Founding Zealots Summary

The author Thomas W. Hagedorn wrote the book Founding Zealots: How Evangelicals Created America’s First Public Schools, 1783-1865. Which tells how evangelical ministers won the very difficult battle to start America’s public schools and, in the Epilogue. It also exposes the disturbing reasons why other historians have told a very different and inaccurate story. Hagedorn begins to tell his view of American public schools and how evangelical purposes were established during this era. Horace Mann’s role as the founder of our public schools is a myth. Surprisingly, he found that most historians have ignored the Christian philosophy, motives, and leaders that laid the foundation of that vital institution. Hagedorn discovered that the teaching of