FREE ESSAY ON AMERICAN ED HISTORY

AMERICAN ED HISTORY

Chapter One
I. The establishment of Public Schools and motive
A. Historical issues and interpretations of those issues allows one to examine motive.
1. The reader will be provided with a variety of historical interpretations and
historical issues.
2. Thinking about history involves both an intellectual consideration of conflicting
interpretations, emotions, and images of public schools.
3. Readers should be able to clarify their opinion about educational institutions and to
social events.
B. Motives issues serves as a guide to ask questions such as why were public schools
established? Possible answers include:
1. To ensure that all citizens protect their political and economic rights.
2. To protect the power of an elite by controlling economic and political ideas.
3. To ensure the dominance of one culture over another.
4. To ensure the education of all
C. Motives for past decisions have implications for future decisions
1. One's knowledge, images, and emotions regarding the past have an impact on future
actions.
II. What the author considers important historical themes
A. Major part U.S. school history involves conflicts over cultural domination.
1. English invaded North America and started schools to ensure domination of Protestant
Anglo-American culture in the U.S.
a. Early leaders in U.S. hoped to create a national culture unified around Protestant
Anglo-American values.
b. Nineteenth century immigration by Irish, newly freed slaves and Native Americans
spurred development of public schools to ensure the dominant culture
2. Americanization programs, civil rights movements and the multicultural debate shows
evidence of cultural wars for domination.
3. Perspective from particular viewpoints helps to understand motives
Example: Native Americans viewed literacy as a tool to protect themselves while whites
viewed it as a tool to use for their advantage.
B. Schools are major player in ideological management
1. One aspect of culture wars is ideological management
2. Ideological management is the creation and distribution of knowledge in a society and
also refers to the effect of political and economic forces on the ideas disseminated to a
society
3. Since knowledge is not neutral, the distribution of knowledge is not neutral and
debate continues on how and what knowledge should be distributed and to whom.
Example: The present debate on multiculturalism
4. Schools and mass media compete for influence over children's minds and national
culture.
C. Racism plays a major role in U.S. schools and must be understood to understand
evolution of U.S. schools.
1. The clash between racism and demands for equality are marked by the most violent and
troubled parts of American history.
2. Violence and racism are a basic part of the history of the American school.
3. For some white Americans racism and religious intolerance do not conflict with
republicanism, democracy and equality.
Understanding how republicanism, democracy, and equality are compatible with 
racism and religious intolerance in some people's minds is key to understanding 
American violence and tragic history of education.
D. Economics plays a major role in the history of education. 
1. 19th century advocates of public schools believed that education could and would
provide equality of opportunity and increased national wealth and these would end
poverty.
2. Debates on whether or not public schools could accomplish the above goals played a
central role in shaping the destiny of U.S. Schools.