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Schools through most of history where the existed at all were urban phenomenon. The same was true in colonial America. This changed, however, with the Revolution (1776-83). The Continental Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance (1787). One of the great progressive steps in American history was the support of public education through the various Federal land programs like the Homestead Act. This provided for the opening and financing of schools in rural areas. This had huge implications for the future of the country. The great majority of the population lived in rural areas. Opening schools in rural areas meant that American children had access to basic education population with relatively few exceptions. This largely depended on the parents as there at first were few mandatory attendance laws. Parents were especially important in rural areas as families were more isolated in rural areas. Almost all Americans lived in rural areas in the early 19th century, but gradually cities expanded and new cities were founded. And the proportion of children attending urban cities increased. The facilities of course were very basic in the rural schools. But rural children often got more individual attention. This can be idealized, especially in the early-19th century. Facilities were more important in secondary schools, but relatively few children attended secondary schools until the turn of the 20th century. America until the turn of the 20th century continued to be a largely rural country. Secondary education became much more important in the 20th century. The requirements of a modern industrial nation, required an increasingly educated population. The small rural schools that dominated American education began to decline. Not only did America cross the 50 percent threshold after World War I (1920), but the economics of supporting large numbers of small schools forced consolidation. And Henry Ford's revolution in automobiles creates buses that could transport rural children to consolidated town schools. This also opened up secondary education to rural areas. The early rural schools were very basic and children usually often did not dress up to the extent that they did in city schools, but many did not wear work clothes. This changed some what after the turn of the 20th century. Children in urban schools tended to dress up, but this varied from family to family. City schools were much better equipped and children also dressed up to attend them. Only in the 1940s did differences between rural and urban schools begin to disappear. We also see increasing informality in American schools. This was especially notable after World War II.
Schools through most of history where the existed at all were urban phenomenon. The same was true in colonial America. And colonial America was even less urbanized than Britain and other advanced Western European countries.
This limited the access of children in colonial America to education. The desire for education, however, was strong because of the Protestant foundation. The path of development, however, changed with the Revolution (1776-83). The Continental Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance (1787). One of the great progressive steps in American history was the support of public education through the various Federal land programs like the Homestead Act. This provided for the opening and financing of schools in rural areas. The Northwest Ordinance did even more. It created a land distribution system that ensured that America would not develop the landless peasantry system of other countries. America would become the first country in history in which most farmers would actually own the land they worked. This mean that farmers who were the bulk of the population would generate more wealth than was the case in Europe. And with this wealth came the ability to expand education and generate a highly productive society. These two developments had huge implications for the future of the country. The great majority of the population lived in rural areas. Opening schools in rural areas meant that American children had access to basic education population with relatively few exceptions. This largely depended on the parents as there at first were few mandatory attendance laws. Parents were especially important in rural areas as families were more isolated on the family farm. Almost all Americans lived in rural areas in the early 19th century, but gradually cities expanded and new cities were founded. And the proportion of children attending urban cities increased. The facilities of course were very basic in the rural schools. But rural children often got more individual attention. This can be idealized, especially in the early-19th century. There are many negative reports about the situation in these schools. Educator Horace Mann famously complained that New England farmers housed their hogs in better buildings than those to which they sent their children to be taught. There were also issues with the teachers and educational program. Early School masters taught rural children rudimentary reading and math skills but often little more. Often the schools were open only a few months of the year. One source described teachers in early schools ill trained, ill tempered, and ill paid. Condition improved as the states developed educational systems that were better financed and developed standards. Often unmentioned as while early teachers were men, gradually young women began replacing them in elementary schools, especially the small rural schools. Facilities were more important in secondary schools, but relatively few children attended secondary schools until the turn of the 20th century. America until the turn of the 20th century continued to be a largely rural country. The small rural schools that dominated American education began to decline. Not only did America cross the 50 percent threshold after World War I (1920), but the economics of supporting large numbers of small schools forced consolidation. And Henry Ford's revolution in automobiles creates buses that could transport rural children to consolidated town schools. Rural children usually often did not dress up to the extent that they did in city schools, but many did not wear work clothes. This changed some what after the turn of the 20th century. Children in urban schools tended to dress up, but this varied from family to family. We do not have many images of these rural schools until the second half of the 19th century. Photography was invented in France (1839). But here are very few school images until after the Civil War (1870s). We see many rural children in the late-19th century dressed largely like city children. For some reason this changed after the turn-of the 20th century, especially by the late-1900s decade. Suddenly we see rural children wearing overalls to school rather than suits. We have no idea why this happened all of a sudden and at this time. Only in the 1940s by which time most small rural schools had been consolidated into town schools did differences between rural and urban schools begin to disappear.
Urban schools have dominated education since the first schools were opened in ancient times. It is the cities where civilization essentially began. And it is in the cities where major advances were made such as the invention of writing and important technological and scientific achievements. But most people around the world did not live in cities until he 20th century. They lived in rural areas and primarily worked the land as a landless peasantry. America developed on a different pattern because of its Protestant foundation and the Northwest Ordinance which created the world's first society in which farmers actually owned the land they worked. This helped fire the rapid settlement and development of Western lands. And as the frontier moved west, small towns developed, some of which developed into great cities. America had no great cities at the time of the Revolution with an urban population of only about 5 percent, but this steadily changed in the 19th century with the creation of great bustling cities. While American would not cross the 50 percent urban threshold until about 1920, the United States by the mid-19th century had large, rapidly growing cities. It was in these urban schools that many of the institutional innovations associated with modern education developed. It was in the cities that a national education system was founded, although done on a state basis. America along with the German states would lead the way in creating public education. American children in the early-19th century had the almost unique opportunity to obtain a fine basic education. Urban schools helped create an educated population of passionately patriotic citizens devoted to political freedom (democracy) and economic freedom (capitalism). Nothing could demonstrate that more than the Civil War (1861-65). And they continued to do this even when huge waves if immigrants began pouring into the country after the Civil War. The immigrants speaking a wide range of languages were a unique challenge, but were successfully mastered. It was the schools that played a major role in assimilating immigrant children into the American mainstream. This is startling when you look at the schools in major cities where large numbers of children leave the schools functionally illiterate and without basic math skills. This is not what was happening in the 19th and early part of the 20th century. And of course it is in the cities that America's transformation to an industrial behemoth took place. Secondary education grew slowly, but the requirements of a modern industrial nation, required an increasingly educated population. While rural children could obtain primary education, it was only in the cities that secondary education. And it is was only in the 20 century when rural schools were consolidated into town schools that rural children had significant access to secondary education (1930s-40s). The early rural schools were very basic. Urban schools could be much more substantial with all the facilities associated with modern education. Often ignored is how America pioneered coeducation. Small rural schools had to be coed. But from an early point American city schools were coed as a matter of choice, diverging from the European pattern. This inevitably had a huge impact on American society. We note that professors in gender studies university courses go on and on about barriers women faced in America. Now they are not wrong about this, but they are being fundamentally dishonest. They rarely point out that the situation for women was better in America than any other country. Which is why America led the movement toward equal rights for women, something else that gender studies professors do not like pointing out. The frontier and coeducation were two major drivers in the movement for equal rights and opportunities. City schools were much better equipped and children commonly dressed up to attend them. One interesting image on the previous page, apparently, from a Connecticut school in the 1870s shows the boys wearing suspenders, jackets or shirts, one boy has a jacket with plaid collar, a lots of broad-brimmed straw hats. No one wears a fancy Fauntleroy-like suit that was to become so popular in the next decade. Some of the girls appear to be wearing pinafores over their dresses. Boys going to urban schools were more likely to dress more formally than rural children. This began to change in the 1940s as Americans increasingly dressed in casual clothing. By the late 1940s, most elementary boys were wearing jeans and other casual clothing to school. Most high schools, however, did not permit jeans until the 1970s.
Related Chronolgy Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[Main Chronology Page]
[The 1900s]
[The 1910s]
[The 1920s]
[The 1930s]
[The 1940s]
[The 1950s]
[The 1960s]
[The 1970s]
[The 1980s]
[The 1990s]
[The 2000s]
