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Common School System

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The creation of a new democracy in the United States meant that a system needed to be put in place that would allow the people to become Americanized. This new system, after many years of debate, was a common school system. This system of publicly funded schooling was designed to prepare people for this new role of citizenship, and it was used to educate these new citizens on how to be Americans. Furthermore, common schools became a source of equalization for classes, but it left out those that were of African descent. This new system served as an equalizer for many white males of various classes because it gave an opportunity to those of lower classes gain more education and with it more opportunities. Many white male students began to remain “in school for prolonged periods of time, and young men began to enter their fathers’ occupations far less frequently” (Katz, 1976). People of lower socioeconomic status, who used to spend little time being educated, began to gain higher levels of education and different opportunities were available because of this higher attainment of education. Therefore, they …show more content…

Furthermore, the “fair chance was open mainly to white, native males” (Kaestle, 1983). The common school system was used to educate citizens, so that they have the ability to vote for the best candidate. However, African Americans were not seen as citizens, so they were not seen as people who needed to be educated. Therefore, they had to found and fund their own means of education which were lacked the resources that common schools received. They were not given the opportunity to be educated, so they lost the opportunity to rise up in their classes. Furthermore, if they did have the education to succeed there were often barriers that forbid them from gaining the career opportunities that they had the academic qualifications

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