Universities in The 19th Century & Surprising Facts You Haven’t Heard About?

People have been long learning how important education is. Without it, the existence and development of society is impossible. Good education as well as a nationwide natural art museum requires significant financial costs from the state. That is why the government of Alaska allocates the largest amount of money to primary and secondary education in contrast to Somalia, a country which spends the least amount of money. Not surprisingly, it is in this country where the highest percentage of illiteracy is seen. Back in 1990, it was 76%.

To date, the educational process goes hand in hand with technical and scientific advancements resulting in the creation of a stunning natural history museum, for instance, and aiding both the student and teacher. You do not have to go through tons of learning materials or spend a lot of time searching the Internet to find necessary information, as it’s enough to open up the Google search and get devour knowledge accumulated through centuries.

In today’s post, however, we would like to dive into surprising facts of university education in the 19th century that may really amaze you.

Fact #1

When it comes to the US, the 19th century was a period when only a small portion of teachers working at higher institutions had such serious academic degrees as Master’s or Doctor’s.

That was because only a few universities in the US back then issued advanced academic degrees. At that time, universities in America were just starting out and a number of universities were created by religious denominations, the main goal of which, was training men for ministry. As a result, most university teachers were male clergymen who would sometimes attend a museum of natural science or other inspiration establishments. It is also worth noting that the most popular occupations that would require a person to have some sort of academic education were law and medicine only.

Most universities were spread throughout Mississippi and comprised of small colleges focusing on religion and liberal arts studies. The students who attended such universities were mainly men, who could choose to major in the classics. The curriculum of the specialization included ancient languages such as Greek and Latin, Aristotle’s rhetoric and ethics, music, mathematics as well as ancient history.

Fact #2

Back in the 19th century, higher education could be acquired on a phased basis since various interest groups would establish their own colleges to cater to the needs of their audiences. This means that if the audiences wanted to study dinosaurs, the college curriculum would include visiting a dinosaur museum.

Fact #3

Starting from 1760, a prerequisite of college life was campus unrest. Interestingly, the unrest peaked in the early 19th century until a time when colleges made some significant effort in relieving tension through providing elective subjects. A great part of reliving the unrest had to do with empowering students to set up some activities of extracurricular variety. Brotherhood, completion-based sports, literary interest groups were first organized by college students. Later on, however, universities took over the control of those.

Fact #4

The grading system today has transformed to cater to the needs of our time. The reason being that is the way universities provide knowledge has an impact on students’ mindsets. As of today, universities throughout the world want to make students collaborative so that they can manage products and come up with solutions to problems. However, if students encounter some difficulties along their academic path and particularly with essays, they can always find an essay writer online free.

In the 19th century, the teaching methods that focused primarily on recitation as well as shaming were replaced by that pedagogy that was based on lecturing. At the time, the role of faculties evolved, as they split into various departments and became highly specialized.

It was believed that all students ought to get the same amount of knowledge at the generally accepted pace. The teacher’s role was to deliver information to students who would remain passive. When it came to grading, there was a marked reliance on standardized tests.

This resulted in the fact that most students were unprepared for future employment, as all they could do was filling out various forms. Compared to today’s era when education is interactive, personalized, focused on immersive experience and collaboration, the pedagogy in the 19th century was highly primitive.

Fact #5

African Americans always strived for knowledge, as they understood its high value as well as its power to change lives and communities. At the beginning of the US history, African Americans were not allowed to master the art of writing or reading. This was a necessary thing to make slavery last. African Americans would sometimes strike making plantation owners anxious, who in turn did everything in their power to prevent the enslaved people from getting any education. However, African Americans, who were educated enough, would try to give education to the enslaved community by providing secret tutoring services.

Despite the fact that in the 19th century, providing education to African Americans was quite dangerous, there was a small number of universities, which empowered them to acquire knowledge. For example, Dartmouth College and Richard Humphreys, who is known for establishing the Institute for Colored Youth, which today goes by the name of Cheyney University. This is the oldest university for African Americans in the States.

Author bio

Sandra Hayward is 38 years old and she teaches American history at the University of Maine, US and works at EduBirdie. She is committed to teaching and she believes that education should be accessible to everyone regardless of his or her ethnicity.