The Struggle for Public Schools

Education in the American Colonies

F

rom the earliest days of settlement, Americans have attached special importance to education. During the 17^th century, the New England Puritans believed that all people had to be able to read the Bible. At first, they required all heads of household to teach children and servants how to read and write and the basics of Scripture. But when this approach proved inadequate, they adopted laws, like the 1642 Massachusetts Bay School Law, which required every town to establish a public school supported by fees from all but the poorest families.

The link between education and religious instruction can be seen in a number of documents from the colonial era, including the The New England Primer, an early schoolbook. This link can also be seen in the sermons and essays of the famous Boston minister Cotton Mather, such as his plea for parents to send children to school, The Education of Children.

In reality, however, many towns failed to establish schools, and many of those that existed were intended to produce an educated elite. The 1712 Curriculum of the Boston Latin Grammar School indicates what was taught by schoolmaster Nathaniel Williams at one of New England’s oldest and most prestigious schools.

What was it like to attend a school during the colonial era? A description of school customs can be found at the site, Colonial Schools.

Educational opportunities in the middle and southern colonies tended to be more limited than in New England. For information on schooling in those areas, one can turn to a site about the education of 18^th century planters’ children, Education for Boys and Girls, and to an on-line book chapter, Education in the Southern and Middle Colonies: the Flavor of Education in America after Locke.