Colonial Education : The Structure Of Colonial Education In America

Colonization was detrimental to not only the physical bodies of the Native Americans, but to their minds as well. The shift in indigenous education was a destructive one; Western education completely overtook the indigenous education that had thrived for generations. Instead of allowing education to benefit both indigenous and European peoples, it was used as a tool to destroy indigenous culture. When the settlers from Europe and Spain first came to the Americas, “indigenous men and women articulated their petitions for more educational spaces” (Díaz 60). The attempt to share educational spaces was continuously rejected by the settlers in an attempt to spur assimilation instead of cooperation.

Judith Sargent Murray’s On the Equality of the Sexes reveals the struggles women had in the 17th-18th centuries when it came to equal education opportunities. Women were expected to become people of domestication while men had many opportunities to expand their minds and be ambitious, and be leaders. Women were expected to focus on taking care of their family, not to have minds of their own. They wanted change.

During Colonial Times, women were not permitted to get an education because they were only relegated to learning domestic skills. As time went by, women were slowly allowed to attend school but were once again limited to the subjects they were able to learn and they were only taught certain hours of the day. Over time, many cities did not have enough money to build two schools, so both boys and girls attended the same schools. As Myra and David Sadker wrote, “Entering by two separate doors, boys and girls went directly to their assigned single-sex area. Sometimes they went to different floors, or boys went to one side of the building and girls to the other. Frequently the girls were taught by women and the boys by men, so they continued to learn in their own sex-segregated worlds” (Sadker 343). Many critics thought that having both girls and boys attend school would have

First Generations: Women in Colonial America delivers a broad analysis over American women in the colonial period. It is evident that married women in colonial America were not considered equal to their husbands or to society in general. The rights of American women have come a long way in regards to civil rights. The control a woman in early Colonial America had over her own life was linked to race, religion, and class. Berkin organizes the first chapters according to race and region. Other chapters are organized by African American women, New England, and the middle colonies, Native American Women, and white women in the Chesapeake. Within each chapter, Berkin gives details about one woman from the region. European, Indian, and African women of seventeenth and eighteenth-century America were protectors of their native land, pioneers on the frontier, like-minded immigrants, and courageous slaves. They were also, as most scholars tend to leave out, just as important as men in shaping American culture and history.

After marriage, the husband was considered lord and master of the family. But not all the women were meek and submissive. By the 1700's, the woman’s status had rapidly improved in colonial America. A wife and child made as much as a man did. Although women did not have equality with men, their status greatly improved from their status in Europe. A woman’s station in life was determined by the position of their husbands or fathers. The women of the poorest families, compiled to work in the fields, stood at the bottom of the social ladder. One of the surest signs of the accomplishments a family had made, was the exemption of their women from the fields. Before 1740, girls were trained in household crafts and the practical arts of family management. But afterwards they began to study subjects that required reading and studying such subjects as grammer and arithmetic. The women of the upper classes occupied themselves mainly with planning the work of the home and with supervising the domestic servants. Along with these tasks the women also baked, nursed, and sewed. But there were many social restrictions placed on the women of that time. One such restriction was that a wife, in absence of her husband, was not allowed to lodge men even if they were close relatives. For

In her journal article, “The Evolution of White Women’s Experience in Early America,” Mary Beth Norton submits there is a common misconception that the initial empowerment of 17th and 18th century Colonial America women was completely and solely influenced by the unique economic factors and disrupted social framework of New World life--arguing instead that this revolution of empowerment was the result of a more complex set of factors.. Thus, as Colonial American society was one in which all members of the family had to work together in order to survive, it has been

Articles written during a specific period gives the future population an idea of the issues present during that time. Before the United States became independent, woman education was limited to the skill needed to be a good wife and proper mother. Particularly, upper-class woman were the only ones that had the resources to gain an education. Most middle and lower class focus primarily on the education of their males. European education influence Colonial America’s educational system. Since there weren’t any establish convents schools in the colonies, tutors were primarily hired and later on schools were incorporated. During the first years of schooling, new England girls went to a coed school called “dame school”. In the dame school, girls were thought to knit and sew. Many girls got the chance to go to the town school. However, some town school in new England prohibited girls from attending. In the south, girls got the

Whether by land or by sea, eighteenth century colonial travel was arduous, expensive, and many times dangerous. Because of this, few people traveled very far from their homes. Transportation has changed dramatically since the late 1700’s. It was during this time that Colonial America was budding as a new country. This was before airplanes, which appeared in the very early stages of the 1900’s. Cars showed up about the same time, so rewind about 200 plus years and we’re back in colonial America. It wasn’t civilized like it is today. The dirt roads were bumpy, grimy, and when the rains came, they were mud baths. So how did people during this time get around? Often, they didn’t. Not many people could afford the cost of travel back then. Daily American Colonial Life was extremely harsh for the first settlers and colonists. They were faced with a new country, unknown territory and no friends, relatives or neighbors to help them “In those days, it was fairly expensive to travel. Because of this, generally only government officials, merchants, and planters took the risk (Constitution Facts).” Women were supposed to stay home and look after the children while the husband went off to do business. America was still a budding country, so there were not as many cities as there are now and they were more spread out. If the man wanted to travel, it would require several hours, or even several days to ride on horseback. Often the husband wouldn’t return for a couple of days, and when he

The impact of schools has been ever changing. From their New England traditions, to civilizing of western settlers, and finally the requirement of educated individuals what schools and education have to do in society is constantly being molded and remolded. New models, ideas, ideals, and requirements for schools are constantly being established and have come a long way from the colonial period to the modern era.

In the early days of Colonial America life was harsh and “difficult, the colonists faced conflicts with natives, starvation, and difficulties finding stable sources of food and support” (Jaffee). The culture at first was a struggle for those settlers who had to cross the Atlantic by contract. Most of these people were bound by their contracts for four to seven years. As for most women in the early days of Colonial America they were “expected to grow up, get married, have children, and take care of a home (Peck).

The children of the Southern and Middle colonies are uneducated and if this continues, our future generation will become illiterate and ignorant. The New England Colonies are trying to set an example to the other colonies by passing laws to force schooling. Massachusetts started the ball rolling by passing a law that required town of more than 100 families to provide a public school for the children, and town with 50 families or more to hire an instructor to teach them. Yet, even though the Middle and Southern Colonies are not as advanced in the education departments, they are starting to make some progress. In the Middle Colonies, there are a multitude of religions and that makes the schooling much more difficult. There are religious schools

Benjamin Franklin spent his teen years practicing his writing. In 1720, James started a newspaper known as the New England Courant. According to Franklin, this was the second newspaper in America. Franklin worked as a delivery boy and would publish his own writings anonymously. Franklin often disputed politics and books with another “bookish lad” by the name of John Collins. One of their arguments speaks directly about the female gender during the 1700’s. “A question was once, somehow or other, started between Collins and me, of the propriety of educating the female sex in learning, and their abilities for study. He was of opinion that it was improper…” (Franklin, Benjamin. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. New York: Bantam Books, 1982, pg 14.) Collins shares the same views and mentalities that many men of the 1700’s shared. At the time, it was understood that education and teaching was not to be wasted on women. Not only was it a waste but Collins specifically states that it is improper.

Throughout the colonial period education was limited to both men and women, but was even more limited to women. There was a gap in education between males and females for education. Males were more likely to go to school than females due to the facts that you had to pay for schooling. There was also the fact a woman 's education depended on their race, class, and location.

Education was not equal between the sexes and neither between the classes. Gentlemen were educated at home until they were old enough to attend well-known or lesser schools. A lady’s schooling was

In the early 1700’s when America was first being founded young boys were being taught in schools or in homes while girls were not allowed in these places. As time went on in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s, girls were allowed to attend school. One of the most critical events in the history of education for women’s education was the creation of the Ladies Academy in 1787, which was an all- female school, which was primarily taught by men. The 1800’s were the most important changes for education for women. In 1815 the Female Seminary Movement began and was led by women whose goals were to offer