Education, Reform, and Social Change in Early 19th-Century America

Education for Democracy and the Common School Movement

• Core idea: “Education for Democracy” – a republic functions best when citizens are informed; ignorance sabotages voter competence.

• Early reality: Only the rich received formal schooling; majority of population uneducated.

• Symbolic practice: Recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance (and in Texas, the Texas pledge) = daily civic-national ritual reinforcing democratic ideals.

• The Common School Movement (1830s – 1850s)
  • Goal: create a uniform, nation-wide public-school system.
  • Three founding principles
  – Tax-supported (advertised as “tax-free” to parents even though taxpayers funded it).
  – State control & statewide standards.
  – Mandatory attendance laws.
  • Teaching re-defined as a profession → formal training, certification exams, education coursework.
  • Present-day echoes: state-run districts, compulsory K-12, teacher certification exams, standardized tests (e.g., STAAR in TX).

• Regional split
  • North & West embraced the plan.
  • South resisted; legacy visible in modern rankings (example: Oklahoma recently ranked 50^{th} in K-12 performance).

Expansion of Higher Education

• 1800s colleges = completely private & male-only.

• Original curricular focus: theology/philosophy, medicine, law (heavy Greek & Latin terminology).

• Competitive pressure → diversified majors: history, economics, government, sciences, etc.

• Marketing reality: “The more majors you offer, the more tuition-paying students you attract.”

• Degree–career mismatch: ≈ 80\% of graduates never work in their major field.

• Institutional characteristics (early 19th c.)
  • No letter grades or credit hours – pass/fail mastery model.
  • Minimal homework; learning assessed in oral examinations.
  • Cafeteria food so poor it triggered riots.

• Southern land-grant trend: colleges labelled “A & M” (Agricultural and Mechanics) – e.g., Texas A&M.

• Milestones for women
  • 1837: Oberlin College (OH) admits 4 women.
  • 1839: First all-female school – Georgia Female College (later Wesleyan College).

Wage & Work Examples (contextual numbers)

• Factory wage 1985: \$12 /hr ⇒ ≈ \$36 /hr in 2025 dollars (×3 inflation approximation).

• Hauling hay (high-school side-job): 0.17 ¢ per bale.

• Factory lure: higher, steady wages pulled rural youth (especially daughters) into cities.

• Age-of-consent comparison
  • Early 1800s: 10 yrs.
  • Modern Texas: 17 yrs (legal definition of consent).

Tocqueville, Dickens & External Observations of America

• Alexis de Tocqueville (French nobleman) toured U.S. (1831-1832) ostensibly studying prisons → produced book “Democracy in America.”

  1. Birth means little – social mobility possible.

  2. Education pedigree means less – institution matters less than personal performance.

  3. Intelligence alone means nothing – application > IQ.

  4. Americans are “restless” – perpetual motion geographically & psychologically.

• Wealth‐gap statistics (New York)
  • 1828: 4\% of people owned 50\% of wealth.
  • 1845: same 4\% owned 75\% of wealth.

• Charles Dickens’ verdict: Americans = “crude and uncouth” (rude, trashy, abrasive).

Industrial Revolution & Birth of the Middle Class

• Factories concentrated in Northeast; spark U.S. Industrial Revolution.

• Rural-to-urban migration – both men & women.

• Disposable income appears → creation of a distinct “middle class.”
  Middle-class profile
  • Marry later; have fewer children.
  • View offspring as inherently innocent & morally superior.
  • Want more consumer goods ⇒ husbands work longer hours; wives assume household authority (origin of “man-cave” exile to garage/shed).
  • Women, bored with domestic isolation, pour energy into voluntary associations.

Women-Led Voluntary Associations & Social Reform

• Structure: male-dominated boards; female majority workforce (prototype = modern PTA/booster clubs).

• Key reform targets
  • Prison reform – push for juvenile facilities separate from adults.
  • Mental-health reform – Dorothea Dix exposes asylum abuse; campaigns for humane treatment.
  • Deaf advocacy – Thomas Gallaudet co-creates ASL; later founds Gallaudet College.
  • Blind support – promotion of Braille; anecdote: blind college student excels with adaptive tech despite discrimination.
  • Temperance/Prohibition – alcohol blamed for domestic abuse & squandered wages (modern analogue: MADD).
  • Raise age of consent – combat child exploitation.

Alternative Religious–Communal Experiments (“Self-Help” Movements)

1. Shakers (NY) – founded by Mother Ann Lee
   • Doctrine: Functionality > appearance (plain utilitarian furniture).
   • Celibacy; male & female dorms.
   • “Shaking” dances to sublimate sexual tension → nickname.
   • Still exist but tiny; no natural growth due to celibacy.

2. Oneida Community (NY)
   • Excellence in silverware/metalwork (brand survives).
   • Communal living, “complex marriage” (rejection of monogamy & other societal restraints), group parenting.

Persistent Themes of American Culture

• Consumerism & perpetual upgrade mentality: bigger houses, new phones, numerous shoes, cars, etc.

• Mobility: geographical (move cities/states) & occupational (changing jobs for +10/hr raises).

Quick Reference – Numeric & Statistical Highlights

• #50 – Oklahoma’s present-day education rank (illustrates lingering Southern resistance).

• 1837 Oberlin co-education; 1839 Georgia Female College.

• 4\% \rightarrow 50\% wealth (1828) → 4\% \rightarrow 75\% (1845).

• Factory wage 12 /hr (1985) ≈ 36 /hr now; hay 0.17 ¢/bale.

• Age of consent shift: 10 → 17.

Colonial–Early Republic Review (abbreviated from in-class Q&A)

• Political Structure: lower house dominated colonial legislatures; British governance not centralized.

• Mercantilism: colonies exist to enrich mother country.

• Great Awakening: emotional revivalism; Jonathan Edwards’ sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”

• Enlightenment figure: Benjamin Franklin.

• French & Indian War: William Pitt funds British troops; Treaty of Paris 1763.

• Sons of Liberty formed to resist the Stamp Act.

• General Gage’s march to Concord aimed to seize colonial munitions.

• Proclamation Line 1763 barred settlement west of Appalachians.

• Sugar Act = American Revenue Act.

• Boston Massacre victim: Crispus Attucks; Tea Party occurred aboard ship Dartmouth.

• Revolutionary War details: Hessian mercenaries; Paine’s “Common Sense”; morale victories at Trenton & Princeton; Saratoga = turning-point victory; British shift war southward; Spain complicates post-war diplomacy.

• Articles of Confederation flaws: unanimous amendment rule; Shays’ Rebellion spurs reform; Rhode Island reckless with paper money.

• Constitutional Convention: borrowed Roman republicanism; Great Compromise (population House + equal Senate); \frac{3}{5} Compromise; stronger presidency; checks & balances (veto).

• Washington precedents: stayed within constitutional limits; crushed Whiskey Rebellion; Farewell Address warns against excesses.

• Bill of Rights: safeguards civil liberties; limits federal intrusion.

• Hamiltonian finance: Report on Public Credit favored wealthy creditors; Dinner Table bargain → capital on Potomac.

• “Necessary & Proper” clause first wielded by Hamilton.

• French Revolution split Federalists & Democratic-Republicans.

• Marbury v. Madison (Chief Justice John Marshall) establishes judicial review.

• Louisiana Purchase (Napoleon, 1803$$); British impressment of U.S. sailors pre-War of 1812.

Ethical & Practical Take-Aways

• Education equality remains unfinished – regional gaps persist nearly two centuries after reform began.

• Wealth concentration continues a historic pattern; percentages differ but dynamic unchanged.

• Social reform often spearheaded by those excluded from power (e.g., middle-class women).

• Voluntary associations and utopian experiments illustrate perennial American search for meaning beyond material success.

• Consumer restlessness powers growth but invites reflection on sustainability and fulfillment.