Book Description

Excerpt from The Development of Free, Schools in the United States: As Illustrated By, Connecticut and Michigan The schools of Connecticut became free in the last half of the nineteenth century, but to understand the development of such schools it is helpful to consider some conditions of colonial edu cation, and to trace the slow growth of the movement and related movements to the time of the enactment of the free school law of 1868. The colonial period, from 1634 to 1776, a period of one hundred and forty-two years, was a time in which European traditions were transplanted, and also gradually modified. Some very important social changes occurred in Connecticut during this period. The colonists of Connecticut came, for the most part, from Massachusetts and were very similar in character and antecedents to the people of that colony. At New Haven and Hartford, settlements were made which had separate govern ments, and between which a rivalry appeared. The two were united under a royal charter in 1665. The government was similar, in many respects, to that of Massachusetts. At first, the town was the unit of local government. The general control was exercised by the General Court and governor, under the charter and a rather peculiar constitution. The General Court was an elective body, based upon a limited suffrage, having a combination Of legislative, executive, and judicial powers. Religiously, the Connecticut colonists were Puritans. The church and civil government were united in many ways. The early pursuits were, of necessity, hunting and agriculture, but soon a coastwise trade grew up, and primitive manufactures appeared. The times were not peaceful. Indian wars, and the European wars of parent nations brought to the settler of Con necticut a share of the common burdens of the period. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.