Primary and secondary education
The New England Puritans valued education,both for the sake of religious education (which was facilitated by Bible reading) and for the sake of economic success.A 1647 Massachusetts mandated that every town of 50 or more families support education in elementary school and every town of 100 or more families support an education in grammar school, where boys could have education in Latin in preparation for college.In practice some New England towns had difficulty keeping their schools open and staffed,but virtually all New England towns made an effort to provide a school for their children for their education .Both boys and girls attended the elementary schools(though sometimes at different hours or different seasons), and there they have education to read write and cipher. In the mid-Atlantic region private and sectarian schools filled the same niche as the New England "common schools".
The South, which was overwhelmingly rural had few schools of any sort until the Revolutionary era. Wealthy children studied with private tutors : middling white children as well as virtually all black children went unschooled. Literacy rates were significantly lower in the South than the north: this remained true until late nineteenth century.
Secondary schools were rare outside major towns, such as Boston, New york Philadelphia, and Charleston. Where they existed, secondary schools generally emphasized education in Latin grammar, education in rhetiric and education in advanced arithmetic, with the goal of preparing boys to enter college. Some secondary schools also taught practical subjects, such as education in accounting navigation education in surveying, and education in modern languages. Some families sent their children to live and work with other families (often relatives or close friends) as a capstone to their education.
Higher education
The first colleges in British North America were, in chronological order, Harvard (1636), the College of William and Mary (1693), St. John's College, Annapolis MD (1696), Yale (1701), the College of New Jersy (subsequently Princeton) (1746), King's College (subsequently Columbia) (!754), The College of Philadelphia (subsequently the University of Pennsylvania) (1755), and Queen's College (subsequently Rutgers).Needless to say all of these institutions were strictly for men and primarily for white men. Some colonial colleges experimented with admitting Native American students in the 18th century, but none admitted African-Americans. Because opportunities for secondary education were sparse, boys often entered college for their education at the age of 14 or 15.
College faculties were generally very small, typically consisting of the college president (usually a clergyman) perhaps one or two professors and several tutors i,e graduate students who earned their keep by teaching the underclassmen. All students followed the same course of study, which was of three of (more commonly) four years' duration. Collegiate studies focused on education in ancient languages, education in ancient history education in theology and education in mathematics. In the 18th century, science (especially astronomy and physics) and also education in modern history and education in politics assumed a larger (but still modest) place in the college curriculum. Until the mid-18th century, the overwhelming majority of American college graduates became Protestant clergymen. Towards the end of the colonial period, law became another popular career choice for college graduates.
Vocational Education
Although few Americans of the colonial era had access to secondary of higher education, many benefitted from various types of vocational education, especially apprenticeship.Both boys and girls were apprentices for varying terms (up to fifteen years in the case of young orphans). Apprentices were typically taught a trade (if male) or sewing and housewifery (if female) as well as reading and basic religious knowledge. Of course, many children learned job skills from their parents or employers without embarking on a formal appernticeship.Further Reading
Cremin, Lawrence. American Education : The Colonial Experience, 1607-1783.New York : Harper & Row, 1970.
Faragher, John Mack, ed. The Encyclopedia of Colonial and Revolutionary America. New York : Da Capo Press, 1996.
Johnson, Clifton. Old-Time Schools and School-books. New York : Dover, 1963.
Spruill, Julia Cherry. Women's Life and Work in the Southern Colonies, Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, 1938.