Blog #7

 

The education that children received in British North America varied depending on which part of the country they lived in. The education children received was based on the political and social affairs that plagued the particular region they called home.
 

Education in New England was valuable because most people that lived there were Protestants. They believed each person needed to form a personal connection to God. To do this, they had to be able to read and interpret the bible and other religious writings. Therefore, literacy was pivotal to religion and it was taken as a great virtue. School children in New England had the opportunity to receive formal instruction by their local schools, which were small, and only required children to attend for three or four months. Although the length of how much schooling children received was not much, it was better than no schooling at all. The New England colonies had the highest literacy rates despite the length of schooling. This was in large part because wealthy families could afford private tutors for their children, and were able to pass down knowledge onto their kids.

A similar pattern was seen in the education that children in the southern region received. Unlike in the New England colonies, there was a lack of schools and children acquired their education through private tutors and parents. These children however, were born to wealthy-white plantation owners that could afford to invest in their children’s education. Although the widespread value of education as a vehicle of social mobility was not yet existent, the value of a cultured individual in society was respected and desired. Additionally, these privileged children held high literacy rates, but not enough to compete with the larger population of school children attending local public schools in the New England colonies. Not to mention, black children did not have access to formal schooling and did not have education given to them from their parents. Similarly, children from the middle colonies did not have a high literacy rate although their education practices were largely based on their religious beliefs.  The education experience for children across British North America varied extensively based on their access to education, religion, and race.