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James Marsh, Educational PioneerRuth Williams WhitePublished online: 30 Jan 2008.

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James Marsh, Educational PioneerRUTH WILLIAMS WHITE

W H EN James Marsh returned in thefall of I826 to his native state

of Vermont to become the fifth Presi­

dent of th e young and struggling U ni­versity of Vermont, he was catapultedat th e age of th irty-two from a quietacademic life as college professor of

lan guages into a position of prominenceand influence. Sixteen short years laterhe was dead, but not before he had

influenced the educational and intellec­tual devel opment of the United Statesin several ways.

His complete reorganization of the

curriculum and the teaching methods atth e University of Vermont earned forthe institution a place among the fifteenprogressive American colleges whichwere trying to break the traditionalstag nant pattern of instruction.' Hehelped to liberalize the strict Calvinisticbeliefs held in the New England

churches by assuring mini sters and con­gregations that beyond the kn owledgereceived from their senses some things

must be accepted by pure faith. Byediting and publishing the works ofColeridge for American scholars, M arshintroduced the philosoph y which became

American Transcendentalism, a force inthe development of the American mind."

I R. Freeman Butts, Th e College Charts ItsCourse (N ew York: McGraw-Hill Book Com-pan!, 1939), p. 136. •

Marj orie H. Nicolson, "James Marsh andthe Vermont Transcendentalists," PhilosophicalReview, XXXIV (January, 1925), 38; Odell

He originated the "Marsh philosophy'"which shaped the lives of many youngmen who studied under him and his

successors. From his thorough and deep

scholarship he wrote on psychology,philosoph y, religion, literature, andlanguages.

One facet of the work of J amesMarsh which has not been sufficientlyemphasized is his theory of education

for the years below the collegiate leveLJohn Dewey, distingui shed alumnus ofthe University of Vermont and a studentof the "Marsh philosophy.?" spoke of

the educational theory of James Marshin an address delivered in I92 9 in com­memoration of the centenary of Marsh's"Introduction" to Coleridge's Aids toReflection.5 Dewey pointed out that

Marsh spoke of common school educa­tion, voicing progressive ideas mu ch

Shepard , Pedlar's Progress (Boston: Little, Brownand Company, 1937), p. 159.

3 Ibid.• John Dewey first studied philosophy at the

University of Vermont under Henry AugustusPearson Torrey, nephew and student of J osephTorrey who was Marsh's friend, disciple, andsuccessor both as teacher of philosophy and lateras President of the institut ion. H. A. P. T orreywas instrumental in convincing Dewey to pursuephilosophy as a career.

• J ohn Dewey, "James Marsh and AmericanPhil osophy," Journal of the History of Ideas, II(April, 1941), 144-145. The Introduction wascalled by Nicolson the first publ ication of Ameri­can Transcendentalism and by Shepard the OldTestament of American Transcendentalism. Seealso Henry A. Pochmann, German Culture inAmerica (Madison: University of WisconsinPress, 1957), p. 133.

• 21 7 .

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218 JAMES MARSH [January

like his own long before the great com­mon school revival of the 1840'S. Hisapology for the brief mention in hisspeech appears to suggest the need forfurther study on that phase of Marsh'swork. Other scholars have since indicatedthat Marsh did contribute to the evolu­tion of American educational ideas. H iswork in the development of collegiateeducation has overshadowed his attemptsin the field of popular education in theeyes of current scholars, but in his ownday he may have exerted a strong in­fluence on other levels of instruction.

That James Marsh came back to Ver­mont to tackle the entire problem ofeducation in the state was demon stratedimmediately in the address he deliveredat his inauguration as President in Bur­lington on November 28, 1826. Al­though many add resses in that era onsuch occasions were lengthy declama­tions on theological or philosophicalideas, Marsh rejected such a course andlaunched at once into a discussion ofeducation . More than half of the addressconcerned common education, its historyin America, its philosophy as opposedto that of other countries, and its futureplace in society. He spoke of the greatimportance which people in Americaplaced upon education, the advantageswhich they enjoyed as a result of thatemphasis, and of the results in the gen­eral level and well-being of society."

• J ames Marsh, Address at the Inaugurationof the Author as President of the University ofVermont (Burlington , Vermont: E. & T. Mills,182 6), pp. 3-4. Reprint ed in T he Remains ofJames M arsh . . . : with a Memoir of his Life,by the Rev. Joseph A. T. Torrey (Boston:Crocker and Brewster, 1843) .

Marsh deprecated the class system ofEurope which kept all but the privi ­leged few from acquiring any kind ofeducation and praised the social lifewhich he had experienced under thepure democracy of the independent Ver­mont farmers with their town meetinggovernment. He felt that Americawould be right in providing the samesystem of free public instruction for all,since the object of education was "toelevate the condition and character ofthe great body of the people?" H erecognized the differing abilities of in­dividuals, according to the "aristocracyof nature" which permitted some toaccomplish more than others, but hefelt that democracy should allow themto rise by their own efforts in a freecompetition of talent s.

From a vantage point of one hundredyears, Cubberley wrote of the four edu­cational movements of the first half ofthe nineteenth century-"the secularSunday School, the semi-public SchoolSocieties, the Lancastrian plan for in­struction, and the Infant-School idea.""Marsh was familiar with them in 1826,as he demonstrated by describing eachin that inaugural address.

However, he emphasized that a singlesystem of free public schools wouldeventually be the one best fitted toadvance the country. His own state, heknew, theoretically possessed such a net­work of common elementary schools,but the laws were not enforced and

7 tsu., p. 8.• Ellwood P. Cubberley, T he Histo ry of Edu­

cation (Boston : Hought on, Mifflin Company,194 8) , p. 667 ·

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RUTH WILLIAMS WHITE 219

action at the state level was desperatelyneeded. He apparently felt that hismission in life was to work for thebetterment of the whole educationalsystem of Vermont.

The audience could not have beenlarge in Burlington that day. Althoughhe had exceptional ability in organ­izing ideas for presentation, JamesMarsh was not an effective speaker. Hewas a tall, stooped man with a ratherweak voice, always extremely shy beforelarge gatherings. He was alreadyweakened by the scourge of nineteenth­century New England, tuberculosis,which would take his life at an earlyage. He was at his best teaching a smallclass of students or conversing withcolleagues. No one can say for certainwhat effect this gentle scholar and phi­losopher with his dedicated purpose hadupon his audience.

Among the scraps of Marsh corre­spondence" is a letter from E. C. Tracy,editor of the Vermont Chronicle, datedDecember 24, 1826, indicating that acopy of the inaugural address had beenrequested for publication. H owever, theaddress was printed in pamphlet formand distributed rather widely through­out the state and outside its borders. Theletter revealed, also, that Marsh hadalready discussed in writing the matterof public education with the editor ofthis influential weekly paper.

The subject of supervision of educa­tion had been discussed in the precedingLegislature and was due to come upagain in 1827. Mr. Tracy wrote James

• Located in the Wilbur Library at the Uni­versity of Vermont.

Marsh that there was a reasonablechance of success this time if the subjectcould be constantly discussed and keptbefore the public. He outlined plansfor various prominent people to assistin the campaign, and invited Marsh towrite as soon and as often as possiblefor the paper.

Whatever may have been the partplayed by the Vermont Chronicle andJames Marsh's address, the fact is clearthat the Vermont Legislature meetingin 1827 did pass an important new edu­cation bill which became a milestone inVermont educational history."

Besides giving instructions about thelocal school committees and their super­visory powers, the Act of 1827 madeVermont the third state, and the firstNew England state, to establish a systemof state supervision of its schools. Thefirst annual report required by the act,the Report of 1828, brought to lightinformation from the various districtsand emphasized the high degree of in­dependence produced by the districtarrangement. Prejudice of long standingand natural conservatism dimmed thepossibilities of success of the Act of1827.11

James Marsh apparently decided thathis duty now toward the cause of publiceducation lay in an attempt to arousepublic interest in the subject. Conse­quently, he began writing a series ofarticles on popular education for theVermont Chronicle. The first appeared

'·Vermont, Laws of Vermont, 1827 , No. 23.11 Dav id M. Ludlum, Social Ferment in Ver­

mont, 1791-185° (Montpelier, Vermont: Ver­mont Historical Society, 1939), p. 226.

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220 JAMES MARSH [January

on January 19, 1829, followed by eightmore coming at irregular intervals untilthe summer. Each essay occupied thefavored position, starting at the upperleft corner of the first page of the issueand continuing for two or three com­plete columns of print.

The name Philopolis was signed toeach essay, and the editor did not revealthe name of the author. James Marshmay have revealed that he wrote thearticles. Certainly he did write to Jo sephTorrey, who was in Europe at that time,"I am now engaged in a series of essayson Popular education in which I amtaking an extensive view of the subjectin all its relations. Three numbers haveappeared and I believe it is attractingsome intere st.":" A letter from Dart­mouth College to James Marsh in Aprilof that year said:

From your hand, also, I presume thepublic is indebted, for a series of essays inthe Vt. Chronicle on the subject of Com­mon Schools. I rejoice, for one, that thesubject of Education-from the College tothe Nursery-has fallen into such hands,and it will be the fault of the communityat large if it do not profit by the discussion."

The ideas which James Marsh wrotein 1829 sound remarkably modern.They could easily have been written onehundred or more years later.

In his first essay he described educa­tion as including all the means and

12 Letter from James Marsh to J oseph T orr ey,Burlington, Vermont, February 14, 1829 ( inMarsh Papers, Wilbur Library, University ofVermont).

13 Letter from Professor William Chamber­lain, Dartmouth College, Hanov er, N.H. , April22, 1829 (in Marsh Papers, Wilbur Library,University of Vermont ).

methods by which the abilities of apeople are developed and used, including newspapers as one medium ofeducation . This education, he said, wouldequip both individuals and communitiesto adapt themselves and their economicand political institutions to future chang­ing conditions thus insuring the progressof society.

On February 6, Marsh wrote of thetransformation of the national economyfrom agrarian to industrial and calledfor new methods of instruction andnew curricula to give to the youth moreformal training than their fathers hador needed. The simple mastery ofenough reading, writing, and arithmeticto carryon ordinary business was nolonger sufficient.

Marsh recognized the need for in­forming the public and the lawmakersof the value of education. He added,"If a population be ignorant and dis­posed to remain so, it would puzzle theskill of the sagest legislature to devisethe means of imparting to them knowl­edge or wisdom by the compulsion ofauthority." The Prussian system of theday Marsh felt to be excellent exceptthat it was imposed upon the people bya higher authority. "The ignorant mustbe convinced of their ignorance, andfools of their folly" before parents andother citizens would give the supportand interest shown to be lacking in thestate by the Report of 1828.14

Sufficient money for the support ofschools had always been a problem, a

,. Vermont Chronicle, February 20, 1829 , p.27. Pages run consecutively with this being thefront page of the issue.

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RUTH WILLIAMS WHITE 2.2.1

truly acute one in early Vermont. Marshfelt that more could be done for schoolseven then and illustrated his point witha pertinent statistical comment:

In one of the counties of this state, .. .not an un fair example of the whole state,it has been ascert ained by enquiries, . . .that durin g the year 1827 , the primary costto the people of distilled liquors consumedwas more than 7 0, 0 00 dollars, while theamount paid for books of all kinds andnewspapers did not exceed 10 ,0 0 0 , and forpopular instruction of all kinds, includingschools and religious instruction in the vari­ous denominations did not exceed 20,0 0 0

or at the utmost 25,000 dollars."

After discussions of abstract educa­tional principles, James Marsh directedhis newspaper campaign toward practicalsuggestions and specific educational prac­tices. For example, supervision of dis­trict schools was the most importantpower of the local school committees.Since the members were not paid fortheir services, many could not afford todevote the time necessary for this dut y.They made reports from informationfurni shed by the teachers instead offrom observation of students and teach­ers. James Marsh with his customarylogic and order proposed a plan underwhich each teacher would be furnishedby the committee with a list of the namesand ages of all the children in his dis­tr ict and a record book. The teacherwould record attendance, studies, prog­ress, and any other pertinent informa­tion. The validity and reliability of therecord would be tested by examinationsby the committee, and complete records

15 Vermont Chronicle, February 27, 182 9, p.31.

could easily be made to the state. I twould, he thought, cause little extrawork to a competent teacher, and "itwould have a tendency to give moreorder and system to all his arr ange­ments, and more efficacy to his instruc­tions." !"

Then, on March 2.0, 18 2 9, JamesMarsh made a proposal which must havebeen radical for the time. The editor ofthe Vermont Chronicle apparently feltit was so startling and so important thatin his editorial column he quoted pas­sages from the first-page article, addinga few comments of his own. The policyof using tax money levied on the proper­ty of all to educate the children of allwas based, Marsh wrote, upon thepremise that "the security of our freeinstitutions, the safety and happiness ofthe whole community ... require, thatthe blessings of instruction should beextended to all.?" Since the state al­ready had established schools, imposedtaxes, and enforced their collection, itshould follow through and enforce com­pulsory attendance.

Compulsory education was a proposalwhich Marsh knew would be objection­able to the independent Vermonter, buthe was ready with arguments tailoredto appeal to his readers. The first argu­ment he called reciprocal justice, as hereminded them that they were alreadypaying out their money to see that eachchild was educated. The wisest coursewould be to insure gett ing what theywere paying for. H e apparently thoughtthis argum ent would appeal most to the

,. Vermont Chronicle, M ar ch 13, 1829, p. 39.17 Vermont Chronicle, Marc h 20, 1829, p. 43.

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222 JAMES MARSH [January

Yankee mind, but he added others.Many children were not attendingschool at all and many others wentirregularly. The changing industrialpicture made educat ion more essential.The danger that greedy industrialistsor parents would exploit children, hethought, required the force of publicauthority to secure an education forthem.

In another essay, Marsh discussedteaching methods. He felt that the totalamount of knowledge being learned bypupils in the common schools was toosmall, and far less than children werecapable of acquiring. Inefficient methodswere being used. For example, the be­ginner started by learning letters, thenprogressed to spelling meaninglesssounds, and finally began to read pas­sages which no child could understand.Interesting and applicable reading mat­ter would add to his knowledge andhelp him learn to read more quickly.He added:

More evil by far is done to the habits ofchildren in the mann er of their reading, bytheir being taught to read mechanicallywhat they do not understand, than can becompensated by any other benefits, whichthey receive from their reading lessons atschool."

Marsh struck at the method of teach­ing by requiring memorization. If gram­mar and arithmetic, for example, werelearned in this way without any under­standing of the principles, what littleremained in the mind, he said, was life­less and unproductive, and did not

18 Ibid.

"stimulate the mind to further efforts,by awakening it powers of thought."The schools were failing "to cultivatethe power and habit of discriminatingobservation, and clear the intellectualvision for the discovery of truth."Youths often left school with no intel­lectual curiosity and even an impression"that they have already acquired allwhich they can be ever expected toknow.":"

James Marsh in 1829 recognized thatindividual differences existed amongpupils. In speaking of the establishmentof standards of achievement for thepublic schools where capacities and op­portunities differed, he felt that stand­ards should be defined according to thedegree of advancement attained by "chil­dren of ordinary capacity.'?"

With the ninth essay, Marsh brokeoff the series without completing theplan he had outlined to discuss methodsof adult education, community improve­ment, and the power and influence ofthe press as an agency of instruction.Apparently the pressure of his otherendeavors forced him to stop, or elsehis illness was sapping his strength.

The cause of public education in Ver­mont seemed doomed to failure. TheLegislature of 1833 eliminated the townsuperintending committees and the stateBoard of Commissioners for CommonSchools." Marsh resigned from thePresidency of the University of Vermontthe same year, although he continued toteach philosophy and to influence the

10 Ibid.'" Vermont Chronicle, April 17, 182 9, p. 59.21 Vermont, Laws of Vermont, 1833. No. 19.

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1965] RUTH WILLIAMS WHITE 223

course of the institution. He pleadedfor the help of public and clergy in theinterest of education.

Reforms in Vermont's public schoolswere not to take place during the life­time of James M arsh. However, theseeds were sown then, perhaps by hisessays in the Vermont Chronicle andhis leadership in educational thought.For in 1828, a certain Thomas H. Pal­mer, a Philadelphia printer who wasinterested in both education and tem­perance, moved to Pittsford, Vermont,where he soon served as town superin­tendent of schools. He was instrumentalin bringing to Vermont the Lyceummovement in which James Marsh par­

ticipated . Later, he became a spokesmanfor education, commenting on the in­efficiency of the schools and their meth­ods. Since the Vermont Chronicle wascirculated in Pittsford, there can be nodoubt that Palmer read Marsh's essays.Probably the men knew each otherpersonally.

In nearby Massachusetts in 1837, ayoung man who had been deeply in­fluenced by the variety of Transcenden­

talism set in motion by James Marshbecame the head of the State Board ofEducation. Horace Mann has since beencalled the founder of the American pub­lic schoo1. When his Boston CommonSchool Journal offered a prize for thebest essay presenting a complete educa­tional plan, Palmer won first place withan essay called "The Teacher's Man­ual." First printed in the Journal, theessay was later published by HoraceMann for sale to the public at cost, so

much did he think of the plan fromVermont."

In his Preface, Palmer admitted thathe had gleaned his ideas from sourceswhich he had not identified in recordingthem in his "common-place book" alongwith his own thoughts. He thought itprobable that he had "sometimes uncon­sciously ... used the words or ideas ofothers, without giving them propercredit.?"

The ideas which he expressed aresimilar in several important respects tothose James Marsh had written in theVermont Chronicle. Some examples are:his condemnation of the method ofteaching reading where a child's "studiesconsist of nothing but mere sounds, towhich it is impossible he can annex anyidea whatever ill24 his feeling aboutmemorization, "the charging the mem­ory with words instead of ideasill2Sandin the worth of books "which are indis­pensible to universal education.?"

Palmer instigated, before JamesMarsh's death, the Brandon conventionwhich resulted in the setting up of astate committee to investigate the com­mon schools. The survey culminated inthe Law of 1845, three years too latefor James Marsh, which established apyramidal system of supervision andother reforms." Horace Mann hailed

" Thomas H. Palmer, The T eacher's Manual(Boston: Marsh, Capen, Lyon, and Webb, 1840),pp. 3-4·

::3 Ibid., p. 6." Ibid., p. 32.'" Ibid., p. 49.26 Ibid., p. 109.21 State of Vermont, Laws of Vermont, 1845,

No. 37.

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224 JAMES MARSH

the reform as a great step forward forAmerican education in his Comm onSchool Journal of February 16, 1846.

Thus, James Marsh's influence ineducation extended beyond the bordersof Vermont. In addition, Transcendentalideas, in the movement triggered byM arsh, produced such educational ven­tures as the school at Brook Farm,Bronson Alcott's school at Fruitlands,and others . W ill iam T orrey Harris, ad­mirer of Bronson Alcott and a leaderin the later Concord School of Philoso­phy,28 incorporated many ideas fromthem into the schools of St. L ouis wherehe became Superintendent of Schoolsand started the first public kindergarten.H arris, later appointed U.S. Commis­sioner of Education, belonged to thesame family as the Torreys of Vermont ." His most important achievement, how-

.. Later Transcendental group.

ever, was to furni sh American educationwith a philosophy which helped the rankand file to adjust the ir thought andfeeling to new actualities without losingthe sense of ident ity with older valuesand conditions.?" Still later , J ohnDewey freel y gave credit to JamesM arsh for help ing form his own ideas."

Although his influence upon moderneducation had been attenuated by themiddle of the twentieth century, thesimilarity between the ideas of JamesM arsh and modern educational philoso­phy and practice is striking. H e was areal force in the development of theAmerican public school and truly aneducational pioneer.

,. Merl e Curti, TIle Social Ideas of AmericanEducators (New York: Char les Scribner's Sons,1935), p, p o.

30 Paul Arthur Schilpp (ed.) , The Philoso­phy of 101m Dewey (New York : Tudor Pub­lishing Company, 1939), pp. 11-14.

PRIMARY EDUCATION IN LATIN AMERICA

Primary schools in L atin America at the present time have a totalenrolment of 29 million, i.e. an increase of over nine million overfigures for 1956, when the L ima Conference of M inisters of Educa­tion from the countries concerned approved Unesco's Major Projecton the E xtension and Improvement of Primary Education in thisregion. In 1956, 55 per cent of the school-age children were attendingschool; today , the corresponding figure is alm ost 70 per cent. T hisresult has been achieved thanks to the very substantial increase in allnational budgets for education. If the increase were to continue at thesame rate, the total amount of public funds spent on education inthe ten-year period from 1960 to 1970 would not be far short of$ 18,000 million and the construction of classrooms durin g the sameperiod would involve an expenditure of $4 ,000 million.

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