Early Education in Early Education in Illinois Illinois

Early Education in Early Education in Illinois Illinois

Early Education in Illinois

• Land Grant Act = every township was given a square mile for a school

• Personal Experience versus Book Learning

• - Illinois went the way with the South = No free public school education– Subscription Schools

• Parents pay the teachers, kids find their own resources• Strong discipline = hickory Stick• One room with benches and all ages were grouped

together

Early Education in Illinois

• Public schools 1840-1850– Teachers are paid by the state – 1st = West Jacksonville

• Teacher Requirements– 1845 = all teachers must read, write,

math, geography, grammar, and history– Pay = Men $45 and women $25-30

Early Education in Illinois

• Early Colleges– Mostly started by Religious groups– 1st colleges = Illinois College,

McKendree, Blackburn

• Tax Supported Colleges– 1857 = Illinois State– 1869 = SIUC

Jonathan Baldwin Turner

• Teacher for Illinois college that wanted a college for agriculture, mechanics, and science)

• Land Grant Act = States would receive 30,000 acres of government land for each legislator– Sell the land and invest the money at 5%

interest– Use the money to build state colleges– Illinois received 480,000 acres

Jonathan Baldwin Turner

• University of Illinois– Champaign picked and offered 1,000

acres for the farm program– Feb. 1867 = U of I was created– Mar. 1868 = Class started with 50

students and 3 teachers– 1885 = Name changed to U of I