Even in the later 1800's, little children went to a school which was very different from ours of today. The classes were held in a small school building of one room. The children all met in this one room and were not divided into classes as are the children of today. The schoolhouses were small and scattered because most people lived in the country then. Means of travel were difficult; so children were forced to miss many days of school.

The results of having school classes meet in one room were both good and bad. It was easy in the general 1-room school of 10 to 20 pupils to give the bright children material which kept getting harder and harder and give the duller children easier work. The children had to do much seat work, for the teacher had to divide his time among the different groups. A typical program for the different groups of one of these primary schools included many 5- and 10-minute periods. of work. Such subjects as spelling, reading, arithmetic, geography, history, animal husbandry, singing, and drawing suggest the variety of courses included in one school. There was no arrangement by which even the separate groups could work by themselves. There was usually a playground upon which the children might play, but there was no indoor recreation room. Often the building was cold in the winter and damp in wet weather. The location of the school and the home usually made it necessary for the children to walk quite a distance. They had to carry their lunches and so were unable to have warm food at lunch in cold weather. These poor conditions easily explain the irregular attendance of children in those days. Although these conditions would naturally vary according to the people's demands, they are typical of what was to be found in the village and rural elementary school even in the middle and late 1800's. What new schools were organized for the older children?

The academies grew out of the dissatisfaction with the old Latin grammar schools, which were keeping to their narrow courses of studies and failing to provide for the many new needs of the people. in a changing America. It was Benjamin Franklin who showed the way to a new type of school and in 1751 became the founder of what was probably the first public academy in this country. He believed that pupils should learn useful things; he believed that children should be taught to live in the world of affairs. The aim of the academy was to teach both the cultural subjects and the real business of living; the chief function was to give a practical education, rather than to give training as a preparation for college. The academy was built to follow the elementary school, somewhat as our high schools of today, and was, in these early days, bound up with the interests of the common people. Many of the academies were considered substitutes for college.

Although none of the schools quite reached Franklin's ideal, all made their curricula more liberal. The emphasis was placed upon the standard subjects of English, arithmetic, the several sciences, commerce and industry, general history, algebra, geometry, natural philosophy, and languages. In addition to work in these subjects, athletics, running, wrestling, and swimming were encouraged. One hundred and forty-nine new subjects were added in New York schools during the period 1787-1870. In addition to the formal studies and sports, there was time for debating, literary societies, and school exhibitions of various sorts. Many of the schools were boarding schools for pupils who lived away from home. School was regarded as a serious and solemn matter, and the academies became very popular. In 1850 there were already about 6,000 academies in the country with more than 250,000 pupils. The period of their most rapid development was between 1820 and 1840.

For 75 years academies were the most important schools in the United States, but by 1890 their greatest influence was over; and today, the few remaining academies are supported by endowments or tuition fees and are almost all devoted to preparing their pupils for college. The academies were important because they marked several improvements over early education: (1) They changed and enlarged the curricula to include practical subjects; (2) they marked a change from private to public support and away from church influence and control; (3) they admitted less fortunate boys and girls; and (4) they prepared the way for our high schools of today.

What direction did the development in the colleges take from

about 1800 on?

As the United States grew in size and wealth, as it developed in industry and commerce, life became more complex; new professions were opened; there were greater opportunities for personal advancement; more people felt a desire for education, education of a broader and more practical sort. The narrow curriculum of the early colleges, devoted largely to a detailed study of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, had served its age with some degree of satisfaction; but toward the end of the eighteenth century the colleges, in response to the demands. of contemporary life, broadened the scope of their offerings and began to regard themselves as institutions designed to advance learning in science and general literature, as well as in theology.

Still the United States grew, and more students flocked to the universities. Because many of them could not afford the high tuition fees of the private colleges, there arose a demand for less expensive instruction so that all who were mentally qualified could benefit. Thus it was that the nineteenth century saw the rise of the state, tax-supported university, open at low tuition fees.

The University of North Carolina and the University of Georgia were the first to be chartered and opened at the close of the eighteenth century. Thomas Jefferson gave importance to the movement with his plan for the University of Virginia, in 1819; and other universities were rapidly established in the various States until today all have colleges or universities. The nineteenth century saw also the rise of women's colleges and the admission of women to established universities. Oberlin was probably the first college to try coeducation and was open to women from its beginning in 1833.

As previously stated, Emma Willard founded a school for higher education of women in Troy, N. Y., in 1821, and Mary Lyon opened a seminary for women at Mount Holyoke, Mass., in 1837; Elmira College for Women followed in 1855; and later came other famous institutions such as Vassar, Wellesley, Smith, Bryn Mawr, Barnard, and Radcliffe. Gradually the prejudice against higher education for women has lessened and today no State university is entirely closed

to women.

In no other country has the increase in educational institutions and educational opportunities, and the increase in the number of students been so great and so rapid. The phenomenal rise to more than 1,000,000 young people in college from 238,000, 40 years ago, and a single pupil in 1636, has never been paralleled. In more than 1,700 institutions of higher learning young people of the United States are educated today.

How did the Federal Government give the schools a start?

If one has studied the Constitution of the United States, he has probably noticed that it does not mention education in any definite way. There are, however, several indirect provisions for educational work. Therefore, it was possible for the National Government to make land grants for schools.

When the Ohio company was formed, the Government gave Ohio the sixteenth section of land in every township for schools, the twenty-ninth for religion, and two whole townships for the purpose of establishing a university. Most of the States entering the Union after Ohio were given a similar gift. Texas did not receive this land as the State already owned territory when it was admitted; and Maine and West Virginia did not because they were carved from original States. Beginning with the admission of California in 1850, all States were given both the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections of each township for schools. Three of the Western States, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah, were given 4 sections of each township because of low land values. Approximately 226,562 square miles have been given by the Government to the people for educational purposes.