The History of Education Part 2/2- The United States

US Department of Education, image here.

     

     Education in the United States began in a far more advanced state than that of say, Britain or France, since obviously the North Americas were not discovered until the 15th century.  And furthermore, education began in the Americas before the United States officially came to be, as before the Revolutionary War the eventual states were but colonies.  These colonies had education systems, and even passed laws which required children to be educated to understand religion and laws of the commonwealth.  Privatized education was also a big deal then, and wealth and intelligent people such as Benjamin Franklin opened their own private academies to educate.  

     Not many events in history had a large effect on American education, as but a major one was the civil war, and the racism before the civil rights movement in the 1950s.  Minority students were denied a good education, and this hampered American education through the entire 19th century, and its effects are still felt today.  In his article The Man With The Dirty Black Beard in the Journal of the Early Republic here, Harry L Watson writes on the holding back of minorities: "warning that schools must strengthen the 'social distinctions between races . . . , not only for grave political reasons, and to preserve a proper respect for authority, but, also, on the most obvious grounds of moral propriety.’"  It is clear here that Students who were not white anglo-saxon protestants like the majority were held back, and this has created a cultural divide which exists to this day.

     As time went on and educational sciences became more prevalent, schools began to become a necessity in the States.  In what is dubbed by experts as the "Compulsory Era", states were eventually forced by federal mandate to offer public grammar and secondary schooling.  By 1913, all states had compulsory school attendance laws.

     Despite the great advancements made in the 200 or so years of American education advancement, there were some large problems too, which have created serious problems which will be discussed in the next two features.