Education: A Long Way Coming

In our current day and time, we American teens take for granted the advantage we have by receiving an education. Between the 1820's and 1850's learning wasn't so easily received in public schools. Schoolhouses generally possessed one teacher and eight grades. They often had a terrible stench, or odor about them. Tax-supported schools were extremely scarce during these years. At this time, these the ragged schools were being used to educate the children of the poor.

Horace Mann was an extremely important figure during the time of education reform. He was a graduate of Brown University and the secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education. Mann campaigned for more and better schools, an increase in the pay of teachers, longer school terms, and a larger curriculum to be taught. Even after Mann's effective campaigning, education remained too expensive for many communities. With the help of several other figures, such as Noah Webster and William H. McGuffey, educational advances were introduced. American society faced another great change that effect upcoming generations.