Colonial American Education Vs Colonial Education

One area that has been shaped by Puritan influence is public education. Puritans created the first free formal school in 1635 called Roxbury Latin School. The objective was for everyone to be capable to learn to read and have a better educated Puritan society. Consequently, the institution was so remarkably influential that just four years later, the first college, Harvard, was formed. Even younger kids, mostly ages 6-8, were able to attend a Dame school where they studied how to read. This system has many similarities to our public education system today. Children today go to elementary school where basic reading, writing, and math is taught, which can be

While the current child considers their life to be stressful and busy, the children of the Puritan religion had much more to be worried about, on top of all of their daily activities. The adults in the community looked down upon the children that represented the devil and his works. Children were born with the burden of Adam’s sin, and they must be broken from sinning. By the time that the children were five, they were put to work, to contribute to the family. Most children were small, and able to help with the weeding of plants and house work. After an early morning work session, most children would attend school. Schooling was very important to the Puritans because they believed that the devil would influence anyone you was easy

The Puritan’s political, economic, and social development in the 17th Century was prompted by the ideology that God had bestowed upon them the power and the mission to spread Christianity to all the people of the Earth.

The Puritans, arguably the most well-known group of early English colonists settled in the Massachusetts Bay colony in the 1600’s, and are considered catalysts to modern American culture. The Puritans are famous for their theological insights, advances in the sciences, and for the establishment of the first public schools in America. The Puritans however are infamous for their potentially brutal punishment, and harsh discipline. To the devout Puritan punishment was love, this was evident in the ways they raised children, punished criminals, and how they lived. These policies played a major role in shaping American society for many years and in part made America what it is today.

The purpose of schooling in Colonial America was to prepare boys and girls for their eventual roles in plantation life. Now the purpose of schooling is to prepare students for the real world, higher education, and future careers.

After the Protestant Reformation, a group practicing Puritanism left Great Britain to the Netherlands for the ability to practice their religion freely. However, the Puritans did not favor the idea of their children growing up outside of British influences despite having the privilege of freedom of religion. In 1620, the first group of Puritan settlers sailed to North America aboard the Mayflower. It wasn’t until 1629 when John Winthrop delivered his “city upon a hill” sermon that created a new perspective and goal for the growing Puritan society. Economic, political, and social difficulties were faced, but religion stayed a constant center for the Puritan settlements.

There is no doubt in history that the Puritan era was a fascinating, and remarkable time. The Puritans indeed shaped young America, and the early years of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Puritans had deep pride in their community, and even greater pride in their faith, and their beliefs. Religion was the most important aspect of their community, and they wanted it to be the center focus of the society that they were building. Their faith was continuously practiced, and preached from the time they were a newborn, and continued upon the day that they passed. They found that literature was the most ingenious way to teach their faith. In order for everybody to be able to master the religion, they set up classrooms, and hired teachers.

Education in the colonial era was highly dependent on the financial prosperity of individual families. Most could not afford to send their children to

1642-The Massachusetts Bay School Law is passed requiring that parents teach their children and servants to read enough to understand about religion and commonwealth laws.

Children were constantly reminded of the impending doom that would overtake them if they did not listen to the rules or follow the Puritan beliefs. Literature was an instrumental tool used in teaching those beliefs and values to children. The texts children read provided a pathway and an understanding of what was expected of them to their roles amongst society.

This work has the purpose to show the education of a country such as the right of the citizen. So that should be offered by the government of each country. So that every child has the opportunity to succeed in life. Furthermore, shows that was fought in the years 1850's against of segregation in schools. Nevertheless,the reality as that continues to exist today.

Most teachers during the Colonial era through the 19th century were young white men. However, during the summer months, young white females taught small children the alphabet who lived in their communities. During the winter session, men were recruited to schoolmasters to teach all the students in the community.

This enacted the Law of 1647, which “required that towns of fifty families hire a schoolmaster who would teach children to read and write. Towns of a hundred families must have a grammar schoolmaster who could prepare children to attend Harvard College.” (The Massachusetts Education Laws). During this time education was forming more and becoming required. This meant the teachers became more of a high demand. The Massachusetts Education Laws state, “Perhaps even more surprising in the light of previous practice is that they were paid to do so, either by the government or individual parents and guardians. School was becoming more of a priority.”

A public education was only for wealthy families. We see this in the book, Lyddie, a story from 1843 about a young, Vermont girl who was hired out to be a servant to make money for the family at the age of ten, and was not afforded the luxury of education.

Early American children’s literature was intended to provide children with religious, social and moral education. Puritans were one of the first groups to create a large body of children 's books, their doctrine of original sin assumed that all children were damned until they were converted to Christianity (Susina ). The Puritans believed that reading the Bible was important to achieving salvation, therefore teaching children to read was a priority for that matter. The New England Primer, An Alphabet of Lessons For Children, was strongly influenced by religion and had the intentions that all the colonists should learn how to read. It was seen as advance literacy. In “1642 Puritan Massachusetts passed a law stating this. They believed that an inability to read was Satan 's attempt to keep people from the Scriptures” (O’Neill 1). With that said, other scriptures such as Mother Goose’s Nursery Rhymes, Nancy Sproat’s Ditties for Children, or even Washington Irving’s Rip Van Winkle were all famous didactic literature authors that conveyed the same educating motion in their work. However, early literature influenced younger children in advanced critical ways, as their goals were to enhance a way to influence younger aged children in their society to do good, not bad.