Tonya Wright
Hist 4000
Research Paper
Gagnon
4/14/2003
Sunday Schools of Athens: A Change to What Will Become a Social Institution
The churches that were present Antebellum America was like that of many other churches of that time. They were centers of the community and a place for people to learn and to grow as individuals. Around America there was a new movement and the churches were beginning to catch on: they began forming their on Sunday Schools. The Sunday Schools that were formed in Athens was a place were men, women, children were able to go to get a free education. We will look at the social aspect of Sunday Schools and we view how differently each class was educated. Sunday Schools of the period taught various subjects and later developed into what we now know as public schools. All of these factors led to the development of what we now call a public school system.
When America was first discovered our founding fathers thought that educating the children was the most important aspect, however few of them could have imaged education being taught outside of a religious aspect. One of the well known founders of Sunday Schools is Robert Raikes. Robert Raikes visited a slum in the New York City and he was disgusted with the corruption of the children1. He said that the best way to reach children was through the word of God. He aimed his teaching at the children on the streets and not just the children in the church. Sunday Schools was aimed to educate children and the first Sunday School was only attended by boys, but girls would later be able to attend. This began a movement that spread across America and each into Athens.
In America, Sunday Schools began as attempt to give children general knowledge of the bible, and also how to read it and understand it. Many times however Sunday School classes often strayed from this task. Many Sunday School teachers began to see there classes as a place to give instructions rather to learn about god. When Sunday Schools were founded this was not what was intended to happen. There was much debate over teaching secular education on Sunday, and this caused many debates among the people. To stop these debates Sunday Schools made their curricula strictly about Biblical instruction.
In The beginning of Sunday they used different teaching methods. One example of this is that they would use music to learn. Athens had Sunday choral teaching students to read music2.The decade between (1800-1810) of Sunday School instruction became known as the “Memorizing Era”3. Each student would read a passage from the bible and memorize as much as they could, and would then have to recite it to their teacher. This technique looked as though it was going to work, but it was soon realized that the students were remembering long enough to recall it back to the teacher. In a Birmingham Sunday School statistic shows that levels of reading dropped during this time period. Even though this was an era that was short lived parts seen in some Sunday School classes even today. After noticing the lack of learning, Sunday Schools developed a more well-rounded education system.
When Sunday Schools realized that students needed to be able to read and write to understand the bible and its teachings, they started to campaign to provide more secular education to the students. In Athens, however this was not an easy job due to the private schools. The Athens Female Academy was a private that offered the general reading and writing instructions, and also classes like astronomy, history, rhetoric, and many other topics 4. At this time also instruction manuals had a large boom in production. Sunday Schools used instruction manuals for the purpose of teaching students to read. In the beginning if this secular education movement in Sunday School's, teachers used just a few textbooks to teach their lessons. The basic textbook offered a huge selection, but only offered the beginning edition and no follow ups 5. Novelty readings like The Gun Powder Plot and Honesty the Best Policy6 taught students the importance of reading. Now that Sunday Schools had established curricula, they were well on their
way to be a force in education. This made it clear that pubic schooling could be just as useful as private schooling.
As Sunday Schools became dominated by the working class youth, slaves began to realize that it was unfair that they were not allowed to have to access to free public education. Some people found there to be no problem with the education of slaves, but most people in the south were strongly against the education of slaves. A man by the name of John Peck in 1817 who was a missionary went to St. Louis and founded his own “Sunday School for Negros7. He showed that not only could Sunday Schools educate white children, but they could also educate black children as well. During this time Abolitionism was such a big issue, churches that choose to except black people could lose over half of their members. On the other hand, depending on the area, a church could lose member if they choose not to accept people of color.
Often times the teaching of slaves was kept quiet. Sunday Schools were often instructed not to bring up the topic of slavery. Sunday Schools wanted “to bring every child and youth…. Under the influence of the gospel.”8 Many the slaves that were being taught was by white children on the plantation, who had learned there information from Sunday Schools 9. This secret teaching was seen as a conspiracy by some. People in the Mississippi valley thought that the Presbyterians were trying to capture the minds of the younger generation so that they might end slavery.
When admitting slaves or free children of color to Sunday Schools the administrators had to look at the funding that was available. The First Presbyterian Church of Athens did admit slaves, but only with the consent of their masters. An example of this would be in the Southern Banner in 1844: “…..Sunday Schools in Athens, for the instruction of coloured people, to prevent his Negroes in the future from becoming members of that school and dismiss those of my Negroes…..” this was written by John C. Greer10. To men like Geer, slaves that were smart were dangerous. The church grants Mr. Geer his request, and no problems ever came out of this. The notice states that churches in Athens were teaching slaves, and they were welcomed.
The conflict of teaching slaves was not nationwide, but there were small groups of people that were affected by it. An example of this would be the Lane Seminary, who supported the antislavery cause. The students that attend this school would often debate the issue outside of class, and this caused many of the students to leave11.
When looking at Sunday Schools you must look at the education of the working class. When Sunday Schools were founded they were developed on basis that they would provide free education to all children of their community. The farmers and the working class citizens could not afford to send their children to private schools. The money that would be lost for tuition and the lack of income brought in by child labor to too great a sacrifice. The pioneers of Antebellum Sunday Schools made extra effort to education the children of their communities. In Athens, after years of Sunday School access, children that had been working in the factories during the week were given the chance to learn outside of Sunday School. Mr. D. Williamson was named Factory Missionary, a position that allowed him to teach children on their breaks12. One might think that Sunday School workers worked out of the kindness of their hearts, but the truth is that they did receiving funding.
The task of providing free and education to all children was expensive and was funded by the people who profited from it the least: the middle and upper class citizens. One historian stated that, “Upper and middle class people donated their money in hopes of establishing a national prosperity with moral purity13. Others say that is was a form of social control. Sunday Schools were also known by middle to upper class as “charity schools,”14 this showing that they donated for social gain. Donations that were to Sunday Schools were often published in the local newspaper. In Athens, they seemed quite confident about their donation. For example, the Athens Bible Society, which founded by middle class citizens- donated over two-hundred dollars worth of bibles to surrounding residences15. Regardless if this was for social gain or not, this donation was a generous one. Often times there many projects that were unable to be completed because of the lack of funding.
The Athens Manual Labor School was a project that never got to be completed due to the lack of funding. In 1832, an idea was brought to the attention of the Presbyterian church to build a Manual Labor School16. The site that had been chosen was on 450 acres of land, and it was to be a place were young men could work their way through school in order to get ready for college. They wanted to build a school that would be known as the “Army of the Lord”17 In this school they would admit boys who were planning on becoming Presbyterian Minister. All around America and Athens Christians were caught up in building this Army. The necessary funding for this project was never donated.
The many different types of Sunday Schools that were in America at the time had a very positive growth in the formation of schools. In Athens, there was a Georgia Presbyterian Education Society that ran the Sunday Schools18. The Baptist also had an Education Society and this caused conflict between the two religions. The Baptist would offer one thing, and Presbyterian would counter that with their new ideas. The competition helped to improve the local schools, but it brought down the unity of each church in very different ways. It did not take long until Athens had its own connection with the major influence in schools.
In Philadelphia, in 1817, several local societies met to discuss the formation of a Sunday School Union 19. This was one of the largest cities in America at the time, and was connected to several Sunday Schools. Laymen and a few clergy made up the group that was involved. When the meeting was the men had a new constitution established. The title of this constitution was “The Philadelphia Sunday and Adult Union” 20. The group formed what would be known as The American Sunday School Union. The Union appointed new members and divided the labor system. The Union helped to reduce the work load of individual churches, while also improving the quality of education.
The Union developed a Uniform Lesson System,21 that insured that students were on the right track and that they were learning as much as they could. They system they established consisted of many of the teaching techniques that were discussed in the section over curricula. This system also added standardized tests, which were administered in public. These public test also allowed the public to know what was
going on with their local Sunday School Union. The test helped to Sunday Schools to gain popularity and funding. The teachers also had new standard that they had to follow. The teachers were now required to take test as well, insuring they could read and write, and to make sure that they understood they Uniform Lesson System clearly.22This test made sure that the Union had qualified teachers and that students were getting the same education as the children that were attending private schools.
The American Union was set up to help improve Sunday Schools who paid dues regularly and kept up the qualifications. After many years of being on top the Union saw themselves as a competitor against public day schools. Even though the Union was not as strong as it had they felt that with more public acts and gradual moral improvements of the community, they felt that they were till better then private schools. In 1819, there were 2,019 schools, 31442 teachers, and 237,584 students enrolled at Unionized Sunday Schools. The number of schools gradually increased over the years and in 1835, there were 7,842 schools, 110,841 teachers, and 909,618 students.23 The impact that Union had made on schooling was quite dramatic. The foundation it laid down for education was that free public schooling is capable, if more so then their opponent private schools.
When deciding on a curriculum for education that was to be centered around Christianity would prove to be a very difficult task. The instructors at the Sunday Schools did not want to put to much weight on the bible, because they thought that it would take away from the students learning general knowledge of reading and writing. However, the lack of the Christian foundation for which Sunday Schools were founded,
meant that the church was not fulfilling its main purpose, and that is spreading the word of God. The people who were against all schools were quite unfair, but “none as ever been so savagely attacked… as the Sunday School.”24 It seemed as if no matter what the Sunday Schools decided to do it was a wrong decision. To some people there was no correct way to do things, and the schools were seen as an inferior form of education for inferior people.
One of the most important barriers that were standing in the way of more children attending Sunday School was that black children were not allowed to be educated. Parents had a hard enough time sending their children to Sunday Schools, let alone a Sunday that teacher teaches both white children and slaves at the same time. Sunday Schools still taught children of color, and the teaching of black children was never really accepted, it never really caused a serious problem.
When they were deciding to provide education to the working class it was not a hard decision to make. The children of the working class were the only children that needed weekend education. In the beginning of Sunday Schools, the middle and upper class would consider it shameful to send their children to a Sunday School. The higher class people would only minimally fund Sunday Schools t make the working class worthy of their company. As the Sunday School Movement processed, more and more middle and upper class citizens saw Sunday Schools as more then just a free school. Sunday Schools became a solid educational system. In the Antebellum years, there were just as many students attending Sunday School and Day School as there attending day school only.
The American Sunday School Union put to rest any worries that the instructor might have had. The Union took over every aspect of Sunday Schools, and they made sure that things went smoothly so that pupils were getting the best education possible. The America Sunday School Union decided who and what would be taught in the classes. The Union was like a principal of the Nation’s Sunday Schools.
All the topics that are present here show that America needed a form of free secular education. The Day Schools that are present in Antebellum America proved useful in providing knowledge in a wide array of topics. The of the this time period that free education could be very effect as well. One of the reasons that Sunday Schools worked so well is due to the social significance of the church. As individual that attend church could send their children to Sunday School that was provided by their church. With the organization of Sunday Schools the American Public School System was formed out of this organization. The development of Sunday schools is much like the develop of the Public School System. Both the schools had to establish a curricula, they had to decide who was going to teach and who was not going to teach, an they had to have the formation of a central authority. Sunday Schools across America and in Athens helped to pave the way for public education across America, and helped to create a story that will not be long forgotten.
Endnotes
1. McLeod, H.(1981)Religion and the Working Class in the Nineteenth Century.
Britain, London: Macmillian Click to return
2. “Music,” Southern Banner, 19 November 1835, col.2, p.3 Click to Return
3. McMillen, Sally Gregory.1944. “The Raise up of the South in Sunday Schools in
Black and white churches 1865-1915.” Yale University, 55 Click to return
4. “Athens female Academy,” Southern Banner, 7 December 1833, col. 6, p4 Return
5. Thomas Walter Laqueur, Religion and Respectability: Sunday School and the Return
working Class culture,1780-180. New Haven and London: Yale University, 1976,
p114
6. McMillen, The Raise up of the South in Sunday Schools in Black and White
Churches,150 Return
7. Timothy L. Smith, Protestant Schooling and American Nationality1800-1850. The
Journal of American History, 1967, in JSTOR; accessed March2003 Return
8. McMillen, Sally Gregory.1944. “The Raise up of the South in Sunday Schools in
Black and white churches 1865-1915.”p.115 Return
9. Craft, William. “From running a thousand miles for freedom.” The New Georgia
Guide. The University of Georgia Press.1994 Return
10. “Notice.” Southern Banner, 8/29/1844,p.3, col.2 Return
11. Thomas Walter Laqueur, Religion and Respectability: Sunday School and the
working Class culture,1780-180.87-88 Return
12.”Appiontment of the Preachers,” Southern Banner, 25 January 1849, col.2 pg. 3
13. Robert W. Lynn and Elliott Wright, The Big Little School: Sunday Child of American Protestantism. (New York: Harper and Row,1971).1 Return
14. Coleman, Kenneth. “Slowly Matruing Culture.” A History of Georgia.
The University of Georgia Press. 1991 Return
15. “List of Subscribers and their Donations to the Georgia Education Society,”
Southern Banner, 6. April 1827, p 3, col. 23 Return
16. McLeod, H.(1981)Religion and the Working Class in the Nineteenth Century
17. McLeod, H.(1981)Religion and the Working Class in the Nineteenth Century
18. “Bible Society Meeting,” Southern Banner, 28 June 1839, col.4, p.2
19. Lynn and Elliott Wright, The Big Little School 20-21 Return
20. Lynn and Elliott Wright, The Big Little School 20-21 Return
21. Laqueur, Religion and Respectability 87 Return
22. Smith, Protestant Schooling and American Return
23. Lynn and Elliott Wright, The Big Little School 60 Return
24. McMillen, Sally Gregory.1944. “The Raise up of the South in Sunday Schools in
Black and white churches”120 Return