Unit 6: Education in the United States

Education in a New Nation

Eearly Education

Americans trace the origins of their nation to the English colonialists (settlers) who came to the eastern coast of North America in the early 17th century. The largest group of these first colonists, the Puritans, founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630. Like others who followed them to America, the Puritans sought the freedom to practice their religion—a freedom they could not enjoy in their native country. They found this freedom in the small towns and villages they built on the edge of the forest in Massachusetts.

One of the things the Puritans believed was that every person should be able to read the Bible. One hundred percent literacy seemed like a dream in the 17th century. Within just a few years after their arrival, they took steps to set up a system of education in their colony:

　　In 1634, they opened a "Latin grammar" school, a school for those who wanted to prepare for college.
　　In 1636, Harvard College was founded for the training of religious ministers.

Memorial Harvard Yard	Harvard

　　In 1634 and 1638, the Puritans passed laws declaring that all property could be taxed for the common good, which included the support of schools.
　　In 1642 and 1647, the Bay Colony passed laws requiring all parents to provide reading education for their children.

Thus, in less than 20 years, the Puritans introduced two practices that still influence American youth: compulsory education for all children and public taxation for schools. The situation was different in other British colonies in North America. In Pennsylvania, for example, where there were several different religious groups, decisions about education were left to the leaders of each church. In southern colonies such as Virginia, those who could afford tutors hired them for their sons (and sometimes for their daughters). The older sons of wealthy landowners were sent to England for their education. Occasionally, a landowner might allow a literate adult to teach reading to the children of poor whites and, perhaps, a few blacks. But mostly, custom forbade the teaching of children of slaves to read.

Throughout the colonies, young men and women could receive an education in reading by becoming an apprentice in a small business. It had been a practice in England to have young boys and girls live with the families of those for whom they worked (bakers, printers, etc.). In return for a youth's work, the business owner promised to teach him or her to read, as well as how to do a craft (bake or print, for example). This practice was brought to North America.

On July 4, 1776, the 13 colonies issued a Declaration of Independence, and went to war for their freedom from England. They won the war for independence in 1781, and negotiated a favorable treaty in 1783. But it was not until 1789 that they shaped a unified national government. The shape and power of this new government, described in the Constitution, were determined after many debates and compromises. The new United States was to be a federal republic—a union of states with a strong central government representing all the people.

The states did not easily give up their own political powers to this new central government. In fact, the 10th Amendment was added to the Constitution to guarantee that "powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution … [would be] reserved to the [governments of the] States … ". One of these reserved powers was the right of each state to provide for the education of its people.

Actually, at the end of the 18th century, elementary education throughout the United States was in local hands. State governments were allowing local districts (small towns and villages) to set up and run their own elementary schools. Most often, these schools were in one-room buildings, with one teacher for all the students who could attend. The teacher, who was hired by a committee of citizens, had to teach what the local community expected. And so the future was decided: Education in the United States was to remain in the hands of state and local governments.

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