CHAPTER I

THE PERIOD OF BEGINNINGS

Statutory prescriptions of history as a specific subject in the American public school had their beginning in the years between 1827 and 1860; yet the way for such enactments had been charted by earlier educational legislation. For example, in 1642 the Massachusetts Puritans provided that every child be taught enough “to read and understand the principles of religion and the capital laws of the country,”[1] and returning to the subject in 1647, expressed their belief that education would serve to “thwart that auld deluder Sathan” whose “cheife project [was] to keep men from ye knowledge of ye Scriptures.”[2]

In the course of time it was natural that the function of education should enlarge. From the religious conception inevitably sprang a belief in education as a means of imparting an understanding of the principles of “right living.” The individual as a virtuous, polite, and exemplary force in the community became the objective of the lawmaker. Closely allied with this conviction was a faith in education as an instrument for teaching patriotism and for training in the fundamentals of government. Thus, in 1732, New York justified the establishment of her schools on the ground that “good Learning is not only a very great Accomplishment but the properest Means to Attain Knowledge, Improve the Mind, Morality and good Manners and to make Men better, wiser and more useful to their Country as well as to themselves.”[3]

In 1780 Massachusetts took a similar stand,[4] perceiving in her schools a method of directing the masses in the great undertaking of self-government,--a function recognized by Washington, John Adams, Jefferson and other men of the day.[5] Other commonwealths also accepted education as a means to “preserve and perfect a Republican Constitution” and to “secure the blessings of liberty.”[6]

These early laws thus paved the way for those of a later time. They laid the foundation of an education directed toward the development of civic efficiency. Yet their influence was circumscribed by the virtual absence of free, public schools. This lack, however, the second quarter of the nineteenth century was destined to remedy; for such was the democratic awakening of the ’twenties and ’thirties that nearly every field of human activity was transformed. Trade associations attested a quickened consciousness in the laboring man; reform movements bore testimony to a new social point of view; and an aroused electorate chose for the highest office of the land that exponent of democracy, Andrew Jackson.[7]

In the states outside of New England little had been accomplished in the early years of the century toward the establishment of tax-supported schools. With the extension of manhood suffrage, however, came the realization that the functions of government were safe only in the hands of an enlightened electorate--a conviction which had come only after much agitation and bitter argument. Gradually and inevitably the public school, supported by public funds, became the embodiment of the democratic ideal in which “intelligence is the grand condition.”[8]

The year 1827 signalized the entrance of United States history into the school curriculum as a study required by law. At this time both Massachusetts and Vermont made the teaching of national history compulsory. The Massachusetts law provided that “every town, containing five hundred families or householders, shall maintain a school to be kept by a master of competent ability and good morals, who shall ... give instruction in the history of the United States, book-keeping, surveying, geometry, and algebra; and such last mentioned school shall be kept for the benefit of all the inhabitants of the town, ten months at least, exclusive of vacations each year ...; and in every town containing four thousand inhabitants, the said master shall, in addition to all the branches of instruction before required in this chapter be competent to instruct in the Latin and Greek languages, and history, rhetoric and logic.”[9] The Vermont statute, designed for the elementary school, required that “each organized town in this state shall keep and support a school or schools, provided with a teacher or teachers, of good morals, for the instruction of youths in ... the history of the United States, and good behavior.”[10]

Counterparts of these laws presently appeared in other states. In 1846 New Hampshire prescribed history as a subject in high schools,[11] and shortly after it was sanctioned by Rhode Island.[12] In 1857 the Massachusetts legislature placed United States history in her elementary schools, and added general history, the “civil polity” of the commonwealth and political economy to the required subjects for high schools.[13] Three years later, she again committed herself in favor of the social studies in the curriculum. “In every town,” the law read, “there shall be kept for at least six months in each year, a sufficient number of schools for the instruction of all the children ... in orthography, reading, writing, English grammar, geography, arithmetic, the history of the United States and good behavior....” This law further required in every town of five hundred families or householders the maintenance of a school in which instruction in general history and the “civil polity” of the commonwealth and of the United States should be given,[14] and also permitted the teaching of political economy.[15]

The South did not awaken to the needs of public education at this early period because of its institutional and economic development. Virginia was the only state of that section to enact legislation relating to the teaching of history before the Civil War. In 1849 she provided that in district schools “shall be thoroughly taught, ... history, especially that of the United States and of Virginia.”[16]

None of the states of the Middle West followed the example set by Massachusetts and Vermont in 1827; but California, still in a pioneer stage of development, required instruction in the federal and state constitutions in her grammar schools, as well as political economy in the high schools.[17] This provision constitutes one of the first attempts by statute to place the subject of government in the curriculum, although several of the older states had at an early time emphasized the necessity of a knowledge of the state law.[18] In fact, such was the lack of systematic instruction in “political morals” at this time, that foreign travelers commented upon it, and Harriet Martineau stigmatized it as “an enormous deficiency in a republic,” where participation in government was a birthright of all.[19]

By 1860, only six states had passed laws requiring the teaching of the social studies. To the east lay Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island; to the south, Virginia; and to the far west, California. To the first requirement of United States history had been added provisions necessitating the presentation of general history, political economy and civil government, and Virginia had prescribed a study of the history of the state.[20] It was not until after the Civil War that history acquired a real place in the public school curriculum.

THE CERTIFICATION OF TEACHERS

The interest awakened in public education led also to the passage of laws for the certification of teachers. Often legislation of this type indirectly describes the character of the curriculum, for, in general, the teacher was examined in those subjects which he was expected to teach. At an early time, the chief qualifications for teachers seemed to be “good morals” and “competency,” but with the expansion of the curriculum, there were added, in many cases, specifically named subjects.[21]

Thus a Connecticut law of 1841 provided that “the board of visitors [of the schools] ... shall ... examine all candidates for teachers ... and shall give to these persons with whose moral character, literary attainments, and ability to teach, they are satisfied, a certificate, setting forth the branches he or she is found capable of teaching; provided that no certificate shall be given to any person not found qualified to teach reading, writing, arithmetic, and grammar, thoroughly, and the rudiments of geography and history.”[22] In 1857 in the _Revisions_ of their laws, Maine and Rhode Island specified a knowledge of history as a necessary qualification for a teacher.[23] Illinois, in her _Revised Statutes_ of 1845, included a law which made it the duty of the school commissioner to examine “any persons proposing to teach a common school, in any township in his county,” on the candidate’s ability to teach the usual branches, including “the history of the United States.”[24]

In 1846, during the period of her earliest legislation, Iowa prescribed the history of the United States as a requirement for a teacher’s license. This state is an example of those states which have passed little legislation defining the content of the curriculum, but have secured the same end by specifying subjects for the examination of their teachers. The law appeared again in the _Code_ of 1851, but history was dropped from the required list of subjects in 1858.[25] Legislation in Nebraska took much the same course as had that in Iowa. In 1855, the territorial laws placed United States history among the subjects required in a teacher’s examination, but the laws of 1856 ignored it as a prescribed subject.[26]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Shurtleff, N. B., ed., _Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England_, 5 v. (Boston, 1853), Vol. II, p. 6.

[2] _Ibid._, p. 203. Connecticut in 1650 expressed a similar purpose for the establishment of her schools. _The Code of Connecticut_, 1650, p. 90.

[3] _Laws of the Colony of New York, 1720-1737_, Vol. II, p. 813.

[4] “Wisdom and knowledge, as well as virtue, diffused generally among the body of the people being necessary for the preservation of their rights and liberties; and as these depend on spreading the opportunities and advantages of education in the various parts of the country, and among the different orders of the people, it shall be the duty of legislatures and magistrates, in all future periods of this commonwealth, to cherish the interests of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries of them; ... especially public schools and grammar schools in towns; ...” Thorpe, Francis Newton, editor, _The Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial Charters, and other Organic Laws of the States, Territories, Now or Heretofore Forming the United States of America_. 7 v. (Government Printing Office, Washington, 1909), Vol. II, p. 1907. Similar statements were placed in the constitutions of neighboring New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. Indiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Kansas and North Dakota have likewise pinned their faith to “knowledge and learning” as an agent for democratizing the government as well as for the encouragement of “the principles of humanity, industry, and morality.” _Ibid._, Vol. IV, p. 2487; Vol. II, pp. 1069, 1086; Vol. I, pp. 283, 322, 353; Vol. IV, p. 2080; p. 2212; Vol. VI, p. 3233; p. 3373; p. 3469; Vol. II, p. 1232; Vol. V, p. 2872. In constitutions adopted at a much later time the same purposes of education are often expressed. In 1789 a Massachusetts law charged “instructors of youth” that they should “take diligent care, and to exert their best endeavors to impress on the minds of children and youth committed to their care and instruction, the principles of piety, justice, and a sacred regard to truth, love to their country, humanity, and universal benevolence, sobriety, industry, and frugality, chastity, moderation and temperance, and those other virtues which are the ornament of human society, and the basis upon which the Republican Constitution is structured. And it shall be the duty of such instructors to endeavor to lead those under their care (as their ages and capacities will admit) into a particular understanding of the tendency of the above mentioned virtues, to preserve and perfect a Republican Constitution, and to secure the blessings of liberty, as well as to promote their future happiness; and the tendency of the opposite vices to slavery and ruin.” _Statutes_ of Massachusetts, 1780-1807, sec. 4, Vol. I, pp. 470-471. On the statute books in 1823. Also _Statutes_, 1826, ch. 143, p. 180; also _General Statutes_, 1860, ch. 38, sec. 10, p. 216; also _Public Statutes_, 1882, ch. 44, sec. 16. This law became the source of many similar in character.

[5] In 1784, Jefferson took occasion to declare, “In every government on earth is some trace of human weakness, some germ of corruption and degeneracy, which cunning will discover, and wickedness insensibly open, cultivate and improve. Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories; and to render even them safe, their minds must be improved to a certain degree.” Jefferson, Thomas, _The Writings of Thomas Jefferson_. Paul Leicester Ford, ed. (New York, 1894), Vol. III, p. 254.

[6] See footnote 4 for the Massachusetts law of 1789. _Statutes_ of New Hampshire, 1830, title XCII, ch. 1, sec. 8, p. 431; also _Compiled Statutes_, 1853, sec. 20, p. 179. _Statutes_ of Maine, 1821, Vol. II, sec. 2, p. 504, also _Revised Statutes_, 1840, ch. 17, p. 170. _Supplement to Revised Statutes_, 1885-1895, ch. 11, sec. 91; _Acts and Resolves_, 1917, ch. 228, p. 263. _Revised Code_ of Mississippi, 1824, ch. 82, sec. 14, p. 407; _Ibid._, 1840, ch. 9, sec. 12, p. 124. _Statutes_ of Indiana, 1806, p. 17. _Revised Statutes_ of Illinois, 1833, p. 556.

[7] An illuminating discussion of “Jacksonian Democracy” is found in Arthur M. Schlesinger’s _New Viewpoints in American History_ (New York, 1922).

[8] Mann, Horace, _Annual Reports on Education_ (Boston, 1868), pp. 523-558.

[9] _Laws of Massachusetts_, 1827, ch. 148, p. 180; also _Revised Statutes_, 1836, ch. 23, p. 218. In the _Revised Statutes_ “general history,” not “history,” is required.

[10] _Laws of Vermont_ ... to 1834, ch. 50 (1827), sec. 1, p. 136; also _Revised Statutes_, 1840, ch. XVIII, sec. 1, p. 111; also _Compiled Statutes_, 1851, p. 144.

[11] _Laws of New Hampshire_, 1845, ch. 220, sec. 6; also _Compiled Statutes_, 1853, ch. 79, sec. 6, p. 183. This law was retained in 1863.

[12] _Revised Statutes_ of Rhode Island, 1857, ch. 67, sec. 3, p. 173.

[13] _Acts and Resolves_ of Massachusetts, 1857, ch. 206, sec. 1, p. 542.

[14] _General Statutes of Massachusetts_, 1860, ch. 38, sec. 1, p. 215; _Public Statutes_, 1882, ch. 44, sec. 1, p. 299. According to a table in ‘A. J. Inglis’ _The Rise of the High School in Massachusetts_ (Columbia University, New York, 1911), p. 90, history was offered in six out of seven towns in 1860, with a per cent of 200 with algebra as a base of 100 per cent. This would indicate an interest in history to a considerable extent.

[15] _Political economy_ as a term included _political science_ as we understand it today. _Cf._ Inglis, _op. cit._, p. 141.

[16] _Laws of Virginia_, 1848-49, ch. 110. An act establishing free schools in the county of Albemarle, p. 60.

[17] _Laws of California_, 1851, ch. 126, art. VII, sec. 2, p. 499.

[18] Connecticut, as early as 1796, had emphasized the necessity of inculcating a knowledge of the state law, prescribing that “all parents and masters of children, shall by themselves or others teach and instruct ..., all such children as are under their care and government, according to their ability, and to read the English tongue well, and to know the laws against capital offenses....” _Statutes_ of Connecticut, 1796, p. 60. The law further stated that in case it was impossible to comply with the statement quoted above the children should at least be instructed to answer certain parts of the catechism. To enforce the law, a fine of $3.34 to be used for the poor of the town was imposed upon all parents who failed in compliance. Also _cf._ law of Massachusetts of 1642, page 3. Massachusetts also in 1789 had emphasized the necessity of training the youth of the commonwealth “to preserve and perfect a Republican Constitution and to secure the blessings of liberty as well as to promote their future happiness.” _Laws_ of Massachusetts, 1780-1807, sec. 4, Vol. I, pp. 470-471. Again in 1826, ch. 143, p. 180.

[19] Martineau, Harriet, _Society in America_ (London, 1837), Vol. III, p. 165.

[20] The year in which the Virginia law was passed, 1849, was a time of sectional discord. Sectional interest may have entered into the passage of the law.

[21] In the discussion of the qualifications of teachers, in each period there is a neglect of all laws in which history or some other social study is not specifically named. Regulations often are quite definite regarding the qualifications of teachers in rural and elementary schools, with no statement or with no definitely named qualifications for high school teachers. In some states the superintendent of public instruction or some other official prescribes the subjects in which the examination is held. The tendency of recent legislation has been to accept graduation from reputable colleges or universities giving training in methods of teaching, in lieu of examination.

[22] _Acts_ of Connecticut, 1841, p. 47; _Revised Statutes_, 1849, sec. 22, p. 300; _Statutes_, 1854, p. 414; _General Statutes_, 1866, p. 132; _ibid._, 1875, ch. 4, sec. 1; _ibid._, 1888, sec. 2135, p. 466; _ibid._, 1902, par. 2245, p. 584; _ibid._, 1918, ch. 56, par. 1007, Vol. I, p. 349. Additions and slight changes have been made in the regulations for the social studies. With modifications the law has been on the statute books from 1841 to the present.

[23] _Revised Statutes_ of Maine, 1857, sec. 49; _ibid._, 1871, ch. 11, sec. 54; _Acts and Resolves_, 1873, ch. 120, p. 76; _ibid._, 1891, ch. 32, p. 20; _ibid._, 1895, ch. 155, p. 173. _Revised Statutes_ of Rhode Island, 1857, ch. 67, sec. 3, p. 173.

[24] In 1845 the law was slightly modified to distinguish between grades of certificates, but in all cases United States history was prerequisite to certification, and in 1905, Illinois history was added to the qualifications necessary for a license. In 1913, in the requirements for a state certificate she included sociology among the subjects for examination, and for the first, second and third grade certificates, United States history, civics and the history of Illinois. _Revised Statutes_ of Illinois, 1845, ch. XCVIII, sec. 12, p. 498. The law is substantially the same, _Statutes_, 1856, ch. 198, sec. XLVI, Vol. II, p. 1098; _ibid._, 1858, sec. 50, p. 449. _Laws_, 1865, sec. 19, p. 119; _Revised Statutes_, 1874, ch. 122, 51, p. 963; _Annotated Statutes_, 1885, ch. 122, sec. 51, p. 2229; _Revised Statutes_, 1903, ch. 122, 187, par. 3, p. 1683; _ibid._, 1906, 187, par. 3, p. 1820. During this period these subjects were to be taught in the schools. _Revised Statutes_ of Illinois, 1913, ch. 122, 541, par. 2, p. 2270; _Laws_, 1913, p. 588 (Senate Bill No. 355, approved June 28, 1913); the same for the social studies in the laws of 1903 and 1905, also in 1917 and in 1919. See _Revised Statutes_, 1917, ch. 122, p. 2216; and _Laws_, 1919, ch. 122, p. 900.

[25] _Acts_ of Iowa, 1846, sec. 72, p. 105; _Code_ of Iowa, 1851, sec. 1148, p. 181; _Acts_, 1858, p. 72; _Code_, 1873, sec. 1766, p. 325; _Acts_, 1878, ch. 143, p. 130. In 1882, regulatory provision requiring for a state certificate a knowledge of civil government, the constitution and laws of Iowa, besides history of the United States, passed the legislature, and economics and civics were added to the subjects required for certification in 1896; _Acts_, 1882, ch. 167, sec. 4, p. 153. _Acts_, 1896, ch. 39 (H. F. 135), p. 44. _Supplement to Code_, 1902, sec. 2736, p. 315, for first grade certificate, civics, elementary economics besides the requirements of second grade, which included history of the United States; also _Acts_, 1906, ch. 122, sec. 4, p. 88.

[26] _Laws_ of Nebraska, 1855, par. 61, p. 220; _ibid._, 1858, p. 292; _ibid._, 1872, p. 55; _ibid._, 1881, sec. 5, pp. 359, 366; _ibid._, 1885, sec. 5, p. 327. The same subjects as in 1881 in _Laws_, 1901, ch. 66, p. 448; _ibid._, 1903, ch. 135, p. 559. Also _Consolidated Statutes_, 1891, ch. 44, 3624, p. 792; _ibid._, 1903, 5542, sec. 5. In 1891, there is a distinction made in the grades of certificates, requiring civil government and United States history in all but the lowest grade, _Revised Statutes_, 1913, ch. 71, art. XIII, 6857, sec. 158, p. 1913, 6859, sec. 160, p. 1914. In 1881 United States history and civics were added to the prescribed subjects for a second grade certificate, and for a professional state certificate general history, political economy, civil government and American history were required. In the forty years intervening between 1881 and 1921, there is no change in the prerequisites for county certificates, state certificates, and the additional certificates of more recent origin--city certificates--so far as the social studies are concerned, with the exception of the dropping of political economy from the required list by 1919. _Laws_ of Nebraska, 1919, 1921, ch. 70, sec. 2, p. 262.

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