• Calvinist Protestants who wanted to reform the Church of England
• thought the COE should be "purified" of its Catholic rituals and theology
• generally a higher social and economic class than separatists
• Persecuted by King Charles + Archbishop Laud
• Many left England for the new world
• Came to New England Beginning in 1630
  • Massachusetts Bay colony formed
  • Boston becomes political, religious, and economic center
  • John Winthrop- influential governor saw Puritan experiment as "a city upon a hill"

• Called themselves "Congregationalists" with no authority above congregation but Christ himself
• Early Mass. Bay colony had a Direct Democracy
• partial theocracy
  • tax money supports the church
  • ministers could not be governors
• "freemen"- adult church members eligible to vote
• "meeting houses"- Puritan church used as a place to gather for political + social events

• Biblical faith encouraged education
• Since all of God's creation represents truth, knowing about his truth through education is desired
• virtually every Puritan family owned a Bible and family Bible reading necessitated education- initially taught at home

• First secondary school- Boston Latin School
  • 1635 to give advanced instruction beyond individual tutoring
  • Religion, Latin, Literature emphasized
  • prep school for colleges and universities
• Curriculum
  • before entering Harvard boys began taking Latin lessons at the Latin school
  • usually beginning at age 8
  • studies lasted 6-8 years
  • Greek + Hebrew studied in the last 2 yrs

• First College in America
  
  • 1636 modeled after Cambridge
  • initially designed to prepare young men for the Puritan (congressional) ministry
  • first president fired due to Baptist views (Henry Dunster)
• Curriculum
  • professors were generally ministers
  • the president also taught courses
  • term of study was 3 yrs
  • emphasis on disciplining the mind so tat future ministers could defend the faith and deepen ones knowledge of theology
  • logic, physics, geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, grammar, rhetoric 

• Puritans believed the family 1st and the church?2nd had an obligation to teach religious doctrines and values
• boys + girls were often taught to read at home
• "Massachusetts Compulsory Education Law"
• "Old Deluder Satan Act"
• Puritans continued to maintain that the untimate responsibility for educating children resides w/ parents
• Connecticut in 1650 and NH in 1689 passed similar laws as in Mass

• 1642, mandated by colonial legislature
• required head of each household to teach all children, both boys + girls
• special emphasis placed on reading and religion
• first time in English speaking world that a legislature legally mandated the teaching of reading

• mandated by Mass leg. in 1647
• main reason: belief that Satan wanted Christians to remain ignorant, esp. of the Bible
• contents of legislation
  • each community of 50 or more families must assign at least 1 person to teach all the children
  • children will be taught to read and write and teachers will receive pay from townspeople
  • towns of 100 or more must begin a grammar school
  • thus begins American Public Elementary schooling

• Religion, reading, writing, arithmetic
• there were few books except wooden hornbooks, Bibles, and the New England Primer
• Boys + girls usually began school at age 6 or 7
• School days were usually 6 days/week except in the summers
• memorization was emphasized, no group work
• disobedient children could be whipped
• teachers were often ministers and pay was so low they would board with parents

• Though primarily religious in scope, Puritan school also taught other subjects
• Parents were seen as an integral part of learning
• Education was viewed as a method of improving moral character as well as learning academic subjects
• Girls + boys attended grammar school, only boys attended Latin schools + college
• Harvard was the only Puritan college until 1701 when Yale was established by Puritans unhappy over theological liberalism in Harvard
• Puritan schools were most likely superior than those in other colonies
• New England colonies led the way in literacy:
  • from 1650-1670, 60% of adult males could read and write (33% of females)
  • Female literacy rose over the next century

• common in Southern colonies
• schools were built on old fallow farm fields
• teachers pay and building costs came from the community at large
• often in operation for only a few months

• not really former schools, but some women taught children in their own home
• curriculum was generally limited to religious instruction, the alphabet, and counting
• pay for teacher was quite low

• Protestants from England who believe in the "inner light" of human goodness; rejected Calvinism; emphasis on free will
• believed in gender + racial equality
• Pennsylvania founded in 1681 by Quakers
  • under leadership of William Penn
  • Philadelphia established in 1682
• Quaker Education
  • Broad curriculum; socioeconomically inclusive
  • teachers received some training- 1st in America
    
    • mostly through apprenticeships
    • Quakers in Penn licensed teachers
  • First to educate freed blacks

• Quakers in Pennsylvania led the way
  • In 1797 alone, Quakers opened 7 schools for black education
• Southern states did little

• Major religious revival impacting colonial Protestantism, beginning in the 1720s
• movement stressed Evangelism, spiritual growth, an educated clergy

• Ministers need to be taught how to preach in an effective way
• "style" as well as "substance" emphasized
• 1726, "Log College" was founded by Presbyterians
  • basic bible education
  • provided bible training to poor men
• Colleges founded on Great Awakening principles
  • Princeton- Presbyterian
  • Brown- Baptist
  • Rutgers- Dutch reformed
  • Dartmouth- Congregational
    • to train missionaries to evangalize Indians

• Also referred to as the "age of reason"
• secular intellectual and cultural movement which impacted Europe and America in the late 18th century
• Outgrowth of the 17th cent. age of science and the "scientific revolution"
• emphasis on rationalism and empiricism 
• fascination with the natural world and exploration and experimentation
• science is studied as an end unto itself
• great emphasis on natural law
  • precision, orderliness stressed
  • "absolutes" emphasized

• POlitics is studied as a science
• "divine right" of kings is rejected
• republican governments favored
  • representation for population
  • "check and balance" on gov't
• inalienable rights stressed
  • governments role is primarily to protect basic human rights
  • anarchy and dictatorship rejected
• John Lock's Two Treatises on Civil Gov't and Montesquieu's Spirit of the Laws influenced enlightenment thinking
• Greco-Roman politics and culture favored over medieval

• Free market favored over government control
  • laissez-faire capitalism
• Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations 1776

• Many, not all were Deists
• Deism
• A creator set the universe into motion, but is not actively involved it worldly affairs
• Natural laws operate because creator initiated them
• creator is transcendent, not active in miracles
• God is compared to a "watchmaker"
• No sacred scripture, clergy or churches
  • Bible is considered a collection of ethical statements, not divinely inspired word of God
• Ethics emphasized over dogma
• Religious tolerance and free thinking stressed

• Education is an end unto itself: learn for the sake of learning
• A well-rounded, educated individual will be a more productive member of society
• colleges begin to emphasize "Liberal Arts" or a general education
• science was greatly emphasized and the scientific method taught- "Natural Philosophy"
• Denis Diderot, French philosopher is influence to write his encyclopedia as a collection of data for learning and application to reason

John Locke

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

• Both of these European educational philosophers greatly influenced American educational philosophy
• Denis Diderot- believed that some abilities were natural, thought not denying that much could be learned

• English enlightenment political essayist also wrote on educational theory and psychology
• Author of Essay Concerning Human Understanding 
  • concept of "tabula rosa" (blank slate)
  • children are born with no innate abilities or inclinations
  • all "talents" are therefore learned
• learning occurs through sense perception and direct personal experience

• French enlightenment and romantic political philosopher who also wrote on sociology and education
• his worldview reflects the rationalism of the enlightenment and the emotionalism of romanticism
• author of Emile

• Children are born inherently good
• children should not be exposed to books until age 8
• young children should learn through exposure to nature
• the natural world is the primary teacher as young children explore and observe

• opened in Philadelphia in 1751
• Latin School with vocational training
• seeds of modern high school
• training for teachers and gov't officials

• Saw education as indispensable, as a free society depends on an educated citizenry to make informed decisions
• knowledge of basic political science is essential along with "the basics" of the 3 R's for boys + girls in grammar school
• 3 years of school for girls, more for boys; some should go on to university
  • this would ensure America of "enlightened leadership" and informed citizenry
• a "secondary" boarding school should exist for university-bound boys
• primary ed should be free, but counties would pay for school building and teacher salary
• parents should pay for ed beyond 3 years

• desired public funding at county level
• education is for basic knowledge and to train future political leaders
• ed should be "secular" and not incorporate bible reading or theology in instruction
• believed in rigorous testing to determine advancement
• the concept of public scholarship based on ability and achievement
• founder of the state supported University of Virginia

• saw education as a way to unify the American people beginning ed reform w/ Pennsylvania
• wanted uniform curriculum and set of values to produce a more united American public
• wanted education to create "one great, and equally enlightened family"
• the teaching of Christian religion is necessary to instill values and keep people in order
  • Bible would be used as a school book
  • Moral training is an integral part of ed

• Free schools for children-towns of 100+; emphasis on literacy in English and German
• 1 academy (college prep school) within each county; emphasis on language
• 4 colleges located in different parts of the state; emphasis on math and science
• 1 state university located at state capitol; curriculum-law, natural science, theology, political science and econ; prof. paid by state

• all citizens of Pennsylvania pay taxes to support public ed institutions
• the state would gain more revenue for ed by selling land
• curriculum is designed to improve the individual, but ed also promotes national patriotism and unity
• moral and religious matters are taught to maintain order
• teacher training should be available in colleges and universities

• Connecticut teacher and Yale grad who desired ed reform
• wanted a distinctly "american" culture with a break from english tradition
• advocated linguistic reform in his 1790 pamphlet "on the education of youth in America"
• Author of the 1783 The American Spelling Book aka The Blueback Speller
• later wrote Webster's dictionary

• Eliminate British textbooks from American classrooms
• some words should change spelling to emphasize a distinctly American approach
• a common language unifies the Am people
• Ed should emphasize moral character
• teachers should be of a high moral quality to serve as appropriate role models for students
• Christian values should be taught but the bible shouldn't be used as a school reader

• National unity can be reinforced through the schools, especially by emphasizing a common language and spelling
• school can help produce a stable orderly society by emphasizing morality and discipline
• desired "spelling bees" in schools to foster learning
• wanted ed to reinforce common American virtues- Republican gov't as superior to monarchy ( leads to dictatorship) or democracy (leads to mob rule)
• "Every class of people should know and love the laws"

• James Madison's plan; inspired by Montesquieu's The Spirit of the Laws
• Separation of powers: legislative, executive, judicial
• bicameral legislature: lower house of rep based on pop and an upper house elected by lower house

• William Paterson's proposal objecting to Virginia plan
• unicameral legislature with equal state rep but w/ increased congressional power to tax and regulate commerce

• slave trade- fed gov't prohibited from halting African slave trade for 20 yrs
• No individual rights- resolved in 1791 Bill of Rights

• 1785 land ordinance
  • passed under articles of confed
  • sale of land in the NW should include revenue for "maintenance of public schools"
  • NW territory had some schools
• the new constitutions did not specify fed financial support for education
• 1790, pres Washington recommended the fed gov't to aid + support public schools, and a gov't funded nat'l university to promote unity
• fed gov't primarily remained outside the sector of ed