Thomas Jefferson's educational plan consisted of establishing a school in every "hundred" (small districts of 5 - 6 square miles) that taught reading, writing, and arithmetic in an effort to educate the masses. Jefferson strongly believed in teaching the youth not only the aforementioned subjects, but also geography, language, and Grecian, Roman, English, and American history. In both his bill of 1779 and his note from Paris in 1783, along with education the majority of the people, he emphasized an annual choosing of the student with the most potential from each school, and sending him on to learn at the next level. His desired goal from this "would be teaching all the children of the State reading, writing, and common arithmetic; turning out ten annually, of superior genius..." (Fraser 23) in hopes that they would go on to become helpful members of the community: whether they become school teachers themselves or become involved with politics - assuring the safety and overall health of the new American government.
Benjamin Rush took a different route from Jefferson in his educational plan, as he focused on what sort of education he believed woman needed. He brought up the point that there are positions of employment and duties that women held that required an education. Rush stated that for Americans to "advance their fortunes" the majority needed to employ themselves, including the women of the communities. It was also important that women knew the "principles of liberty and government" (Fraser 25) in order to teach their sons. Rush's list of essential learnings for a young women consists of: a knowledge of the English language (reading, writing, and speaking), bookkeeping, geography and chronology, singing, dancing, and the Christian religion.
Noah Webster, the last of the three, touched on many subjects regarding education. His first main idea was to discourage (but not stop completely) the study of dead languages and focus more on our own. He argued that the dead languages are of no use to American businessmen, merchants, mechanics, etc. Webster also suggested that instead of teaching so many disciplines at one school, having separate schools for each would be beneficial to both the students and the professors. This way the professor does not have to be a "master" of so many branches, and can focus his attention on only one subject and his students of said subject, alleviating stress from both parties. Some of the other topics he touches on are: obtaining school books that focus on the history of America instead of Greece, Rome, and Great Britain; the need for public schools to reach out to the masses; education in 'useful' topics for women; not imposing hard education on students too early; and his convincing argument on why parents should stop sending their children to Europe for education.
The obvious point of agreement between the three men is that America was in desperate need for an educational reform. Schools needed to be built, and the masses of people needed to be taught the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic. A disagreement that arises from this statement is each man's definition of "masses". To Jefferson, it was males; women were rarely included in his definition of citizens. To Rush and Webster, however, the education of women would be very beneficial to the society, as it would make them better partners for their husbands, and more able to pass on their education to their children. There was also a slight disagreement on the matter of what was being taught: Jefferson rallied for the dead languages, while Rush made no mention of it and Webster frowned upon it. There was an agreement between Jefferson and Webster regarding the age of when to subject students to difficult topics: Jefferson states, "as soon as they are of sufficient age, it is supposed they will be sent on...to study those sciences" (Fraser 24), and Webster agrees, "[there is] another error which is often committed in our inferior schools: I mean that of putting boys into difficult sciences while they are too young to exercise their reason upon abstract subjects." (Fraser 30).
Benjamin Rush took a different route from Jefferson in his educational plan, as he focused on what sort of education he believed woman needed. He brought up the point that there are positions of employment and duties that women held that required an education. Rush stated that for Americans to "advance their fortunes" the majority needed to employ themselves, including the women of the communities. It was also important that women knew the "principles of liberty and government" (Fraser 25) in order to teach their sons. Rush's list of essential learnings for a young women consists of: a knowledge of the English language (reading, writing, and speaking), bookkeeping, geography and chronology, singing, dancing, and the Christian religion.
Noah Webster, the last of the three, touched on many subjects regarding education. His first main idea was to discourage (but not stop completely) the study of dead languages and focus more on our own. He argued that the dead languages are of no use to American businessmen, merchants, mechanics, etc. Webster also suggested that instead of teaching so many disciplines at one school, having separate schools for each would be beneficial to both the students and the professors. This way the professor does not have to be a "master" of so many branches, and can focus his attention on only one subject and his students of said subject, alleviating stress from both parties. Some of the other topics he touches on are: obtaining school books that focus on the history of America instead of Greece, Rome, and Great Britain; the need for public schools to reach out to the masses; education in 'useful' topics for women; not imposing hard education on students too early; and his convincing argument on why parents should stop sending their children to Europe for education.
The obvious point of agreement between the three men is that America was in desperate need for an educational reform. Schools needed to be built, and the masses of people needed to be taught the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic. A disagreement that arises from this statement is each man's definition of "masses". To Jefferson, it was males; women were rarely included in his definition of citizens. To Rush and Webster, however, the education of women would be very beneficial to the society, as it would make them better partners for their husbands, and more able to pass on their education to their children. There was also a slight disagreement on the matter of what was being taught: Jefferson rallied for the dead languages, while Rush made no mention of it and Webster frowned upon it. There was an agreement between Jefferson and Webster regarding the age of when to subject students to difficult topics: Jefferson states, "as soon as they are of sufficient age, it is supposed they will be sent on...to study those sciences" (Fraser 24), and Webster agrees, "[there is] another error which is often committed in our inferior schools: I mean that of putting boys into difficult sciences while they are too young to exercise their reason upon abstract subjects." (Fraser 30).