Horace Mann Research Paper

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Horace Mann was born in Franklin, Massachusetts on May 4, 1796. He was born into a poor farming family with little wealth. Mann was educated in a one-room schoolhouse that had little to offer in terms of preparation for higher education. Horace was forced to teach himself the concepts and knowledge he needed to pursue higher education. Horace was accepted into Brown University in 1816 at age 20, and studied politics, philanthropy and education. Mann later attended Litchfield Law School in 1822 and passed the bar in 1823. Mann practiced law for a few years before earning a seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1827, and served until 1833. Horace later earned a seat on the Massachusetts Senate in 1835 and served until 1837. At this point, Mann was offered a position as the secretary of the newly established board of education in 1837. In 1838, Mann founded the Common School Journal that contained articles and lectures about education that was intended …show more content…
The six principles are as follows:
1) Citizens cannot maintain both ignorance and freedom
- True freedom is only achieved once equal opportunity for education is available to all. Until then, only the elite are able to exercise true freedom, while the underprivileged are monetarily and physically stuck in lower paying jobs ignorant of the opportunities and doors that an education can open. You cannot be truly free and ignorant.
2) Education should be paid for, controlled, and maintained by the public
- This idea again springs from the idea of equal opportunity for education; Horace believes that education (beyond the capacity of the one-room schoolhouse) shouldn’t only belong to those who can afford it, but to everyone. It creates an educational gap along the same rift as the wage gap of those who can afford schooling vs. those who cannot afford