CHAPTER II

CONDITIONS WHICH LED TO THE INTRODUCTION OF MANUAL TRAINING: OBSTACLES WHICH RETARDED ITS GROWTH

In attempting to interpret the progress of the world, the political economist would have us believe that every improvement or advance made in civilization may be reduced to economic terms. In such manner does he explain war, commerce, the introduction of money, industrial evolution, the abolition of slavery, and so on. He contends that every event of moment or advance in civilization has its cause and effect; the cause always an economic one, whatever the effect may be.

We may readily imagine then, that the economist considers. that the introduction of manual training into the educative process has been due, primarily, to economic reasons. And conditions seem to warrant this contention. For years, after colonization had been started in this country, the settlements had comparatively few inhabitants; land could be had in abundance by those who had sufficient perseverance to clear and cultivate it, and industries did not exist except those that could be performed at the home. Such were the conditions under which our forefathers lived, up to the beginning of the nineteenth century.

At that time the United States was a nation which had just secured its freedom. Its policy consisted largely of experiment and trial. Many of its natural resources were unknown and others were but imperfectly developed. Travel was undertaken only when necessary because of its slowness and tediousness. The mail service was inadequate, hence correspondence was not extensively used. Labor-saving devices were yet to be invented as an aid to the nation in its effort to secure and maintain a prominent position among the powers of the world.

The frontier life of that period required resourceful and selfreliant men. It required that they should have initiative and

perserverance in order that the natural resources of the country might be developed and exploited. How well these requirements were met is witnessed by the fact that the United States has enjoyed the most phenomenal growth of any nation in history. It has become one of the most powerful and one of the most wealthy nations of the day. But with this miraculous growth have occurred three changes which are of particular interest in connection with the present discussion: 1. The population has been changed from a distinctly rural community to one which is largely urban. 2. Land which was practically free is about exhausted. 3. There has been a wonderful industrial development in the country, which has absorbed many of the industries which were formerly performed in the home.

During the past one hundred and fifty years our population has increased thirty-fold, and invention and industry have been instrumental, to a large extent, in concentrating a large percentage of this population in the cities. In 1790 there were but six cities of eight thousand inhabitants, or more, in the United States; in 1810 there were eleven such cities; in 1830, twenty-six; in 1840, forty-four; in 1890, the number of such cities had increased to four hundred and forty-eight; and according to the last census report, 1910, the number reached was seven hundred and sixty. In 1790, the urban population was one in thirty of the total population; in 1840, one in twelve; and at the present time, it is about one in three.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, land could be readily obtained by those who desired it. Vast tracts were available, only awaiting the coming of the frontiersman. As the population increased, so, also, did our boundary line become extended.

As the line of civilization kept creeping to the west, the more adventurous spirits pushed further on. If the environment of the city or town did not suit the tastes of an individual, he could easily find a place on the frontier with practically no expense other than the hardships which must necessarily be endured. But this mode of life has about reached its limit. The land which could be obtained for little or nothing is almost exhausted. The individual must now be content with city

life or else pay a substantial price for land in the country which can be profitably cultivated.

But the most remarkable change that has occurred since the formation of the United States has been in the industrial world. At the time of the Declaration of Independence there were many home industries, division of labor was in its infancy, and many of our manufactured articles were obtained abroad.

Flax was raised and sheep were sheared on the farm. The flax was dried, hetcheled, spun, and woven; the wool was washed, carded, spun, and woven. Then the clothes, blankets, linens, and whatever other cloth materials were needed, were made at the home. Mittens and stockings were knitted, bread was made, butter was churned, fruits were dried, soups were prepared, and clothes were washed; all these activities were performed by the housewife. The men cut the grain with the scythe and flailed it by hand; in fact, practically all the farmer's labor was performed by hand. During this period, about 96% of the population of the United States lived in rural communities. Now in a great many homes, most of these industries that were performed in the home are taken care of by the factory, the bakery, the dairy, the cannery, and the laundry. We even have the vacuum cleaner, which further reduces the labor of the housewife by effectively cleaning the house with the expenditure of but little effort. The hard manual labor, once performed by the farmer is now done much more quickly by the aid of machinery.

It is not so many years since our shoes were made in their entirety by one person; the same may be said of our clothing and many other articles of every-day usefulness. But now we find that through the divisions of labor which have become more and more specific and highly organized, the manufacture of a single pair of shoes or a single suit of clothes requires many different operations, to each of which is assigned a particular individual whose sole duty is to attend to that particular operation.

"The early forms of industry gave the worker a relatively broad outlook; division of labor and specialization of industries tend to narrow this vision. As the division becomes more and more minute, the production of goods requires the co-operation

of a constantly increasing number of workers. Each one forms but a link in a great industrial chain, and consequently sees only a minute part of the entire operation necessary to make the completed article. Machine production aims at making a uniform and interchangeable product. The workman is unfortunately bound down to a rigid and monotonous routine; he becomes in time almost automatic in his movements. He struggles blindly on, working and producing, without recognizing the end in view, without feeling that he, himself, is an integral and necessary factor in the formation and operation of a great industrial machine or organism."31

The number of persons engaged in industrial pursuits has kept pace pretty well with the industrial development. At times we hear that the labor market, both skilled and unskilled, is overstocked, and again we hear that is is underfed, but under normal conditions the earnest workers can find employment and the fair employer can obtain workers. Our distribution in various occupations can be seen from the occupational groups in the United States, 1900.

The number of those, included in the above, who are engaged in what may be called "cultural occupations" is surprisingly small.

3 F. T. Carlton, “Education and Industrial Evolution,” p. 48.

321

32 "Statistical Abstract of the United States," 1911, p. 235.

During the past century also, the position of women, owing to different social, industrial, and educational conditions, hast been entirely changed. Formerly her place was in the home; now she enters into competition with men in almost every pursuit. According to the census of 1900, there were 21,776,864 females in this country between the ages of fifteen and sixty; 5,319,397 females, ten years of age and upwards, are engaged in gainful occupations, of whom 485,767 are between the ages of ten and fifteen years. 34 It is fair to assume that the majority of them are employed in cities and large towns. As labor-saving devices for the care of the household are introduced into more homes, the proportion of the female wage earners will undoubtedly increase.

We have, then, these three economic factors which have been working independently of each other for many years, but which have been very closely correlated. The exhaustion of public lands and the development of industries have both been instrumental in directing the people toward the city. The significance of these factors, in their relation to the educational sytem, can best be revealed by determining whether our work in education has kept pace with them. Have the needs of the great army, who are engaged in industrial work, been properly provided for by the school; are the millions of women, who are now employed outside the home, being so trained that they will be well fitted to take up the burden of earning a living; and are the millions of other women who do the home-keeping receiving the training requisite for their future betterment and happiness? The answer to these questions may be found in the demand made for manual training over thirty years ago, and in the agitation at the present

33 "Statistical Abstract of the United States," 1911, p. 235.

34 Ibid.