The History of American Education

Education has taken many turns throughout its fairly short history in America. Although nothing has been entirely drastic, the changes made have chiseled and shaped the foundations of education and formed what we have today. The early nineteenth century saw the first beginnings of an interest and development in schools which has since led to the large and diverse public and private school sector we rely on to educate our children today.

During colonial times the big boom for a basic education began. Originally all teaching was done by the parents of the child and much of that education passed on was dedicated to learning the techniques and skills needed to man the house. For girls that meant candle making, sewing, and soap making; and for boys that often meant farm work. However, as the period progressed the need and desire to better educate the youth of society grew into the very early and modest beginnings of public education. A law in 1647 ordered all towns of fifty families or more to hire a school master to teach reading and writing; if the town consisted of 100 or more it was required they hire a grammar school master that would be able to prepare the students for Harvard. The former school masters would teach only reading and writing with modest if not primitive tools. This gave way to next step in education in which religion played a massive role.