though, in de- veloping public education with us before 1810, south of New England and New York, that Naef 's work remained almost unknown, while those who had studied at Gottingen in- fluenced educational development, even in the colleges of the time, but very httle. Our first real contact with continental European ideas and accomplishments in education came in 1819, through the publication in this country of A Year in Europe, written by Professor John Griscom, of New York, who had spent the year 1818-19 in visiting the schools, colleges, and chari- table institutions of Great Britain, Holland, France, Swit- zerland, and Italy. His description of his visit to Pestalozzi awakened some interest, and his volume was read by the leading thinkers of the day. Our city and state school sys- tems, though, were as yet hardly under way, Lancastrianism was at its height, and Griscom 's work influenced our com- mon-school development scarcely at all. Griscom 's de- scription of the high school at Edinburgh, though, probably gave the name to the new school at Boston (p. 190) and to the American secondary school as well. The chief influence of the book proved to be along the lines of reformatory and charitable education, in which we were just making a beginning. Griscom told what had been done along these lines in Europe. This information was welcomed by the few Americans interested in such develop- ment and came as a valuable contribution at the time. Another early American traveler was William C. Wood- bridge, of New England, who spent the year 1820 and the years 1825-29 in Em-ope. It was he who, through his enthu- siastic "Letters," published in Russell's American Journal 272 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES 0/ Education, and elsewhere, first really brought the work of the Swiss reformers — Pestalozzi and Fellenberg — to the attention of American teachers. After his return he published two textbooks on geography (1824, 1833), based on Pestalozzian methods, and it was he who inspired Lowell Mason to offer his services, in 1836, to introduce music into the schools of Boston. This was probably the first teaching of music in the schools of the United States, so successful with us up to that time had been the Calvinistic idea of the repression as irreligious of all joyful and artistic instincts. Even this start was a failure, and it was a quarter of a cen- tury later before music and drawing became generally rec- ognized as subjects of study, even in the better city schools. Cousin's Report on German education. The first docu- ment describing European schools which made any deep impression on those then engaged in organizing our Ameri- can state school systems was an English translation of the famous Report on the Condition of Public Instruction in Ger- many, and particularly Prussia, made to the French Govern- ment by Victor Cousin, in 1831 and publicly printed the next year. This Report was reprinted in England, in 1834, and the first half of it, explaining the administrative organiza- tion of Prussian education and the Prussian system of peo- ple's schools, was reprinted in New York City, in 1835. After the overthrow of the old restored monarchy in France, in 1830, a new government was set up, supported by the leading thinkers of the time. One of the most impor- tant measures to which attention was at once turned was the creation of a state school system for France. Cousin was sent to Prussia to study what was then the best state school system in Europe, and so convincing was his Report that, despite bitter national antipathies, it carried convic- tion throughout France and was deeply influential in se- curing the creation of the first French national schools, in 1833. The church control of the school committees was broken, the examination of teachers was required, thirty new normal schools to train teachers were established, state NEW IDEAS FROM ABROAD 273 aid for primary and infant schools was provided, freedom of religious instruction was guaranteed, recommendation was changed to obligation, and both state and local supervision were instituted. The modern 'state school system of France dates from the Law of 1833, and this from Cousin's Report. Influence of Cousin's Report in the United States. The translation of Cousin's Report into English and the publica- tion of half of it in the United States came just as our new state school systems were beginning to take form, and just as the battle for state control was in full swing. Its con- vincing description of the strong Prussian state school organ- ization, under a state minister, and with state control over so many matters, was everywhere of value in this country. It gave support to the demands of the few leaders of the time who were struggling to reduce the rampant district system to some semblance of order, and who were trying to organize the thousands of little community school sys- tems in each State into one state school system, under some form of centralized control. Though actually influencing legislation in but one or two of our States, the two main ideas gained from it were the importance of some form of centralized state control, and the training of teachers in state normal schools. These influences were evident chiefly in Michigan and Massachusetts. The publication of the Report came just as Michigan was organizing to enter the Union as a State, and two leaders there — John D. Pierce, a minister who became the first head of the state school system, and General Isaac E. Crary, chairman of the committee on education in the constitutional convention — obtained a copy of it and were deeply im- pressed by Cousin's statements. They discussed together "the fimdamental principles which were deemed important ioi the convention to adopt," and it was agreed by them that education " should be made a distinct branch of the gov- ernment, and that the constitution oughi to provide for an officer who should have the whole matter in charge and thus keep its importance perpetually before the public mind." 274 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES Largely as a result of their efforts Michigan was the first State to take the 16th section school lands, given by the Na- tional Government for schools, from the control of the town- ships and place them mider the control of the State, and like- wise the first State to create the appointive office (a pm'e Prussian imitation) of State Superintendent of Public In- struction. The first constitution also made very definite provision for a state system of schools and a state univer- sity. A later superintendent of public instruction in Michigan, writing in 1852 on the history of the system, said that "the system of pubUc instruction which was intended to be es- tablished by the framers of the constitution, the conreption of the office, its province, its powers, and duties were de- rived from Prussia." That Cousin's Report influenced the class-organization or class-work of the Michigan schools, or the schools of any other State for that matter, is a conten- tion recently advanced which the facts scarcely warrant. In Massachusetts the Report came just in time to give useful support tO Brooks, Carter, Mann, and the few others interested who were trying there to seciu-e the estabUshment of the first American state normal school. The normal- school idea in America, though, as we shall point out a Kttle later, was of native American growth, and had clearly taken form before Prussian normal schools were known of in this country. The descriptions of the Prussian training schools for teachers only awakened a new support and helped along more rapidly a movement which was then well under way as a purely native development. Stowe's Report on Elementary Education in Europe. In 1829 there was formed at Cincinnati the "Western Aca- demic Institute and Board of Education," and for a decade this was practically the only active organization for educa- tion in the State of Ohio. It was a private propaganda or- ganization, and included in its membership such men as Lyman Beecher, Samuel Lewis, and Professor Calvin E. Stowe. Money was raised, an agent (Lewis) was sent to NEW roEAS FROM ABROAD 275 visit the schools of the State, reports as to conditions were prepared, and delegations were sent to the legislature to urge action. When Professor Stowe started for Europe, in 1836, to buy a library for the Lane Theological Seminary, with which he was connected, the "Institute" induced the legislature of Ohio to commission him to examine and report on the systems of elementary instruction found there. The result was his celebrated Report on Elementary Education in Europe, made to the legislature in 1837. This was the first report on European educational condi- tions by an American which attracted general attention. In it he contrasted educational conditions in Ohio with those of Prussia and Wiirtemberg, with particular reference to the organization and thoroughness of the instruction, and the maintenance of institutions for imparting to prospective teachers some knowledge of the science and art of teaching. The meager legal requirements in Ohio of instruction in read- ing and writing and arithmetic, with school trustees fre- quently forbidding instruction in any higher branches; the untrained and poorly educated teachers, and the absence in the State of any means of training teachers; he contrasted with the enriched elementary-school curriculum, the Pesta- lozzian methods, and the well-informed and trained teachers of Prussia and Wiirtemberg. The Report commanded the ad- miration of legislators and educators, was widely read, and "not a little of the advancement in common schools," says Barnard, "during the next twenty years may be traced to this Report." The legislature of Ohio ordered ten thousand copies of it printed, and a copy sent to every school district in the State. It was later ordered reprinted and circulated by vote of the legislatures of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, and Virginia. In his summary Professor Stowe said: But perhaps some will be ready to say, "The scheme is indeed an excellent one, provided only it were practicable; but the idea of introducing so extensive and complete a course of study into our common schools is entirely visionary, and can never be realized." 276 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES I answer, that it is no theory that I have been exhibiting, but a matter of fact, a copy of actual practice. The above system is no vfsionary scheme, emanating from the closet of a recluse, but a sketch of the course of instruction now actually pursued by thou- sands of schoolmasters, in the best district schools that have ever been organized. It can be done; for it has been done — it is now done: and it ought to be done. If it can be done in Europe, I believe it can be done in the United States: if it can be done in Prussia, I know it can be done in- Ohio. To show how much influence this Report had with legisla- tures in Ohio it might be added that it was not until 1848 that grammar and geography were added to the narrow ele- mentary-school curriculum, not umtil 1853 that the rate-bill was abandoned and the schools made free, and almost three quarters of a century before the first state normal school was established by the State. Barnard, Bache, and Dr. Julius. In the years 1835-37 Henry Barnard visited the schools of the different countries of Europe, and from this visit dates his interest in intro- ducing into our state school systems the best of European organization and practices, — an interest he retained all his active life. He made no special report at the time of his visit, but through the pages of the educational journals which he edited, for the next forty years, he continued to set before his readers interesting descriptions of educational or- ganization and practices in other states and lands. He also gathered together the important parts of all these reports and issued them in book form, in 1854, under the title Na- tioncd Education in Europe. In 1836 the trustees of the newly founded Girard College, at Philadelphia, an institution for the education of orphans, sent Professor A. D. Bache "to visit all estabhshments in Europe resembling Girard CoUege." On his return, in 1839, his Report on Education in Europe was printed. In this he devoted about two hundred pages to an enthusiastic de- scription of Pestalozzian methods as he had seen them in the schools of Holland, and also described the German Gymnasium. NEW IDEAS FROM ABROAD 277 In 1835 a Dr. H. Julius, of Hamburg, crossed the ocean with the Reverend Charles Brooks, of Hingham, Massa- chusetts, and during the forty-one days of the passage from Liverpool to New York, described to him the Prussian sys- tem of elementary schools. Through Brooks's efforts Dr. Julius was invited to give an account of the Prussian sys- tem of education before the committee on education of the Massachusetts legislature, but "his delineations, though clear and judicious, were so brief as led to no action." What he had to say was printed by the State, and later on reprinted by New York State. There is no evidence that what Dr. Julius said had much influence, except with the Reverend Mr. Brooks, but upon him the Prussian idea of institutions for trainiijig teachers made a deep impression, as we shall see a little further on. Mann's Famous Seventh Report. In 1843 Horace Mann spent some months visiting schools in Great Britain, Bel- gium, Holland, the German States, and France, and on his retiu"n devoted his Seventh Report (1843) to a description and appraisal of what he had seen, but with particular reference to the studies taught, classification of pupils, methods of teaching, teachers, discipline, and the training of teachers. Of this Report Hinsdale writes: i Read half a century after it was written, the Seventh Report impresses the reader as being the work of an open-minded man, who is making a hurried examination of educational institutions that were before known to him only at second hand. The matter is copious; facts and ideas fairly crowd the pages. The writer is evidently anxious to discover and report the exact truth. He wants to show his countrymen the schools just as he sees them. He has no prejudices against things that are foreign. The writer not only has a first-hand interest in the subject, but is also con- scious that he is writing things new and strange to his audience. . . . We are so familiar with these things now that we may wonder at Mr. Mann's enthusiasm over them; but we must remember that a half century has wrought great changes in American schools, changes that in some measure have grown out of the very docu- ment we are reading. 278 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES Mr. Mann ranked the schools of the different countries he visited in the following order: Prussia, Saxony, the west- ern and southern German states, Holland, Scotland, Ireland, France, Belgium, and, lowest of all, England. The lack of a national system of education in England, in which the whole people participated, he felt was full of admonition to the people of Massachusetts, as it was a condition toward which they were drifting before the work of Carter and the organization of the State Board of Education. The schools of the German States, with their Pestalozzian methods and subject-matter, trained and well-informed teachers, oral in- struction, mild discipline, class organization, normal schools for teachers, and intelligent supervision, particularly won his enthusiastic approval. "There are many things abroad which we at home should do well to imitate," he wrote, "things, some of which are here as yet matters of specula- tion and theory, but which, there, have long been in opera- tion and are now producing a harvest of rich and abundant blessings." His controversy with the Boston schoolmasters. This Report might have exerted no greater influence than other previous Reports, and possibly even less, had it not been the last straw to the Boston school principals, many of whom had appropriated to themselves the Secretary's previous sharp criticism of school conditions in Massachusetts. There had been no comparisons made in the Report between the schools of Massachusetts and those of Prussia and Saxony, or of Boston with Hamburg or Dresden, but the Boston mas- ters, many of whom shared the opposition that the crea- tion of the State Board of Education had awakened, and stimg by such expressions in the Repovt as "ignorance of teachers," and "sleepy supervision," felt called upon to at- tack the Report in a very personal and offensive manner. A committee of the Principals' Association accordingly issued a book of 144 pages, attacking and replying to the Report of Mr. Mann. Two months later Mr. Mann replied, in a volume of 176 pages, in which he not only vindicated him- NEW roEAS FROM ABROAD 279 self and what he had written, and pointed out the difficul- ties with which he had to contend arising from uninteUigent criticism, but, feeling that the attack on him had been un- provoked and imcalled for, he retaliated on his assailants with terrible severity. Though he objected to severe pun- ishment for children, he apparently had no objection to giv- bg a sound drubbing to a body of schoolmasters. Part of the masters later replied to Mr. Mann's reply, and he again responded to them in kind. This ended the controversy, public opinion being too thoroughly against the school- masters to warrant its further continuance. The result of this unexpected public debate was to at- tract very much more attention to Mr. Mann's Seventh Report than would otherwise have been given to it, to fix the attention of the pubKc generally on the need for educational improvement, and to add to Mr. Mann's importance in the history of American education. In particular it gave sup- port to the recently estabhshed normal schools, and to the efforts of a few to improve instruction by the adoption of a better classification of pupils and Pestalozzian methods and subject-matter. The result was that Mr. Mann's report on European school practices proved to be the most influential of all the Reports on education in Europe. The Fellenberg manual-labor movement. The one Eu- ropean idea which we did adopt almost bodily, because we had no previous development of the kind, and because we found it so well suited to early democratic conditions among a people of little wealth, was the Pestalozzian idea, worked out by Fellenberg and his followers at Hofwyl, in Switzer- land, of combining manual labor with schooling. Early in our national history the interest in farming was strong, the first farmers' journals were established, and there soon arose a demand for special schools for farmers' sons. The advan- tages, both pecuniary and educational, of combining school- ing and farming made a strong appeal in the days when money was scarce and opportvmities limited, and such schools, drawing their inspiration from the very successful 280 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES school of Fellenberg, were founded first in Connecticut, in 1819; Maine in 1821; Massachusetts in 1824; New York in 1827; and New Jersey in 1830. The purpose in each was to unite training in agricultiu-e with the studies of the school, and thus give to farmers' boys a double type of training. The idea was soon extended to the rapidly rising mechanical pursuits, and manual-labo/ institutions of a mechanical type also arose. The Oneida School of Science and Industry, the Genesee Manual-Labor School, the Am-ora Manual- Labor Seminary, and the Rensselaer School, all in New York, were among the most important of these early insti- tutions. The Andover Theological Seminary also adopted the plan, and by 1835 the manual-labor-school idea had been tried in a dozen States, extending from Maine to Illi- nois. Many of the institutions thus founded became col- leges later on, as for example the Indiana Baptist Manual- Labor Institute, which later became Franklin College; the Wabash Manual-Labor Seminary, in Indiana, which later became Wabash College; and the Knox Manual-Labor Col- lege, in Illinois, which later became Knox College. In 1831 the short-lived "Manual Labor Society for Promoting Man- ual Labor in Literary Institutions" was formed in New York to promote the idea. This Society also added gym- nastics to its program, and the early recognition of the value of physical training in the schools of the United States is in part due to the interest awakened in it by the work of this Society. In 1833 the governor of Indiana recommended to the legislature the establishment of manual-labor acade- mies to train teachers for the schools of the State, and in 1836 a resolution was offered in the United States Senate propos- ing "a grant of pubhc lands to one or more colleges in each of the new States for educating the poor upon the manual- labor system." The manual-labor idea, however, was short-Hved in this country. The rise of cities and wealth and social classes was against the idea, and the opening up of cheap and rich farms to the westward, with the change of the East from. NEW IDEAS FROM ABROAD 281 agriculture to manufacturing, turned the agricultural aspect of the movement aside for a generation. When it reappeared again in the Central West it came in the form of a new de- mand for colleges to teach agricultm-e and mechanic arts, but with the manual-labor idea omitted. General result of these foreign influences. The general result of these various observations by travelers and official Reports, extending over nearly a quarter of a century in time; and the work of the newer educational journals, particularly the publication work of Henry Barnard; was to give to Amer- ican educators some knowledge of different and better school organizations elsewhere. In particular they gave strong support to the movement, already well under way, to organ- ize the many local school systems into state school systems, subjecting them to state oversight and control; fiu-ther stim- ulated the movement, already well begun, to grade and clas- sify the schools in a more satisfactory manner; helped to inaugurate a movement for the introduction of Pestaloz- zian methods to replace the wasteful individual and the mechanical Lancastrian plans which had for so long been in use; and gave material assistance to the few leaders in Mas- sachusetts and New York who were urging the establish- ment by the State of professional training for teachers for the educational service. The distinctively state school organization provided for in the Michigan constitution of 1835, and the creation of the first state normal schools in the United States in Massachusetts, in 1838, are in part directly traceable to the influence of German practice, as described in these Reports. The one idea we for a time tried to copy and adapt to our needs was the Fellenberg manual-labor school for combining instruction in agricul- ture with the study of books. The later introduction of a form of Pestalozzian procedure into our normal schools and city school systems, and later into all our schools, to which we next turn, also is traceable in part to the interest awak- ened in better classroom practice by the descriptions of Pestalozzian instruction in other lands. 282 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES That we at this time adopted the German Volkschule, as has recently been asserted, an examination of the evidence will show was hardly the case. Not only did we not adopt its cur- riculum, or spirit, or method of instruction, but we did not adopt even its graded system. The Volkschule is a definite eight-year school, while we worked out and have ever since retained seven-year, eight-year, and nine-year elementary schools, in different parts of the United States. That the elementary school we developed was in general an eight* year school, as in the German Volkschule, was due to the school age of children and to a perfectly natural native de- velopment, rather than to any copying of foreign models. The great thing we got from the study of Prussian schools was not a borrowing or imitation of any part or feature — our own development had been proceeding naturally and steadily toward the lines we eventually followed, long before we knew of Prussian work — but rather a marked stimulus to a further and faster development along lines which were already well under way. QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. Explain wby we remained isolated educationally for so long. 2. Is there any evidence that the conuuon tendency of new democracies to reject world experience and knowledge influenced us also? 3. State the essential defects in the educational plan of Rousseau. 4. State the change in the nature of the instruction from that of the church schools to that of Pestalozzi. B. Compare Festalozzi's ideas as to child development with modem ideas. 6. Explain the educational significance of "self -activity," "sense im- pression," and "harmonious development." 7. How far was Pestalozzi right as to the power of education to ^ve men intellectual and moral freedom? 8. What do you understand Pestalozzi to have meant by "the develop- ment of the faculties"? 9. State how the work of Pestalozzi was important in showing the world , how to deal with orphans and defectives. 10. Show how the germs of agricultural and technical education lay in the work of Fellenberg. 11. Contrast the German and the American school systems, as shown in the figures on pages 235 and 268. NEW IDEAS FROM ABROAD 283 12. How do you explain the fact that the Germans got the spirit of Pestalozzi's work so much better than did the English? 13. Show why Naef influenced American development so little. 14. Point out the Prussian influences and characteristics in the early organization of education in Michigan. , 15. How do you explain the failure of Stowe's report to exert a greater influence on practice in Ohio? 16. How do you explain our failure to take up Pestalozzian ideas in in- struction more rapidly? 17. Explain the reasons for the popularity of the manual-labor idea, about 1825, and its failure to maintain this popularity. TOPICS FOR INVESTIGATION AND REPORT 1. Character of early educational journalism. 2. Influence of the ideas of Rousseau. 3. The educational contributions of Pestalozzi. 4. Pellenberg's school at Hofwyl. (Barnard.) 6. Leonard and Gertrude. Read and characterize. 6. The English system of Object Teaching. 7. The Manual Labor idea in the United States. (Anderson; Barnard; Monroe.) 8. Mr. Mann's Seventh Report. 9. Stowe's Report on Ediwation in Europe. 10. Pestalozzi Institute at Yverdon. SELECTED REFERENCES ■"Anderson, L. F. " The Manual Labor School Movement " ; in Educaiional Review, vol. 46; pp. 369-88. (Nov., 1913.) A very good historical article on the Fellenberg movement in the United States . Barnard, Henry, Editor. The American Journal of Education. 31 vols. Consult Analytical Index to; 128 pp. Published by United States Bureau of Education, Washington, 1892. *Bamard, Henry. National Education in Europe, 185!f. C. W. Bardeen, Syracuse. Keprints of extracts from many of the early Reports. *Barnard, Henry. Pestalozzi and his Educational System. 745 pp. C. W. Bardeen, Syracuse, 1906. His life, educational principles, and methods, with sketches of several of his assistants. A standard volume of source material regarding the work of Pestalozzi and the Pestaloz- zian movement, both in Europe and America. Griscom, John. "Fellenberg and Hofwyl"; in Barnard's Journal, vol. 31, ,pp. 269-80. An extract from Griscom's Tear in Europe. 284 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES *Guimps, Roger de. Peslalozzi; his Aim and Work. 320 pp. C. W. Bar- deen, Syraciise, 1894. A standard biography, written in a very interesting style, and from the personal point of view. *Hinsdale, B. A. "Notes on the History of Foreign Influence upon Edu- cation in the United States"; in Report of the United Stales Commissioner of Education, 1897-98, vol. i, pp. 591-629. Very good on English, French, and German influence, and contains much valuable - material. *HoIman, H. Pestalozzi, his Life and Work. Longmans, Green & Co., New York, 1908. A very useful volume for the general student. *Krilsi, Hermann, Jr. Life and Work of PesUdosszi. 248 pp. American Book Co., Cincinnati, 1875. A valuable work, by the Oswego teacher. *Monroe, Paul. Cyclopedia of Education. The Macmillan Co., New York, 1911-13. , The following articles are specially important: 1. "Fellenberg, P. E."; vol. ll, pp. S90-91. S. "Pestalozzi, J. H."; vol. iv, pp. 65»-59. *Parker, S. C. History of Modem Elementary Edncaiion. 506 pp. Ginn & Co., Boston, 1912. / Chapter XIII is very good on the Festalozzian movement in Europe and America, and Chapter XIV on Pestalozzian industrial education for Juvenile reform. *Pestalozzi, J. H. Leonard and Gertrude. Translated and abridged by Eva Channing. 181 pp. D. C. Heath Co., Boston, 1888. A charming story; one which every teacher ought to read. Pestalozzi, J. H. How Gertrude teaches her Children. 256 pp. C. W. Bardeen, Syracuse, 1894. This volume contains the essentials of Festalozzi's ideas and methods, and shows how his methods were developed. Written in a somewhat uninteresting style. Pine, John. "The Origin of the University of the State of New York"; in Editcational Review, vol. 37, pp. 284-92. (March, 1909.) Pinloche, A. Pestalozzi and the Foundation of the Modem Elementary School. 306 pp. Chas. Scribner's Sons, New York, 1901. A rather technical evaluation of his work and influence. * Quick, R. H. Essays on Educational Reformers. 668 pp. 2d revised edition. D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1890. Contains a very well-written chapter on Pestalozzi and his ideas. Snedden, D. S. American Juvenile Reform Schools. 206 pp. Teachers College Contributions to Education, No. 12, New York, 1907. Contains a brief historical statement, and an excellent account of recent tendencies. CHAPTER X THE REORGANIZATION OP ELEMENTARY EDUCATION I. The Rise of the Nohmal School Beginnings of the teacher-training idea. The first train- ing class for teachers organized in the world was a small local school organized by Father Demia, at Lyons, France, in 1672. Stimulated into activity by the results of the Protestant Revolt, he had begun schools in his parish to teach reading and the catechism to the children of his pa- rishioners. Not being satisfied with the volunteer teachers he could obtain, he organized them into a class that he might impart to them the ideas he had as to teaching. The first real normal school was that founded at Rheims, France, in 1685, by Abbe de la Salle, to educate and train teachers for the schools of the order he had founded — "The Brothers of the Christian Schools" — to give free religious primary education to the children of the working classes of France. He later founded a second school of the kind in Paris, and called each institution a " Seminary for Schoolmasters." In addition to imparting a general education of the type of the time and a thorough grounding in religion, his student teach- ers were trained to teach in practice-schools, imder the di- rection of experienced teachers. The beginning of teacher-training in German lands was Francke's Seminarium Prwceptorum, established at Halle, Prussia, in 1697. In 1738 JuUus Hecker, one of Francke's teachers, estabhshed the first regular seminary for teachers in Prussia, and in 1748 he estabhshed a private Lehrer- seminaria Berlin. In these two institutions he first showed the German people the possibilities of special training for teachers. It was not, however, until 1819 that the Prus- sian Government established normal schools to train teacb ers for its elementary or jieoples' schools. 286 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES In 1808, as a part of the reorganization of higher educa- tion in France by Napoleon, the £cole Normale SupSrieure (higher normal school) of France was created, and between 1831 and 1833 thirty new normal schools were estabhshed by the new French government. Pestalozzi had trained teachers in his methods of instruction at Burgdorf and Yver- don, from 1800 to 1825, but the Swiss did little with the idea until later. Both the Lancastrian and the Bell monitorial systems of education in England, which developed about the beginning of the nineteenth centmy, had trained their moni- tors for teachers, but the first "Training College" for teach- ers in England dates from 1835. Of all this development, excepting the work of Pesta- lozzi, we in America were ignorant until about 1835. By that time we were so well on the way toward the creation of native American training schools that the knowledge of what Prussia and France had done, which came in then through the Reports of Cousin, Julius, and Stowe, merely stimulated a few enthusiastic workers to help carry more rapidly into effect the estabUshment of the first training schools for American teachers. The Independent American development. As early as the founding of Franklin's Academy at Philadelphia (p. 185) in 1756, one of the purposes specified in its establishment was "that others of the lesser sort might be traiaed as teachers." In an article in the Massaxihusetts Magazinefior June, 1789, on "The Importance of Studying the English Language Grammatically," the author recommends the establishment of institutions to prepare "young gentle- men for schoolkeeping." In a commencement address at Yale College, in 1816, on "The State of Education in Con- necticut," by Denison Olmstead, a plan for "an academy for schoolmasters" was outlined and urged, to prepare in- tending teachers for "the organization and government of a school." In 1823 two papers appeared, one by William Russell, urging the establighment of such schools, and in |j^25 two more, and to these four papers Mr. Barnard traces ELEMENTARY EDUCATION REORGANIZED 287 much of the early interest in teacher training in the United States. As early as 1820 Mr. James G. Carter (p. l64), often called the "Father of the Massachusetts School Sys- tem and of Normal Schools," pubUshed a pamphlet in which he suggested an "institution for the training of teachers," and during 1824-25 he published numerous newspaper articles and public appeals for the establishment of such an institution. In 1827 he showed his faith in such schools by opening one himself, at Lancaster, Massachusetts, and petitioning the legislature of the State for aid. This was probably the second school of its kind in America. From this time on many articles, widely scattered in place of publication, appeared urging that something be done by the States in the matter. The demand which now arose for teacher-training institutions was only another phase of the new democratic movement throughout the country, which was calling for both votes and schools. The general enlightenment of the people having been conceived as essential to the protection and preservation of repubHcan institutions, it was important, as Governor Chnton expressed it, that the "mind and morals of the rising and perhaps the destinies of all future generations, be not entrusted to the guardianship of incompetence." Our first teacher-training school. The first teacher-train- ing school in America was established privately, in 1823, by the Reverend Samuel R. Hall, who opened a tuition school for training teachers at Concord, Vermont. This he continued there xmtil 1830; at Andover, Massachusetts, until 1837; and at Plymouth, New Hampshire, until 1840. He offered a three-years' course, based on a common-school education, which reviewed the common-school branches; studied much mathematics, some book chemistry and natu- ral philosophy, logic, astronomy, evidences of Christianity, moral and intellectual philosophy; and, in the third term of the third year, took up a new study which he called the "Art of Teaching." Practice teaching was obtained by teaching during the winter in the rural schools. It was the typical 288 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES academy training of the time, with the Art of Teaching added. Without a professional book to guide him, and relying only on his experience in teaching. Hall tried to tell his pupils how to organize and manage a school. To make clear his ideas he wrote out a series of Lectures on School- keeping, which some friends induced him to publish. This appeared in 1829, and was the first professional book in Eng- lish issued in America. It was a success from the first, illustrating the rising professional interest of the time. The acting superintendent of common schools of New York or- dered ten thousand copies of it for distribution through- out the State, and a committee on education in Kentucky recommended that the same be done for that State. The academies begin teacher-training. The Lancas- trian higher schools in New York and elsewhere had, by 1810, evolved classes for educating monitors as teachers, and Governor Clinton, in 1826, recommended to the legislature of New York the establishment by the State of "a seminary for the education of teachers in the monitorial system of instruction." In 1827, he recommended the creation of "a central school in each county for the education of teachers." Again, in 1828, he recommended the establishment of county monitorial high schools, "a measure so well calculated to raise the character of our schoolmasters and to double the power of our artisans by giving them a scientific education." StiU earlier (1821) the Board of Regents of the State of New York had declared that it was to the acadenjies of the State "that we must look for a supply of teachers for the common school," and the committee of the legislattu-e, to whom Governor Clinton's recommendations had been re- ferred, thought as had the Regents. The result was the New York law of 1827, appropriating state aid to the academies "to promote the education of teachers." In the Annual Report of the Regents for 1828 we find the statement that the academies have become, in the opinion of the Regents, what it has always been desirable they should be, fit Seminaries for im- ELEMENTARY EDUCATION REORGANIZED 289 parting instruction in the higher branches of English education, and especially for qualifying teachers of Common Schools. In the Report for 1831 two academies report "Principles of Teaching" as a new subject of study, and by 1835 five were offering instruction in this new subject. In 1834 the New York Legislature enacted "the first law in this country making provision for the professional education of teachers for common schools," After providing for state aid to one academy in each of the eight judicial districts of the State, the law reads: The tnistees of academies to which any distribution of money shall be made by virtue of this act shall cause the same to be expended in educating teachers of common schools in such manner and under such regulations as said Regents shall prescribe. Excepting the Lancastrian monitorial schools, and the private schools of Hall and Carter, this was the first form of the normal school idea in the United States. In this form the training of teachers was continued in New York State imtil the establishment of the first State Normal School, at Albany, in 1844, with David Page as principal. In 1849 teacher-training in the academies was reestablished, and still exists in the high schools of the State. The training of teachers in the academies now became common everywhere. Among the older and more impor- tant ones, Phillips Andover, for example, introduced an English course primarily to train teachers, and many other New England academies did the same. To the south and westward many academies also added instruction intended for teachers, and several offered instruction for teachers on the manual-labor part-time plan. In Indiana, Governor Noble, in 1833, recommended to the legislature, "that semi- naries be fitted to instruct and prepare teachers," and sug- gested that state aid be granted to one or more such insti- tutions "for the preparation of young men as teachers for the township schools on the manual labor system." The training offered was almost entirely academic, as it 290 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES was also in the first state normal schools as well, there being as yet no professional body of knowledge to teach. There was as yet no organized psychology; child study had not been thought of; and there was no organized history of education, applied psychology, philosophy of education, or methodology of instruction. Principles of teaching and school management, taught by lectures and almost entirely out of the personal experience of the principal of the school, was about all of professional instruction there was to give. This constituted one study, and the remainder of the time was given to reviews of the common-school subjects and to advanced academic studies. Our first state normal schools. The pubKcation of the Reports by Cousin (1835) and Stowe (1837), with their descriptions of the teacher-training seminaries of Prussia, together with the contact of Dr. Julius and the Reverend Charles Brooks (1845), united to give valuable support to the efforts of Carter, Mann, and a few others in Massachu- setts who were laboring to inaugurate such schools there. Carter, in particular, had been at work on the idea for a decade and a half, and on his election to the legislature, in 1835, he began a campaign that resulted in the creation of the State Board of Education in 1837, and the first American state normal schools in 1838. Though the law gave no name to these new institutions, they soon settled down to that of Normal Schools — a distinctively French term. While Carter worked with the legislature. Brooks worked with the people> traveling over two thousand miles in his chaise and at his own expense throughout Massachusetts, during the years 1835-38, explaining the Prussian system of teacher-training and the Massachusetts need for such, and everywhere awakening interest in the idea by his enthusi- astic portrayal. Finally a citizen of Boston, Mr. Edmund Dwight, authorized Mr. Mann to say to the legislature that he would personally give $10,000 for the project, if the State of Massachusetts would give a similar amount. A bill to this effect W3S put through by Carter, then chairman g Q Cd ■^ o 1/1 o Cg «§ S c/i F^ £ g O t?- ^ '^-i ■— K W) o