The Protestant Work Ethic and Common Schooling: An Analysis of their Impact on Abolitionism.

Abstract

By the 1830's the American political scene found itself enthralled in a number of life altering issues. Two of the most central to deciding the fate of America dealt with the access to public education and the abolition of slavery. The purpose of this investigation is to link the coincidence of public education and abolitionism. The focus of the work is to look at how aspects of "common schooling" related to antislavery, most significantly looking at the impact and influence of the Protestant work ethic. The work not only evaluates curricular issues, it also looks at the influence of dynamic personalities in both the abolition movement and the common school movement.