American Pedagogy: Education, the School, and the Teacher in American Literature ...

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Brown & Gross, 1876 - Education - 608 pages

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Page 317 - WHAT CONSTITUTES A STATE? WHAT constitutes a state ? Not high-raised battlement or labored mound, Thick wall or moated gate ; Not cities proud with spires and turrets crowned ; Not bays and broad-armed ports, Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride, Not starred and spangled courts, Where low-browed baseness wafts perfume to pride. No, — men, high-minded men...
Page 258 - Of Law there can be no less acknowledged, than that her seat is the bosom of God, her voice the harmony of the world : all things in heaven and earth do her homage, the very least as feeling her care, and the greatest as not exempted from her power : both Angels and Men, and creatures of what condition soever, though each in different sort and manner, yet all, with uniform consent, admiring her as the Mother of their peace and joy.
Page 327 - ... that learning may not be buried in the grave of our fathers in the Church and Commonwealth, the Lord assisting our endeavors. It is therefore ordered, that every township in this jurisdiction, after the Lord hath increased them to the number of fifty householders, shall then forthwith appoint one within their town to teach all such children as shall resort to him to write and read...
Page 244 - DEAR common flower, that grow'st beside the way, Fringing the dusty road with harmless gold, First pledge of blithesome May, Which children pluck, and, full of pride uphold, High-hearted buccaneers, o'erjoyed that they An Eldorado in the grass have found, Which not the rich earth's ample round May match in wealth, thou art more dear to me Than all the prouder summer-blooms may be.
Page 472 - ... although we think we govern our words, and prescribe it well loquendum ut vulgus sentiendum ut sapientes, yet certain it is that words, as a Tartar's bow, do shoot back upon the understanding of the wisest, and mightily entangle and pervert the judgment.
Page 317 - Where low-browed baseness wafts perfume to pride. No ! Men, high-minded men, With powers as far above dull brutes endued, In forest, brake or den, As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude ; Men who their duties know, But know their rights, and, knowing, dare maintain, Prevent the long-aimed blow, And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain, — These constitute a State ; And sovereign law, that State's collected will, • O'er thrones and globes elate Sits empress, crowning good, repressing...
Page 312 - States, to which the youths of fortune and talents from all parts thereof may be sent for the completion of their education, in all the branches of polite literature, in arts and sciences, in acquiring knowledge in the principles of politics and good government, and, as a matter of infinite importance in my judgment, by associating with each other, and forming friendships in juvenile years, be enabled to free themselves in a proper degree from those local prejudices and habitual jealousies which...
Page 273 - There is no office higher than that of a teacher of youth, for there is nothing on earth so precious as the mind, soul, character of the child. No office should be regarded with greater respect. The first minds in the community should be encouraged to assume it. Parents should do all but impoverish themselves to induce such to become the guardians and guides of their children.
Page 306 - To the security of a free constitution it contributes in various ways: by convincing those who are intrusted with the public administration that every valuable end of government is best answered by the enlightened confidence of the people, and by teaching the people themselves to know and to value their own rights...
Page 312 - ... for these reasons it has been my ardent wish to see a plan devised, on a liberal scale, which would have a tendency to spread systematic ideas through all parts of this rising empire, thereby to do away with local attachments and State prejudices, as far as the nature of things would, or indeed ought to admit, from our national councils.

About the author (1876)

Born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1811, Henry Barnard was educated at Yale University. Barnard supported legislation to provide for better schools in Connecticut and, in doing so, he followed the reforms initiated in Massachusetts by Horace Mann. Barnard later instituted educational reforms in Rhode Island where he started several school libraries. After various academic appointments, including one as president of St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland, Barnard became the first U.S. commissioner of education (1867-70). In this position, he was influential in shaping the future direction of the U.S. Office of Education. He initiated numerous reforms and promoted the importance of education in general through federally sponsored experimentation, research, and scholarship and the collection and dissemination of educational statistics and information. Barnard's emphasis on a need to create common school districts throughout the United States was based on his strong belief in public education and the notion that schools should foster moral education and temper social unrest. In addition to his books, which cover a wide range of educational issues and concerns, Barnard was the founder and editor of a widely read journal, The American Journal of Education (1855-82).

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