Chapter 4 Section 4The Spread of New Ideas

Prentice HallAmerica History of Our Nation

A. Barnette 2013

The Importance of Education

Massachusetts was the first colony to have public schools.

They were funded publicly and privately.

Puritans required parents to teach their children to read and write.

Colonial Schools

Students learned ◦Religion◦Reading◦Writing◦ArithmeticMethods of learning◦ Primers◦ HornbooksTypes of schools

Public, private, tutors, dame schools, no schools at all

Thought question: Why do you think that there was such a difference between the levels of education in the South?

Education for African Americans

Free African Americans, Native Americans, and poor whites were sometimes taught by religious groups.

Slave codes usually forbid teaching slaves, but some found ways to learn despite the laws.

Thought Question: Why do you think slave codes prohibited the education of slaves?

Upper Levels

Grammar school then was like high school now, but they were also expected to learn “the classics,” Greek and Latin.

Colleges began for ministers before expanding to other disciplines.

The first was Harvard, followed by William and Mary.

Thought Question: Why do you think the first colleges were formed to educate ministers?

Roots of American Literature

Poetry◦ Ann Bradstreet- “To My

Dear and Loving Husband”-first colonial poet

◦ Phyllis Wheatley-had been a slave in Boston-1st African American woman to publish a book

Roots of American Literature

Ben Franklin◦ Pennsylvania Gazette-He

began publishing at age 17!

◦ Poor Richard’s Amanack –many famous wise sayings in this yearly publication

◦ Became a Founding Father who used his intellect to make the country a better place-was a scientist, inventor, publisher, community activist, and diplomat

The Great Awakening

Religious RevivalPuritanism had

waned, and many thought Christianity was losing its fervor.

Preachers like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield stirred emotions with powerful sermons.

The Great Awakening

Impact of the Great Awakening

New denominations, like Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, etc.

More tolerance of religious differences

Photo source: http://bjws.blogspot.com/2012/03/early-american-churches-in-original-13.html

The Enlightenment

John Locke-◦ Englishman who said

that people have natural rights (This idea ended up in our Declaration of Independence.)

◦ He said our natural rights come directly from God, not from God, to a monarch, then to us.

◦ Governments should protect these rights. Thought question: If

government should protect our natural rights, what happens if it does not?

The Enlightenment

Baron de Montesquieu◦Government should

have a separation of powers into different branches: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial

◦We have that idea in our Constitution.

Thought Question: What can you say that the Enlightenment thinkers had in common?