Composition: History & Theory: 1865 - 1899
Late Nineteenth Century
Description
- 1860s: English studies was still tied to elocution and rhetoric
- 1865: the study of English Literature evolved from oratory to elocution to composition
- 1866: Civil Rights Act (US citizenship for Native Born except American Indians)
- 1867: Johns Hopkins was created as a graduate school only
- 1868: 14th Amendment
- 1870: Naturalization Act, including African descanters
- 1870s: English Literature replaced the classics as an object of study
- 1872: First reported summer school—alternative to police control
- 1873: First U.S. public school Kindergarten
- 1879: Carlisle Boarding School for deculturalization of American Indians
- 1880: beginning of play and playground movement
- 1880: creative writing introduced as an “experiment” in education intended for students to approach literature from a “creative” standpoint
- 1880s-1890s: Herbartian movement; creation of the lesson plan and the beginning of the play and playground movements
- 1882: Chinese exclusion act banning Chinese workers from US/Chinese Education Act
- 1883: MLA formed
- 1885: Tape decision allowing Chinese access to public schools
- 1889: First reported school shower
- 1890: Harvard reports
- 1892: Committee of Ten, creation of universal requirements for college admissions
- 1893: English Literature formally separated from linguistic study
- 1895: single mode textbook (Exposition)
- 1895: Plessy vs. Ferguson—“separate but equal”
- 1895: Model school cafeteria program in Boston schools
- 1896: John Dewey began Chicago Laboratory School
- 1897: Harvard: Writing was the only required course in the curriculum (by the 1920s, writing as a required course was firmly established)
- 1897: School social centers organized in New York
- 1897: Texas courts declared Mexican Americans “not white.”
- 1899: Lake Placid Conferences on Home Economics began
In The American School From the Puritans to No Child Left Behind (2008), Joel Spring outlines the various approaches to handling multiculturalism during this time period.
Mexican Americans were considered “wretched hybrids and mongrels who were […] actually inferior to the inferior race itself” by Anglo-American writers of the 19th century (175). The U.S. sought to take over Mexico and invaded in the 1840s, beginning a long-term “race war” (175). U.S. farmers wanted the labor of Mexican workers because they were cheaper to employ (or exploit). Within Texas and other states’ school systems, English was the required language, which obviously discounted Spanish. This was not entirely successful due to the high number of Spanish-speaking students. Anglos held two positions about Mexicans: 1) the children should not go to school because they should work in the fields, or 2) they should go to school in order to be “Americanized” (182).
Asians (mostly Chinese) came to the U.S. for the gold rush, but soon found themselves without enough money to return, which led them to “help” build the transcontinental railroad (Crocker’s Pets) at a wage 1/3 that of a “white” worker (183). Asians (a term used to describe all peoples from Asia and India) were considered “Mongolians” (184). In a murder case, an Asian man was classified as “American Indian” and since American Indians could not testify in court, his testimony was discounted since clearly “American Indians were originally Asians who crossed into North America” (184). Asians apparently would degrade the “white” race if they were to “amalgamate at all with our [white] people” (185). From the Anglo view, Asians were not Anglo; thus, they were lower in status, which led to the usual segregation tactics in the school system. However, a few champions of equality, George Hoar and Senator William Moore, tried to demonstrate that “all men, of all climes, all colors, all conditions, all nationalities are welcome” because the U.S. is “the recognized champion of human rights” (186).
American Indians who had already been classified as domestic foreigners in 1790 (and who would not gain citizenship until 1924!) were already being subjected to deculturalization which Spring defines as “an educational process that aims to destroy a people’s culture and replace it with a new culture” (190). “Manifest destiny,” Spring notes, “the idea that a certain future event is inevitable and just—provided a rationalization for deculturalization” (190). American Indian children were forced to take “allegiance to the US” by being forced to learn English, being sequestered on reservations, and being subjected to manual labor in order to mold their “character,” among other acts (192). The ultimate goal was to extinguish American Indian culture by “secluding” them from their own culture. Spring refers to this as “genocide” (196).
African Americans showed their mettle by making “one of the greatest educational advancements in the history of education” during this time period (198). Between 1863 and 1953, the literacy rate of African Americans went from 7% to 90% (198). Spring discusses the distinctions between W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington. Du Bois sought no compromise with white demands and believed that education should nurture future black leaders (for which purpose he helped form the NAACP). Conversely, Washington spoke to a white audience about black workers’ “virtues” and “faithfulness during the slavery years,” and he was in favor of segregation in the schools. In short, he believed blacks to be in a “subordinate position in southern society” (200). He sought black schools that taught “industrial education” (201).
Puerto Rico became a colony of the U.S. in 1898 after the Spanish-American War. In 1897, “Spain declared Puerto Rico an autonomous state” (205). Yet, after the war, the U.S. took that away and Puerto Rico came under the rule of a military dictatorship (the U.S.). Sour feelings still exist today between the U.S. and Puerto Rico (206). The U.S. tried to Americanize Puerto Ricans through the educational system by celebrating American holidays (the 4th of July, etc.), hiring American teachers, developing American organizations (e.g. Boy Scouts), and even having students celebrate George Washington’s birthday by reciting his speeches and singing “patriotic” songs (207).
Date of Upload
3/13/09