Horace Mann

Horace Mann ( born May 4, 1796 in Franklin, Massachusetts; † August 2, 1859 in Yellow Springs, Ohio ) was an American politician of the Whig Party, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts and educator and educational reformer, as the "father of public education in the United States " applies.

Life

Study, a lawyer and political activity

Man came from a poor family, had early contribute to the livelihood of the family and acquired many of his basic knowledge of history and theology through self-study in the small, founded by Benjamin Franklin Library in his hometown. In 1816, he was prepared within six months for visiting the College and graduated from Brown University in Providence in 1819 with highest honors.

He then studied law for a short time at a law firm in Wrentham, but increased from 1820 to 1822 to work as a tutor of Latin and Greek at Brown University, where he was also 1821-1823 librarian. He also studied again from 1821 to 1823 Law on James Gould founded on the famous, of Tapping Reeve Law School in Litchfield and was awarded after graduating the attorney admission in the state of Massachusetts.

In 1823 he opened his own law firm as an attorney in Dedham. A few years later he also began a political career and was initially 1823 to 1827 a member of the House of Representatives from Massachusetts. After he settled in 1833 as a lawyer in Boston, he continued his political activities and was 1833-1837 not only a member of the Massachusetts Senate, but from 1835 to 1837 and President of the Senate.

Educational reformer

1837 he was appointed secretary of the newly created Board of Education ( Board of Education ) of Massachusetts, and thus the beginning of his work as an educational reformer in the state. During his permanent occupation until 1848 he held from teacher meetings and gave lectures and greetings. He also held an extensive correspondence and implemented numerous reforms. In addition, the planning and the introduction of the American School for teacher training system of the normal school, as well as the founder and editor of the journal The Common School Journal followed in 1838. Moreover, he prepared a series of annual reports, which found a widespread acceptance and consequently the reputation of general Common Schools promoted. Ultimately, his work was so but not only to reform the schools in Massachusetts, but also in other states of the USA.

However, he saw himself is criticized, especially by schoolmasters in Boston, suspended, who rejected his educational theories and innovations. On the other pushed his reforms even in some religious sects on resistance who were dissatisfied with the exclusion of all sectarian information in schools. The criticism he stepped always shown objectively, although sometimes with unnecessary vehemence and relentlessness.

From its very nature, he was optimistic and could not be dissuaded from his ideas by criticism. As followers of the theories of his contemporary, the Scottish philosopher George Combe, he believed in the unlimited betterment of mankind and was the belief that nothing so much of moral, intellectual and material benefits that would result as sustainable education.

Congressman and abolitionist

On April 3, 1848, he resigned from his post as Secretary of the Board of Education after he was elected as a candidate of the Whig party as successor to the late former U.S. President John Quincy Adams as a member in the House of Representatives of the United States. In this he took after his reelection in 1849 and a further re-election as a non-party to March 3, 1853 the eighth congressional district of Massachusetts.

During his time as a congressman, he was one of the ablest opponents of slavery, but no abolitionist and ultimately also rejected the radicalism of William Lloyd Garrison and his followers.

In 1852 he ran for the Free Soil Party for the office of governor of Massachusetts, but lost to the candidate of the Whig Party, John H. Clifford.

College President

After his retirement from the House of Representatives, he was from 1853 until his death president of the newly founded Antioch College in Yellow Springs. At the same time, he worked as a professor of political economy, intellectual and moral philosophy as well as physico.

However, the college received insufficient financial support and suffered from the attacks of religious sectarians, in particular his own insincerity was accused because he was at first Unitarian, but then the Christian Connection joined that the Antioch College was founded in 1852. Of his students, he received the other hand, admiration and through his numerous speeches he had great influence on the education system in the Midwestern United States.

Publications

Horace Mann published his ideas in numerous publications and books such as:

• A Few Thoughts for a Young Man (Boston, 1850)
• Slavery: Letters and Speeches ( 1851)
• Powers and Duties of Woman (1853 ).

Posthumous works Sermons (1861 ), Life and Complete Works of Horace Mann published ( 2 vols, Cambridge, 1869), Thoughts selected from the Writings of Horace Mann (1869 ) and The Case for Public Schools.

Honors

According to him, many schools are named in the United States such as the Horace Mann School in New York City, the man Arts and Science Magnet High School in Little Rock, the Horace Mann Elementary School in Oak Park ( Illinois), the Horace Mann School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Allston (Boston ) and the Barnstable Horace Mann charter School in Barnstable.

1940 gave the U.S. Post Office in his honor a special stamp. Furthermore, Horace Mann was honored by induction into the Hall of Fame for Great Americans.

External links and sources

Background literature

• Ernest Cassara: Reformer as Politician: Horace Mann and the Anti-Slavery Struggle in Congress, 1848-1853, in: Journal of American Studies 5, December 1971, pp. 247-264
• Jonathan Messerli: Horace Mann: A Biography, New York, published by Knopf, 1972