HORACE MANN "The Father of American Education"

Horace Mann was very passionate about education of the people. In addition, he was very interested in school policy. Although he was a successful lawyer, he left his law practice and became the Secretary of Education in 1837. During his time in office on the Board of Education, he published twelve annual reports about his programs, work, and the essential association between, freedom, education, and Republican government (Mason-King). Since Horace Mann was a strong supporter of education, he wanted to promote the importance of equal opportunity of public education, where children would all have a fair and enjoyable chance to learn.

Horace Mann was born in 1796 in Franklin, Massachusetts. Although he only attended school eight to ten weeks a year, Mann taught himself by reading books from the Franklin Town Library. With this limited education, he was able to be admitted to the sophomore class of brown University in 1816. He studied law school and received his ban in 1823. He also had a seat on the state legislature and also was a State Senator (Mason-King).

When Horace Mann was the Secretary of Massachusetts State Board of Education, he wrote in his twelfth annual report to the Massachusetts Board of Education that there should be an equal opportunity among people who are getting educated. Regardless of their earnings, each person should have an equal chance to earn the same by being exposed to the same conditions (Mann, Horace Mann on Education and National Welfare).

Mann states "Education, more than anything else, demands not only a scientific acquaintance with mental laws, but the nicest art in the detail and the application of means, for its successful prosecution; because influences, imperceptible in childhood, work out more and more broadly into beauty or deformity, in after-life. No unskillful hand should ever play upon a harp, where the tones are left, forever, in the strings” (Mann, Lectures on Education).

He indicates that the methods should be established and also universally diffused. Although there were a lot of Public Schools in this Commonwealth, they were all very different and independent communities. Each school was presided by their own traditions, local customs and habits. There wasn’t any common administration and bond linking them, which kept them as strangers to each other. This situation also was reflected by the teachers (Mann, Lectures on Education).

Any new principles of learning was not shared among other districts but remained within the school. In these Lectures on Education (Mann, 1848), Mann gives examples of how other things like industrial or economical ideas are shared quickly all over the country. However, when improvements regarding education such as helping children learn easier, and sharing the enjoyment of learning, were not shared or considered important topics (Mann, Lectures on Education).

Therefore, Mann wanted to make sure that the success of Common Schools should be considered very exclusive and most important. A child should be excited to see the value in knowledge. In addition, the child should be able to understand and be motivated to study. Moreover, a child should not be afraid of learning, especially if he was unclear of the information that was being read or learned. Children are excited to learn and want to expand their knowledge (Mann, Lectures on Education).

After resigning in 1848 from the Secretary of Education, he continued into the U.S. House of Representative and then became the President of Antioch College in 1852 (Mason-King). Mann’s victory for the public school system has continued to be an essential part of the American culture. Mann states "If ever there was a cause, if ever there can be a cause, worthy to be upheld by all of toil to sacrifice that the human heart can endure, it is the cause of Education" (Mann, 7). With that view point, parents and students can thank the dedication of Horace Mann in providing American people with the opportunity of education.

Works Cited

Mann, Horace. "Horace Mann on Education and National Welfare." wikispaces. 29
March 2010 .

Mann, Horace. "Lectures on Education." Mann, Horace. Massachusettes, 1848. 18.

Mann, Horace. Thoughts Selected from the Writings of Horace Mann. New York: Lee and Shepard, 1872.

Mason-King, Pam. "Horace Mann." n.d. nd.edu. 30 March 2010 .