Culture Of Early America

Culture of Early America ○

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Education ○ For males and provided for leadership ○ New England education more important  Primary/Secondary schools established  All towns of 50 or more had to maintain a school master  Length/Quality Varied ○ Middle/Southern not as stressed  Adequate elementary education  Wealthy families used tutors  Secondary education was a luxury ○ Emphasis on religion and classical languages ○ Corporal punishment allowed  Might be done by an indentured servant ○ College education  Harvard (1636)  William and Mary (1693)  Yale (1701) Princeton (1755) ○ Tuition was low and mostly males went to this level ○ Rich sent kids to English institutions ○ Benjamin Franklin set up first non-denominated school  University of Pennsylvania (1755) Culture ○ Painters went to England to train their style  John Trumbull  Charles Willson Peale  Benjamin West  John Singleton ○ Literature was not well trained  Phillis Wheatley was a poet  Benjamin Franklin was an author • Established first private library ○ Architectures were trained in England  Imported old styles and religious conditions News ○ Nearly every town had one printing press and someone to run it ○ Printed all pamphlets, leaflets, books and journals  Clergy were predominate printers  Edward Taylor was a poet  Michael Wigglesworth wrote the Day of Doom ○ News was done on a weekly basis

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 Focused on news abroad and in other colonies  Most people knew what was going on locally ○ John Peter Zenger (1734-1785)  Victory for freedom of the Press Science ○ Influenced by the Enlightenment  Encouraged freedom of trade and experimentation ○ Benjamin Franklin was the best example  Ocean Currents  Stove/Clock/Bifocals  Positive/Negative Charges  Lightning Rods