Pillars of the Republic is history book on the origins of the American common schools written by Carl Kaestle and published by Hill & Wang in 1983.
Rebecca Brooks Gruver of Hunter College described the book as "a comprehensive and [...] concise history" of how public schooling developed in a "common" fashion in the United States.[1] Thedore R. Mitchell of Dartmouth College stated that additionally, the book includes "the state of educational history".[2]
There are eight major chapters. Five of them cover the range 1830-1860.[3]
Reception
Harvey J. Graff wrote that the book "is an elegant and admirable work of historical synthesis".[4]
Gruver stated the book is "gracefully written and informative".[5]
Mitchell stated that the book is "a careful, detailed, and persuasive analysis" of how American education developed;[6] he criticized how the "treatment of regional variation" is a "serious weakness".[7]
Johann N. Neem of Western Washington University stated that the book had a strong role in showing light on the social history of American education, which had relatively little coverage before, and that the book "made sense for an era when Americans were losing faith in their institutions."[8] Neem, in 2016, argued that there were newer more up to date sources.[8]
See also
References
- Graff, Harvey J. (1985). "Review of Pillars of the Republic: Common Schools and American Society, 1780-1860". The Journal of Interdisciplinary History. 15 (3): 542–544. doi:10.2307/204163. ISSN 0022-1953. JSTOR 204163.
- Gruver, Rebecca Brooks (1983). "Review of Pillars of the Republic: Common Schools and American Society, 1780-1860". Journal of the Early Republic. 3 (4): 501–503. doi:10.2307/3122899. ISSN 0275-1275. JSTOR 3122899.
- Mitchell, Theodore R. (1985). "Review of Pillars of the Republic, Common Schools and American Society, 1780-1860". Journal of Social History. 18 (3): 491–493. doi:10.1353/jsh/18.3.491. ISSN 0022-4529. JSTOR 3788058.
- Neem, Johann N. (June 22, 2016). "State of the Field: What Is the Legacy of the Common Schools Movement? Revisiting Carl Kaestle's 1983 Pillars of the Republic". Reviews in American History. 44 (2): 342–355. doi:10.1353/rah.2016.0045. ISSN 1080-6628. S2CID 148058101 – via Project MUSE.
Notes
Further reading
- Ravitch, Diane (June 1984). "Rev. of Pillars of the Republic". Educational Studies. 15 (2): 108–112. doi:10.1207/s15326993es1502_2. ISSN 0013-1946.
- Tyack, David (1986). "The Common School and American Society: A Reappraisal". History of Education Quarterly. 26 (2): 301–306. doi:10.2307/368745. ISSN 0018-2680. JSTOR 368745. S2CID 141825628.
- Walters, Ronald G. (1983). "Power to the Parents". Reviews in American History. 11 (4): 510–515. doi:10.2307/2702300. ISSN 0048-7511. JSTOR 2702300.
- Welter, Rush (1983). "Review of Pillars of the Republic: Common Schools and American Society, 1780-1860". The Journal of American History. 70 (3): 662. doi:10.2307/1903521. ISSN 0021-8723. JSTOR 1903521.
