Chapter 4 Section 4 Prentice Hall America History of Our Nation

1. Chapter 4 Section 4
The Spread of New Ideas
Prentice Hall
America History of Our Nation
A. Barnette 2013

2. The Importance of Education
 Massachusetts was
the first colony to
have public schools.
 They were funded
publicly and
privately.
 Puritans required
parents to teach
their children to
read and write.

3. Colonial Schools
 Students learned
◦ Religion
◦ Reading
◦ Writing
◦ Arithmetic
Methods of learning
◦ Primers
◦ Hornbooks
Types of schools
Public, private, tutors
, dame schools, no
schools at all
Thought question: Why do
you think that there was such
a difference between the
levels of education in the
South?

4. Education for African Americans
 Free African
Americans, Native
Americans, and
poor whites were
sometimes taught
by religious groups.
 Slave codes usually
forbid teaching
slaves, but some
found ways to learn
despite the laws. Thought Question: Why do
you think slave codes
prohibited the education of
slaves?

5. Upper Levels
 Grammar school then
was like high school
now, but they were
also expected to
learn “the classics,”
Greek and Latin.
 Colleges began for
ministers before
expanding to other
disciplines.
 The first was
Harvard, followed by
William and Mary.
Thought Question: Why do
you think the first colleges
were formed to educate
ministers?

6. Roots of American Literature
 Poetry
◦ Ann Bradstreet- “To My
Dear and Loving
Husband”-first colonial
poet
◦ Phyllis Wheatley-had
been a slave in Boston-
1st African American
woman to publish a book

7. Roots of American Literature
 Ben Franklin
◦ Pennsylvania Gazette-
He began publishing at
age 17!
◦ Poor Richard’s Amanack
–many famous wise
sayings in this yearly
publication
◦ Became a Founding
Father who used his
intellect to make the
country a better place-
was a
scientist, inventor, publi
sher, community
activist, and diplomat

8. The Great Awakening
Religious Revival
 Puritanism had
waned, and many
thought Christianity
was losing its fervor.
 Preachers like
Jonathan Edwards
and George
Whitefield stirred
emotions with
powerful sermons.

9. The Great Awakening
Impact of the Great
Awakening
 New
denominations, like
Baptist, Methodist,
Presbyterian, etc.
 More tolerance of
religious differences
Photo source: http://bjws.blogspot.com/2012/03/early-
american-churches-in-original-13.html

10. The Enlightenment
 John Locke-
◦ Englishman who said
that people have
natural rights (This idea
ended up in our
Declaration of
Independence.)
◦ He said our natural
rights come directly
from God, not from
God, to a
monarch, then to us.
◦ Governments should
protect these rights.
Thought question:
If government
should protect our
natural rights, what
happens if it does
not?

11. The Enlightenment
 Baron de
Montesquieu
◦ Government should
have a separation of
powers into different
branches:
Legislative, Executive
, and Judicial
◦ We have that idea in
our Constitution.
Thought Question:
What can you say
that the
Enlightenment
thinkers had in
common?