Education for Minorities
Opportunities of education for marginalized groups were uncommon. However, if accessible, not necessarily equal. Education academies often targeted elite wealthy groups of people, as argued by the author of Aristocratic Education and the Making of the American Republic. Boonshoft explains, "Academies charged tuition, so wealthy children could more easily attend an academy."7 Federalists that were in charge of these prestigious academies pushed for conformity to civil authority. They claimed that educated men supported the Constitution. Minority groups that did not have access to this type of education did not get the same interpretations of being a citizen in a republic. As a result, their perspectives were not valued, and their identities were not viewed as important.
Education for African-Americans differed based on region of the United States. In the south, African-Americans were viewed as property for labor in plantations. The majority of plantation owners did not want educational freedom for their slaves. American Educational History argues that different regions of the United States had different purposes for their educational values for African-Americans. The book states, "Second, some Southerners, especially, believed that education would enable African Americans to organize and revolt."8 Refusal of southern states to allow their slaves access to an education was out of fear. They were scared that once their slaves were literate, they would have easier abilities to free themselves.
On the other hand, northern states believed educational opportunities were necessary for African Americans. The same book previously mentioned writes, "The majority of the groups…involved in educating African Americans viewed literacy as a major step to achieving liberation and equality for African Americans."9 The groups that the book was referring to were Quakers and Puritans who encouraged African-Americans to participate in education to become literate and gain freedom. Quakers and Puritans also pushed for African-Americans to attend schools as a way to convert them to Christianity, exposing them to biblical literature.
Women also struggled to have the opportunity to gain equal education to men. Thoughts Upon Female Education expanded on the idea that the central purpose for female education was learning how to prepare men to be active citizens in a republic. It is written that, "It becomes us therefore to prepare them by a suitable education, for the discharge of this most important duty of mothers."10 The most important duty refers to the creation of traditional gender roles. Female education was not necessarily an emphasis on literacy development, but instead motherhood preparation. It distinguished the differences in roles between men and women. Women’s educational opportunities were often limited to learning the responsibilities of raising men for political gain.
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7 Boonshoft, Mark. 2020. Aristocratic Education and the Making of the American Republic. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press. https://search-ebscohost-com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e000xna&AN=2432683&site=eds-live. (76)
8 William H. Jeynes. 2007. American Educational History : School, Society, and the Common Good. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc. https://search-ebscohost-com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=467182&site=eds-live. (86)
9 Ibid., (82)
10 Rush, Benjamin, Samuel Magaw, and Young Ladies' Academy of Philadelphia. Thoughts upon female education : accommodated to the present state of society, manners, and government, in the United States of America : addressed to the visitors of the Young Ladies' Academy in Philadelphia, 28 July, 1787, at the close of the quarterly examination. Philadelphia: Printed by Prichard & Hall, 1787. Sabin Americana: History of the Americas, 1500-1926 (accessed September 24, 2024). https://link-gale-com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/apps/doc/CY0104695726/SABN?u=msu_main&sid=bookmark-SABN&xid=f81882fc&pg=5. (6)