The Common School Reflection

The Common School: 1770-1900

The common school was a public school; that provide education for children who could not go to private school. During that era, the school only offered to the wealthy where parents provide funds for their child to attend school.  The common schools were created in the nineteenth century; they used local taxes payers money and government aid to support the school. The school was free to all children but only for white children. All other children who were not white were not allowed to receive free education.

 

The first school was not an excellent school building to teach children the basic of education. The primary schools were overcrowded, have hardly light, heat, ventilation, hard benches, and no textbooks. The school seems like a prison for children with no good condition in the building. With the lousy condition of the school an educator name Horace Mann held a public meeting. He had proposed a new system called the common school; they will serve all boys and girls and teach them common knowledge to give them an equal chance in life. “It is a free school system, and it knows no distinction of rich and poor… it throws open doors and spread bounty for all the children of the states.”( Streep, M pg29) With the common school, the government had to fund the public school with tax dollars and impose more taxes on the citizen to support the school. The common was free education for all children but not the freedom of religion.

The freedom of religion plays a significant role during the common school era. The common school was mostly set by protestant. When religion was in public school, all the children have to read the same bibles, say the same prayers and their simple ideas were mostly for protestant. The teachings at the common school were much anti- Irish and very anti-catholic.  The Bishop John Hughes the Cathedral of St. Patrick’s in New York had launched a protest against the school system. He proclaimed, “We are unwilling to pay taxes to destroy our religion in the minds of our children”( Streep, M pg 33). With the uproar happening in New York City with citizen refusing to pay taxes. Thousands of children decide not to attend school and to run around the streets of New York because they do not want to be part of a bias system against them. The common school system decides to search through all the textbooks and remove any offensive things about the Catholics. Overall the Bishop felt that was not enough; he chooses to create his school system the Catholic schools because of the Philadelphia Bible Riots and burning of the church. However, the government was not going to fund the school, but the Bishop ask for outside funding.  Religion was not the only issue happening during the common school era race was playing a role in the school system.

 

During the common school era race was different back then; just from couple years after the civil war. African Americans who still lived in the south was free from slavery to having no access to education. The African Americans in the north were entitled to attend the public school. However, black children were mostly prohibited from attending school with white children. The African American children were restricted only to attend two schools. The parents of the children started to protest and went to Frederick Douglass in Boston. He wrote, “the point we must aim at is to obtain admission for our children in the nearest schoolhouse, and the best schoolhouse in our own neighborhood”( Streep, M pg41). With Frederick Douglass response he helps to tie the rights for African American education. It helps beings a quest for freedom, and education to excellence together. African American will be using knowledge as a part of freedom.

Overall the Common School era was a different time when everything started up for free public education. Many things happened during that time like with ending the civil war, abolishment of slavery and religious views. With many things happen during that period children have less access to education due to other religious beliefs and the color of their skin in the school system and the country. 

Reference

Streep, M. Tyack, D. B., Bernard, S. C., Mondale, S., & Patton, S. B. (2001). School: The Story of American Public Education. Boston: Beacon Press.