ponents of pub overcome, and established. tional springtime. Through this awakening the common school advocates in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois were In Ohio, Indiana, and greatly aided in their struggle to overcome the opposition Illinois, opof settlers from the states not committed to public educa- fic education tion (see p. 272), and they were favored to some extent state system by accessions of emigrants from the home of the public school movement. During the decade just preceding the middle of the century, there was a decided elevation of public sentiment going on. Under the leadership of Samuel Lewis and Samuel Galloway in Ohio, Caleb Mills in Indiana, and Ninian W. Edwards in Illinois, the friends of public education had marshalled themselves for battle. Reports and memorials were constantly presented to the legislatures of these states, and public addresses in behalf of common schools were frequent in most large communities. A group of devoted schoolmen appeared, who were as successful in lobbying for good legislation as they were with institutes and public lectures. While reactions occasionally happened, like that in Ohio between 1840 and 1845, when the state superintendency was temporarily abolished, public education gradually came to be regarded as something more than merely free education for the poor, and public school funds were no longer granted as a subsidy to private institutions. After a quarter century of 'permissive' laws, local taxation and free common schools were fully realized in all three states early in the fifties. The contest, of course, was not ended, as reactionary elements, with selfish, local, and sectarian interests, still remained, but their contentions have never again been more than partially successful. New features of the common schools, such as efficient teachers for the rural districts, Michigan county supervision, state normal training, and free higher education in state universities, have gradually rendered the state systems more consistent and complete. In Michigan, on the other hand, where there was not such a mixture of population, and a complete sympathy with the common school idea appeared, there was almost unhampered progress from the beginning of statehood. Under the first constitution (1837), there was provision made for a permanent school fund and for a local tax in every district, although the schools were partly maintained until 1869 by 'rate bills' collected from the pupils. In accordance with the grant of two townships of land by Congress in 1826 for a university, the first legislature of the new state established the University of Michigan (Fig. 42), and its doors were open to students in 1841. It soon became the most prominent of the state universities. There was also provided a system of 'branches' of the university, whereby a liberal grant was made for an academy in any county that would furnish suitable buildings and a sum equal to the appropriation from the state. As this proved a dissipation of the university funds, it was gradually stopped, and between 1852 and 1860 'union' and high schools were rapidly developed to supply the means of fitting for the university. In 1850 a state normal school was founded, and four others have since been added. In all the other territory acquired or purchased by the Rapidity of development United States in its westward expansion, the educational and triumph of common school history has been very similar to that in the first states of the Northwest. Progress in common school sentiment has been made pari passu with the settlement of the country. Each state, upon admission, has received its idea in the West. sixteenth section of school land and two townships for a university, and in the states admitted since 1848 the endowment of schools has been increased to two sections, while Texas, which had been an independent republic (1836-1845), stipulated before becoming a state that it should retain sole possession of its public lands, and has set aside for education nearly two and one-half millions of acres. Hence in the first constitution of each state, permanent school and university funds, together with a regular organization of the schools of the state, have generally been provided. In few cases have sectarian interests been able to delay or injure the growth of common schools in any of the later commonwealths, and the interpretation of public education as schools for the children of paupers has never seriously influenced the West. Organization of State Systems in the South. Thus through the awakening of common schools that occurred throughout the union from 1835 to 1860 was the oldtime country and city district school of the North gradually lifted up to the present system of graded free elementary, secondary, and normal schools, together with city and state universities. But these results were not at first as fully realized in the South, because of the approach and precipitation of the dreadful internecine conflict that weighed down and finally prostrated the resources of that section. However, except for this impending calamity, the conditions in the South were not essentially different from those in any other section. During the earlier years of the awakening, and in some Awakening states up to the very verge of the Civil War, great prog- approach of ress in public education was noticeable. The attend- Civil War, felt, but with progress stopped, and facilities ance in the common schools, established in several states by 'permissive' legislation, had been rapidly growing close of the war. for a score of years, and there was an increasing body of wrecked at Need of universal education realized and struggles to attain it. prominent men desirous of enlarging popular education. During the early forties there were many efforts and suggestions for a system of public schools, and several conventions were held in the interest of such institutions. North Carolina actually established a state system in 1839. Tennessee (1838-1843) and Kentucky (1838) made less enduring efforts toward a similar organization, and as late as 1858 Georgia took a distinct step forward in this direction. Moreover, even in their secession conventions some states, like Georgia, adopted resolutions or constitutional amendments looking to the education of the people, and North Carolina in 1863, with the union army actually at its doors, undertook to grade the schools and provide for the training of teachers. But, in general, as the impending conflict drew near, attention to educational progress was forced to give way to the preservation of state and home, and after the war, which crushed and ravaged nearly every portion of the South, educational facilities had for the most part been totally wrecked. Nevertheless, in the end the war served as a stimulus to common schools. It brought about a complete overturn of the old social and industrial order, and the South realized more fully than ever that it could arise from its desperate material and educational plight only through the institution of universal education. As early as 1865, school systems were organized in the border states,— Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, and West Virginia, and even during the harsh and unhappy days of 'reconstruc tion' (1867-1876), efforts were made in other states to build up systems of free public education. The organization of education became more thorough and mandatory than before the war. All children, white and colored, were to attend school between six and twentyone, and the term was to last from four to six months each year. Property and poll taxation were established for the support of the schools. A state superintendent and state board of education, county commissioners and a county board, and trustees in each district, were provided for. Text-book commissions were often established, and free books were granted to poor children. The foundation for a real system was thus laid. had to be over come. This was a tremendous undertaking, and shows the greatest courage and executive ability upon the part of Obstacles that the South. Property had been diminished in valuation to the extent of nearly two billion dollars, and there were two million children to be educated. Moreover, under the reconstruction régime, the tax on property was often not collected, and the appropriations for education remained on paper. Indifference and inexperience were aggravated by the fear that 'mixed' schools would be forced upon the white population by a reconstruction legislature or a Congress with millennial zeal in behalf of universal brotherhood. These obstacles, together with misdirected effort upon the part of Northern missionaries, and other serious interferences, for fully a decade constituted an enormous stumbling-block. Several factors, however, aided and encouraged the South in its efforts. Of these the most important was the foundation in 1867 of the Peabody Educational Fund of $2,000,000, well characterized as "a gift to the suffering couragement. Peabody Edu cational Fund and other en |