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Old Deluder Satan Act
The Old Deluder Satan Act strengthened a law passed by Massachusetts requiring parents to educate their children. It was deemed important that all children be taught how to read. Therefore, every town of 50 or more families was obligated to pay a man to teach reading and writing. -
New England Primer was published
The New England Primer, an illustrate book composed of religious texts and other readings, was the most famous out of other primers and catechisms, and remained the basic school text for at least 100 years after the first edition was published. Students used this book for learning purposes after learning the basics like their ABC's, numbers, and the Lord's Prayer. -
Anthony Benezet starts a school for slaves
Anthony started a school for slaves and free African American children in Philadelphia. -
Northwest Ordinance of 1785
Concerned with the sale of public lands in the Northwest Territiory, Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance of 1785. Every township was divided into 36 sections, of which one was set aside for the mainenance of public schools. Congress reaffirmed theat "religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. -
Prudence Crandall takes in African American girls
Prudence Crandall, a white schoolmistress in Canterbury, Connecticut, began to take in African American girls. The villagers boycotted the school, threw manure into its well, and tried to burn it down. Finally, a mob broke the windows, and the school was closed. -
Friedrich Froebel developed the first kindergarten
In the first kindergarten, pleasant children's activities such as songs and stories were used to lay a foundation before formal education began. -
Morrill Act
Congress passed the Morrill Act. It granted each state a minimum of 30,00- acres of federal land with the proviso that the income from the rent or sale be used to establish colleges for the study of agriculture and mechanical arts. 6 million acres were donated to the states. -
Kalamazoo case
In the famous Kalamazoo case, the Michigan courts finally ruled that the school district could tax the public to support both high schools and elementary schools. This court case set the recedent for financing public high schools. -
Missionary Schools replaced by Boarding Schools
Missionary schools were gradually replaced by government boarding schools, whic tried to forcefully assimilate American Indians into the mainstream culture by prohibiting them from speaking their native language and teaching them skills associatied with white society, like farming and mechanical skills for boys and domestic chores for girls. Little emphasis was placed on academics. -
The Progressive Education Association was established
In a formalized attempt to reform education according to the following principles: the child should have freedom to develop naturally, natural interest is the bes motive for work, the teacher is a guide, not a taskmaster, a student's development must be measured scientifically, not just by grades, students' general health and physical development require attention, the school and the home must work together to meet children's needs, and the progressive school should be a leader, -
U.S. Supreme Court Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a state could not interfere with the prerogative of parents to educate their children as they see fit, simply on the grouds of desiring to "foster a more homogeneous people with American ideals." -
Oregon Law Passed
an Oregon law required all children to attend public school, a Roman Catholic school and another private school successfully challenged the law on the grounds that their Fourteenth Amendment rights were being threatened. The Supreme Court overturned the law, holding that the act "unreasonably interferes with the library of parents and guardians to direct the upbringing and education of children unter their control. -
Southern State enrollment
10 southern states, African American children accounted for 34% of the school population but received only 3% of the funds available for school transportation. Discrimination also existed in the distribution of federal funds, particularly in vocational education. -
Elementary and Secondayr Education Act
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act provided new support to the education of Hispanic Americans,. -
Supreme Court ruling
the Supreme Court, by a five-to-four margin, further backed away from desegregation efforts by striking down plans in Seattle and Louisville that sought to maintain school-by-school diversity by identifying students by race and assigning them to schools based on that classification.