18th Century American Education Dbq Analysis

The 18th century in Europe was a dynamic center for changes in daily life. The prior centuries saw the decline in the social status of women and Renaissance ideals hoping to keep them in the home. It also was witness to the church’s dominion in education and the social gap between the privileged children who could afford an education and the mainly illiterate masses. The denial that childhood was a distinct period in a person’s life, the lack of hands-on parenting and concern for children, and the proclivity of wet nurses also were an integral part of how this sector of culture was viewed in this time period. However, in the 18th century, the education system experienced changes in patronage and attitudes toward children changed, while the
Education for the poor also became a priority and literacy rates as a whole increased in some countries. The idea that schooling could benefit the poor is expressed in Document 2, where a French bishop is expounding on the notion that teaching arithmetic and writing could help lift people out of poverty. His view as a bishop in the church, one of the main schooling institutions of the time, may influence his opinion because he may support his employer more heartily than he would any other body attempting to educate the poor. However, the church was losing its monopoly on education in the 18th century as the Enlightenment views on a secular education began to impact governments to sponsor schools. This shift is evident in Germany with the new gymnasiums and the Spanish and French collage, which, compared to the monastic religious education a learned person was likely to get in centuries before, represent a significant change. This change is well described in the context of the Enlightenment which contended that education should be natural and secular. Education in the 18th century represents a significant change in
The switch from religious education to more state sponsored schooling could be due to the doubt Enlightenment philosophers shed on organized religion. It began to be a more private affair than in centuries previous, leaving the state to take on some of the church’s public functions, such as education. In conclusion, the 18th century differed culturally from the centuries before, but only in some ways some of the