| Description |
1 online resource : 1 halftone, 8 tables |
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text file |
| Summary |
"This book explains the rise, significance, and legacy of one of the most ubiquitous, significant, but forgotten institutions of early American life: the secondary school academy. Writing in 1788, Noah Webster bemoaned that in the United States "the constitutions are republican, [while] the laws of education are monarchical." Instead of building public, common school systems aimed at fostering a widely informed citizenry, the Federalists in power founded academies. These privately run but state-chartered secondary schools offered a Europe-style education directed primarily at elites. The Federalists' nation-building project, it turns out, depended on these reactionary schools to simultaneously reestablish rule by a traditional elite and legitimize the hierarchy. This, they believed, was necessary to make both the proposed constitutional system function and the United States into a world power. The reaction against this aristocratic educational system helped transform education from a tool of elite privilege into a key component of self-government. Ultimately, reformers successfully argued that the revolutionary promise of equal citizenship required genuinely common, public education. Academies, though, undermined republican ideals. In their curriculum, pedagogy, and culture, academies looked to many Americans like a caricature of education in aristocratic Europe. Even the legal basis for academies-charters of incorporation-screamed of monarchy. Charters had long been a privilege granted by the king. By tracing the history of academies in the revolutionary era, Boonshoft offers a new understanding of the cultural origins of the Federalists' national vision, the nature of the American revolutionary settlement, and, in turn, the origins of public education"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Contents |
Cover -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: Why Academies?: Aristocratic Education in Revolutionary America -- Part I: From Denominational Schools to Nationalist Institutions, 1730-1787 -- Chapter one. The Emergence of Academies: The Great Awakening and Colonial Elite Formation -- Chapter two. The Academy Effect: Civic Education and the American Revolution -- Chapter three. Rebuilding Academies: Education and Politics in the Confederation Era -- Part II: The Culture of Academies, 1780-1800 -- Chapter four. Defining Merit: Academies and Inequality |
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Chapter five. Diplomacy and Dance: The Geopolitics of Ornamental Education -- Part III: From Aristocratic Education to Reform, 1787-1830 -- Chapter six. Creating Consensus: The Politics of State Support for Academies -- Chapter seven. The First Era of School Reform: War, Panic, and Popular Education -- Epilogue: The Legacy of Aristocratic Education -- Appendix -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- w -- y |
| Local Note |
eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America |
| Subject |
Social stratification -- United States -- History.
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Social stratification. |
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United States. |
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History. |
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Education -- Aims and objectives -- United States -- History.
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Education -- Aims and objectives. |
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Education and state -- United States -- History.
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Education and state. |
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Education -- Political aspects -- United States -- History.
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Education -- Political aspects. |
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Public schools -- United States -- History.
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Public schools. |
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HISTORY / United States / Revolutionary Period (1775-1800) |
| Genre/Form |
Electronic books.
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History.
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| ISBN |
1469659557 |
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9781469659558 (electronic book) |
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