This Is How to Grasp What Education in America Is Really About

The very first law about education in what is now the United States was all about making people literate enough to read the Christian Bible.

Introduction

In order to understand what education in the United States is really about, take a close look at the history, philosophy, and sociology of American education. In this post, I’ll discuss how three (3) social and political forces — religion, economics, and democracy — have shaped the educational system from the Puritans to now. My hope is that with some historical context, you’ll see how those forces relate to or might affect Amish education, or how Wisconsin v. Yoder fits into all this.

Note: The final post in this series lists the references mentioned.

Religion

Religion was the primary force that influenced the educational system of what is now the United States. Religion was also the primary force that shaped the governing laws of the earliest colonies, such as Massachusetts, with the Puritans at the helm. In this example, religion served as both a social and a political force that shaped the educational system of the time. According to Carleton (2009), the first law created to require public education was the Old Deluder Satan Act, passed in Massachusetts in 1647, and the focus of…