EVENTS & MOVEMENTS

Immigration
Between 1810 and 1860, the nation grows rather rapidly. Publicly supported schools are introduced in response to Irish and German immigration, which change the face of the nation’s need for education. The Wisconsin Education Association Council states, schools are viewed as a means to “Americanize” immigrants, and are offered as a solution to the growing “crisis of idle youth” found in rapidly growing urban centers. Public education is viewed as the treatment for too much free time that leads to vagrancy and hooliganism (Wisconsin Education Association Council, n.d.). Drawing is recommended as a means to promote moral standards (Efland, 1990, p.74)

The Common School Movement
The implementation of the common school is one of the many social reform ideas of the mid-1800s. Before the introduction of the public school system, education is reserved for children of the wealthy. Reformers see the common school as a means to close the gap between the rich and poor. Stankiewicz (2002) has proposed that art education, “aligned young people with emerging cultural values and contributed to the construction of the North American middle class” (p. 324).

Institutionalization
Formal institutions are seen as scientific and progressive, enabling man to apply his knowledge to advance the democratic state. It is believed that well-educated citizens are essential to the survival of young America. The prevailing philosophy of Post-Enlightenment Scientific Rationalism holds that intelligence and knowledge will lead America towards industrial progress. Thus, drawing is first introduced into the institution of public education to foster learning in subjects such as reading and writing, and to prepare students for industrial work.

Fort Hill School
William Bentley Fowle, a member of the Primary School Committee of Boston, is in charge of setting up a school for 200 poor students. The intended teacher does not show up, so Fowle volunteers to take his place. At the Fort Hill School (1821), Fowle uses the monitorial system, which affords one teacher hundreds of pupils for a lower cost, enlarging the opportunities of poor children to become educated. Here, Fowle introduces the drawing of maps and linear, geometrical drawing as a regular component of the curriculum (Wygant, 1983).

Central High School, Pennsylvania
The first drawing class is created in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania (1840) at Central High School and is instructed by 62 year-old, Rembrandt Peale. During his tenure, he implements writing as a branch of drawing, believes in using inexpensive textbooks, and understands the value of mechanical drawing.

Post Enlightenment Scientific Rationalism
The prevailing philosophy of Post-Enlightenment Scientific Rationalism holds that intelligence and knowledge (Efland, 1990) will lead the United States towards industrial progress. Thus, drawing is first introduced in public education “as an aid to the teaching of reading and writing, and as an element of practical preparation for work in industry” (Wygant, 1983, p.5).

Romantic Idealism
Romantic Idealism enters the American educational system through Transcendentalist, Amos Bronson Alcott and his Temple School that opens in 1834. Alcott believes suitable teaching elicits “the truth and moral sense within children, and that the Socratic question-and-answer method is effective toward that end” (Wilson, 1999, ¶ 14). His views are important to the history of art education in terms of the visual quality of the school environment. In the 1840s, schools begin to decorate classrooms and beautify school grounds to mark the extension of vernacular enhancement into education.

The Financial Panic of 1837
The social reform movement, responding to the expanding nation celebrating Manifest Destiny, gains momentum and grows out of the financial panic of 1837. The panic devastates rich and poor alike. It ends with the Compromise of 1850, a political measure that draws the nation closer to civil war.