The Nineteenth- Century Origins of Our Times by Harvey J. Graff

In this critical essay Graff gives a historical context on how literacy and the formal teachings of literacy came about in the 19th century. Graff depicted literacy as having non liberating influences. Those few who were literate in early America in the 19th century were limited in their use literacy and the majority of the country was illiterate. He states that “Literacy was used for order, cultural, hegemony, work preparation, assimilation and adaptation, and instillation of a pan-Protestant morality; in addition it contributed to work and wealth.” Early on education was used for moral and religious development and the most important thing taught in school were moral and civic duty. Mass education was seen as salvation to maintain social stability and progress. There were two schools of thoughts when it came to providing education for the poor. There were the “Optimists” who believed in educating the poor so that they can have a chance to rise up from their situation and enhance their opportunities to participate politically in society. Then we have the “Pessimists” who also wanted to educate the poor, but not in the way the “optimist” would. They wanted to keep the poor in their present status and educate them in accepting their inferiority. In the mid 19th century literacy was viewed as a skill it “was and advantage but not a requirement for life and for learning the ways of society.
Education as a whole was seen as a way to teach mortality. Moral bases of literacy were a way for young people to assimilate “to the hegemony of the dominant culture.” The ideology of public education was driven toward order, discipline, rationality, and specialization. Although people were becoming literate reading was not done often and what little that people did read was not “approved” literature mainly consisting of fiction, cheap books, and street literature. Graff touches base on how reading was a social exercise, even when people did solitary reading they were expected to share what they read. There were some problems in the acquisition of literacy in the school institution for children. These included “problems of physical conditions, attendance, teacher ability, and instructional method often militated against effective early learning and the development of proficiency in literacy. The problem in teaching was that in basic reading some teachers were all for teaching the alphabet first and some were for teaching words first. This in turn confused the students they were reading but not understanding what it was that they were reading so reading comprehension was thrown out the window.
Graff points out that there was a mass amount of illiteracy in African Americans in the 19th century. This is a result of slavery, oppression and discrimination. It was illegal to teach African American slaves how to read and write. A handful out of the plantation will know some form of reading or writing and these were usually the slaves that worked in the house and were close to their owners. These literate slaves were highly regarded in their community and were sought after to teach what little they knew to others secretly. To African Americans literacy was a form of freedom and freed slaves sought to gain education. Blacks struggled the most in their quest to acquire literacy; whites opposed them getting an education. There were many impediments that included white resistance, shortage of teachers, of funds and facilities and some could not afford the loss of a child’s labor. Many African Americans continued to fight on and “continue to maintain their faith in education… [and] their commitment to the ideology of improvement and advancement in American society.” The “new immigration” of the late 19th and early 20th century brought about a whole new wave of European immigrants to the United States. Europe had gone through education reform and the majority of immigrants that immigrated to the Stated were literate. Literacy was viewed instrumentally as a way of economic gain. Education for immigrants was targeted so that the newcomers would be part of the melting pot. Some resisted and educated themselves in their own ways and traditions. “In their educational strategies, immigrant groups responded differently, and in the process they shaped their own accommodations to the dominant culture.