The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. "Religion and Social Reform". The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/first-age-reform/resources/religion-and-social-reform-social- reform. (accessed January 2015).
Horace Mann is writing about public education and he believes that everyone has the right to an education so it should be provided for them. His purpose in producing this document is that he is trying to persuade people that public education is necessary and should be available to anyone. This is a very believable and trustworthy source. It was written in the 19th century, which is the time period in which the education reform took place. It was written by Horace Mann Who was the first person to be elected as the board member of education, and it was accessed from a History data base.
When this document was written the education reform was taking place. The idea of public schools and that everyone could get an education for free was still developing during this time. Horace Mann wanted to make sure that everyone was given the opportunity to get a proper education, and he went town to town observing schools. The schools he was were poorly built, and they had a lack of teachers and supplies. This document tells us that Horace Mann was a very important person during the education reform because he strived to make sure that public education was available, and he wanted to fix all the problems that currently existed within public schools. He super headed the common school movement, ensuring that every child received a basic education that was funded from taxes. He brought better books and supplies into schools to better the students educations as well. While this document does do a good job showing that public schools weren't really available to everyone and that is was Horace Mann was trying to fix, it doesn't show the problems within the schools that existed. It also doesn't tell us anything about how the problem of education was fixed.
In this document Horace Mann claims that everyone has the right to an education, and he says that it is important that they do so because it will effect their future and better their society. He uses the reasoning that Massachusetts always solves their problems instead of trying to prevent them, and that if they provide public education the knowledge the children gain from their education can help solve problems. He believes that if everyone got an education it would encourage them to be good, and to do good for their society. He uses words such as great, immortal, and describes education as a natural right to prove that education truly is important not only to the children themselves but for the greater good of society, and therefor it is a necessity.
