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Birth
Horace Mann was born on May 4, 1796 -
Horace Mann
Played a leading role in establishing state-supervised, state-fund mandatory-attendence school systems in the US. He worked to reduce the number of schools that were funded and controlled by local communities. He believed that, especially in rural areas and in the south and west, too much local control would result in some children receiving too little or improper schooling -
House of Representative
Mann went on to the U.S. House of Representatives, promoting an agenda of public education and "normal schools" to train teachers. He served there from 1827 to 1833. -
Senate
From 1835 to 1837, he served in the Massachusetts Senate, spending time as the majority leader and aiming his sights at infrastructure improvements via the construction of railroads and canals, among other projects.The quality of education was deteriorating. Soon a vigorous reform movement arose, and in 1837 the state created the nation’s first board of education, with Mann as its secretary. -
The Educational Reform Movement Begins
With funds for the board’s activities at a minimum, the position required more moral leadership than anything else, and Horace Mann proved himself up to the role. He started a biweekly journal, Common School Journal, in 1838 for teachers and lectured on education to all who would listen. -
Horace Mann
Mann served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1848 to 1853 and then became the president of Antioch College. A commencement speech he gave two months before his death served as a clarion call, asking students to embrace his influential worldview -
Death
Horace Mann died on August 2, 1859 -
Mann's Six Principles of Education
1.Citizens cannot maintain both ignorance and freedom.
2. This education should be paid for, controlled, and maintained by the public.
3.This education should be provided in schools that embrace children from varying backgrounds.
4. This education must be nonsectarian.
5. This education must be taught using tenets of a free society.
6. This education must be provided by well-trained, professional teachers.
