An Historical Inquiry into Thomas Jefferson's Influence on the American Educational System

<p>The purpose of this study was to take a deeper look at the influence of an important American historical figure, Thomas Jefferson, on the institution of the American Educational System. Thomas Jefferson was involved in many decisions involving the traditions, practices and institutions of many educational establishments of his time period. His writings have had a lasting influence on our society and the world. His words have been incorporated into many different countries' constitutions across the world. It was important to study decisions of the past in order to understand how to make well-educated decisions in the future. Thomas Jefferson's ideas, his involvement in government, his personal morals and his involvement in writing documents have helped in founding our current educational system. Some examples of his beliefs about education were Universial Education, that education was tool used to keep tyranny at bay by having an informed citizenry and for providing for a system that allowed the intellectual elite to excel through a system of public education. They are all major contributing factors to how he made decisions which influenced the American Educational System. Therefore it made a study of that influence relevant. Jefferson and his contemporaries had many thoughts and contributed many ideas towards the founding of our Early American Educational System. Jefferson had a wide base of ideas about various levels and aspects of education. Jefferson's diverse interests in different aspects of education had an influence on various facets of the American educational world. That interest therefore deserved a study to show Jefferson's influence, both positive and negative, on the founding of the American Educational System. The influence of the American thought process on the topic of education is a meaningful addition to the body of work on Jefferson.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Year dc:date.available

2009

Author dc:creator

• Richey, Tory Lynn

Contributors dc:contributor

• Elinor Katz, Ph.D.
• Al Ramirez
• P. Bruce Uhrmacher

• Education
• Influence
• Thomas Jefferson
• Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education

Statement dc:rights

• <p>Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.</p>

Language dc:language

en

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/909

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.du.edu:etd-1908