A subscription school was a type of

private school Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

that operated in the 19th century in rural areas of the

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before the rise of

common school A common school was a public school in the United States during the 19th century. Horace Mann (1796–1859) was a strong advocate for public education and the common school. In 1837, the state of Massachusetts appointed Mann as the first secretary o ...

s, and also in parts of the

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. The funding model of subscription schools differed from other schools in that rather than funding the school with either tax revenue or fixed tuition, parents paid "by the scholar," paying only for the number of days their child actually attended. Because parents did not have to pay when their children were unable to attend, this model was well-suited to pre-industrial rural life in which children were often required to do

farm labor The primary sector of the economy includes any industry involved in the extraction and production of raw materials, such as farming, logging, fishing, forestry and mining. The primary sector tends to make up a larger portion of the economy in d ...

for long periods of the year. For this reason, subscription schools were often open only during the winter. "Locally organized and informally governed," a subscription school was typically a one-room affair with a single teacher. Subscription schools were not subject to any central control or standardization, in terms of either the teacher's qualifications or the subjects taught. The level of education was generally limited to the primary grades. Typically, prior to establishing a subscription school, the surrounding area would be canvassed to determine whether there were enough parents in the area who were prepared to pay to send their children to the school. Because only those whose parents could afford to pay were able to attend, subscription schools exacerbated rural inequality and

illiteracy Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in Writing, written form in some specific context of use. In other wo ...

by depriving the children of the rural poor of any education whatsoever. However, because replacement of subscription schools by common schools entailed a loss of local control, the transition to public schooling was often the subject of bitter political controversy. Subscription schools faced competition not only from public schools, but in some areas also from the elementary departments of seminaries and academies, which typically also provided education up to or beyond the

secondary Secondary may refer to: Science and nature * Secondary emission, of particles ** Secondary electrons, electrons generated as ionization products * The secondary winding, or the electrical or electronic circuit connected to the secondary winding i ...

level. In areas where established schools were limited to whites only, the subscription school model was often used by

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

or Native American teachers and students. For example, the first known African-American school in

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was a subscription school that future Senator Hiram Revels established in 1856. In North Carolina, the first school serving the

Lumbee The Lumbee are a Native American people primarily centered in Robeson, Hoke, Cumberland and Scotland counties in North Carolina. They also live in surrounding states and Baltimore, Maryland. The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina is a state-rec ...

tribe was a subscription school established in 1870. Subscription schools funded and taught by African Americans became widespread in the American South after the

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. In Jefferson City, Missouri, Black veterans of the Civil War founded the Lincoln Institute as a subscription school in 1866. Subscription schools for Black students in the South continued well beyond the end of the

Reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the bloo ...

. In some parts of the United States such as Oklahoma, subscription schools continued to be established into the early 20th century.

Works cited

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References

{{reflist History of education in the United States School types

See also

Works cited

References