Courtesy of Library of Congress, Hosmer, George Washington, "An address delivered before the Erie County Common School Education Society at Buffalo, N.Y.," 3 February 1840
Description
The Erie County Common School Education Society met in Buffalo, New York, and heard this address in 1840 from George Washington Hosmer, an educator at Antioch College and noted preacher in the Unitarian church. The address highlights the benefits of the common schools, as public elementary schools were known at the time. The speaker uses this address to persuade his listeners that common schools will help the individual and society as a whole.
Source-Dependent Questions
- What reason(s) does the speaker give for free education? Do you agree? Why or why not?
- What benefit will free education give to society as a whole, according to the speaker? Cite evidence from the text to support your answer.
- How does the speaker feel free education will be paid for?
- Critique the speaker's persuasive techniques. In the 1840s, there were many reform movements throughout the United States, e.g. abolition, women's rights, temperance. How does the language the speaker uses make education reform seem more important than or just as important as other reform movements?
Citation Information
Hosmer, George Washington, "An address delivered before the Erie County Common School Education Society at Buffalo, N.Y.," 3 February 1840. Courtesy of Library of Congress