The period from 1812 to 1865 is referred to as the Age of the Common Man for a variety of reasons. One of the chief reasons for this is the growing influence of nationalism, the industrial revolution, and Jacksonian democracy on American society. The social, political, and economic conditions of the time were rapidly changing as American society was becoming transformed by westward expansion, construction of railways, and increasing urbanism and industrialism. As capitalists needed more skilled labor for industry, as Jackson fought for equality of access for education, and as the education industry began to develop, the drive for public education mounted in American society during this era. As Goetz (1998) notes, “No reform movement except abolitionism absorbed the energies of so many Americans as the drive for public education, or created such bitter and widespread opposition” (12).
Debates on education veered between the European hierarchy of education, modeled on aristocratic patterns of education, favored by Thomas Jefferson and the views of Andrew Jackson. Known as Jacksonian democracy, Jackson’s views on education were based more on equality and access for all. As Zimmerman (1997) notes, “Jackson’s beliefs about education differed from Jefferson’s in that Jackson...embraced equality of access to education. He viewed public education as a great leveler, which provided common bases for building a cohesive society, free of the aristocratic patterns of European societies” (20). Jackson fought for a free school system for all Americans, one where individuals could attend state universities and study the vocations necessary to a productive society.
Horace Mann was a champion of public education and his views on access and equality for all with respect to it were similar to Jackson’s. Along with James C. Carter and Henry Barnard, these three men were most responsible for establishing America’s free, ...