The Common School Era
In the text we received, three words, common , purpose , and charity, stand out in helping us understand what the Common School Era was truly about. Along with those, a few key phrases and sentences helped to paint the bigger picture of how public education in America got its start and why it’s still a topic full of debate today. The most important word is common . This word is right at the heart of the entire movement. The idea was that all (white) children should go to the same kind of schools and learn the same values. Schools were meant to be a shared experience that would create unity in a young and growing country. But the word “common” also opens the door for tough questions. Who exactly was included in this “common” education? Who wasn’t? It sounds like a simple word, but it carries a l...