It was not until 1840 that Horace Mann (1796 – 1859) of Massachusetts began to advocate for a state-funded public education system which later came with state-regulated assessment. Mann sold this idea from an economic point of view; he informed business owners that they would get better workers if they paid for public education. Local businesses, merchants and wealthier artisans supported the idea but wage earners were reluctant. Employers needed a disciplined workforce who were prepared for the jobs of the industrial revolution and expected the school system to provide it. By the late 19th century, the school system had modified its learning goals as well as the design of its physical learning environment to accommodate these societal expectations. School design transformed from the one-room schoolhouse to a linear and sequential layout similar to factories where the students would eventually work.
1860 – Before the Civil War, there were about 487,970 free Africans, about 1/9 of the entire African population. Most lived in rural areas, but the educational opportunities were in the cities. There was record of 20 schools for Africans in Washington, DC and New Orleans before the Civil War. An estimated 4,000 free African children were enrolled in school in the slave states. |