Bridget,
I enjoyed reading your post and thoughts regarding education from our earlier days up to now a
day. Where I find a bit confusing in your post, however, is when you state that “Many would find
that Rush’s version of why public school existed would be incorrect because it strayed away
from the bible and the goals he sought out for.” I am not sure if I am understanding this your
statement wrong or not. What is confusing to me is that in my research I found where Benjamin
Rush viewed public education should be a three-part agenda. One is to love and serve God, to
love and to serve America and lastly be to love and to serve the family (Barton 2012). Reading
further into the source you cited for your statement Rush goes on to say toward the end this, “We
profess to be republicans, and yet we neglect the only means of establishing and perpetuating our
republican forms of government; that is, the universal education of our youth in the principles of
Christianity by means of the Bible; for this divine book, above all others, favors that equality
among mankind, that respect for just laws, and all those sober and frugal virtues which constitute
the soul of republicanism” (Benjamin Rush on Education n.d.). These comments by Rush show
a desire to lean on the Bible as setting principles in education. If I took your statement wrong,
please forgive me.
(Word Count: 243)
Bibliography
Barton, David. "Introduction: Our Purpose and Approach" ." Constitution Alive! Series 21:09.
Wall Builders, 2012.
"Benjamin Rush on Education." Alliance Fro Religious Freedom. n.d.
https://allianceforreligiousfreedom.com/educate-yourself/education-
censored/benjamin-rush-education/ (accessed May 2, 2020).
Bridget Mullins
DB 4 - Bridget Mullins
Early American approach to education to today’s education compare and contrast in very
many different and similar ways. Modern public schools were not as popular in early America as
they are now. Our founding father were self-taught or homeschooled rather today most leaders
have come to public schools. “For two hundred years in American history, from the mid-1600s to
the mid-1800s, public schools as we know them today were virtually non-existent, and the
educational needs of America were met by the free market. In these two centuries, America
produced several generations of highly skilled and literate men and women who laid the
foundation for a nation dedicated to the principles of freedom and self-government.”[1]
Benjamin Rush was one of the many signers and founding fathers of America was also a
founder of public schools. He knew the role that educated citizens as regard to stability of a
republic was “no man was ever early instructed in the truths of the Bible without having been
made wiser or better by the early operation of these impressions upon his mind…”[2] Many
would find that Rush’s version of why public school existed would be incorrect because it
strayed away from the bible and the goals he sought out for.
Nowadays children are very uneducated about many aspects of not only our government
but other parts of history. “Millions of kids do not know any purposing of going to school, except
obligation.”[3] It is not news that the education system makes a profound impact on students,
and it is clear that the system has failed its students. Early American schools were focused on
family, religion, and community but todays public schools have different focuses. Public schools
nowadays no longer teach the value of the Bible and its importance. As for homeschooling, it has
become a political movement in response to mainstream society in recent years.[4]
Homeschooling had become important because of the dramatic changes in public schools. Public
schools take the value out of personal and more in bureaucracy.[5] Homeschooling has allowed
parents the opportunity to have more say so over what their children are learning and how they
are learning it. Other schooling alternatives have allowed parents teach, manage, and escape the
dangers of the public-school system.
“For nearly half a century, American public education has been failing millions of
children. The past four decades in particular have seen stagnant graduation rates, languishing
academic achievement levels, and a persistent achievement gap between white and minority
students and low-income and upper-income students.”[6] Parents should have the opportunity to
make sure that their children are getting the best education and are taught to the best of their
abilities. Homeschooling and other alternatives to public school allows them to do so since over
the year’s education has declined and drifted away from important values.
[1] Peterson, R. A. (1983, September 1). Education in Colonial America: Robert A. Peterson.
Retrieved from https://fee.org/articles/education-in-colonial-america/
[2] Benjamin Rush on Education. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://allianceforreligiousfreedom.com/educate-yourself/education-censored/benjamin-rush-
education/
