18th Century Schooling: A Brief History

By Lauren Massimino
(Intern at the Noah Webster House, June 2006)

“The general institution of schools in this country is full proof that ...people never misapply their economy so much, as when they make a provision for the education of children.” - Noah Webster

When most people think of America’s early education system they draw to mind images of a quant Little Red Schoolhouse resting upon a grassy hill, warmly inviting the village children to their day’s lesson.  Unfortunately, this picturesque image rests far from reality.  While many colonial children eagerly sought formal instruction, the schoolhouse did not produce a healthy learning environment.

The school session ran between December and March when families did not require their children’s labor on the farm.  Some towns required a child to be able to read a Bible passage containing two to three syllable words to gain admission into the school.  Other towns did not have an admission standard and the students ranged between the ages of 2 -14 years old, in this case it was not unusual to have between twenty and fifty students crammed into the single room schoolhouse.

In 1647, a compulsory education law required towns to construct and fund schools for the district children.  The reluctant taxpayers contributed just enough funds to construct, what would at best be described as, a primitive structure on barren piece of land that could have been used for little else.  The frame and clapboard structures were typically 20 feet long, 18 feet wide with 6-7 foot ceilings.  Not only did the children endure a monotonous curriculum and the schoolmaster’s switch, but also endured the schoolhouses harsh physical environment.  The interiors were dreary, cramped, dull, and poorly ventilated. Children strained their eyes next to the only available light sources, a wood burning stove or if the schoolhouse was fortunate enough, the buildings one or two small windows, in order to read their primers and hornbooks.

The schoolhouses interior set up consisted of long plank desks attached to three walls.  The benches, which one colonist vividly described as “a…complete rack of torture and machine for making cripples,” were backless and faced either the wall or the center of the classroom.  The younger children were seated next to the fireplace, so in addition to the tedious curriculum and boredom, the children also contended with the suffocating heat and drowsiness from the fire.

For most children their colonial education experience was more of an exercise in survival rather then in learning.  School sessions were short, the facilities inadequate and the teachers inexperienced.