After gaining independence, USA began to face new challenges in its new found land. With the increase in population, more problems were faced in securing the prosperity and well being for the citizens. How and in what manner should the government enact upon to secure these unalienable rights that the citizens should hold? In Annual Report for 1841, Horace Mann, a leader in the Board of Education of Massachusetts and a strong advocate of public education, presents to the Board of Education of Massachusetts his argument as to solve this problem in the economic sense. He argues that a public education system would provide wealth, prosperity, and security to the people.
[...] Mann does not give any other evidence pertaining to the effects of public education on the people in any other circumstance. But there are also faults within the evidences that are provided. Although Mann specifically emphasized the importance of numerical data and will provide support for his argument in the most scientific way possible, the response letters fail to support his argument in this scientific way. There is practically no numerical evidence whatsoever in the response letters. The letters almost all answer Mann's questions in a purely qualitative method. [...]
[...] Mann proposes public education as a solution to promote the wealth and general wellbeing of the people in the United States. He proposes that public education will help the people in many ways; not only intellectually but in terms of materialistic gain. However, flaws can be seen in his argument as his circular letter and evidence is broken down. The circular letter that he employs as a method to make sure quality and consistency in the evidence is not able to ensure this. [...]
[...] This shows the bias in the circular letter and does not provide the perfect evidence needed for his argument. In the fifth question section of the circular letter, Mann clearly differentiates between two types of people, the educated and non-educated. This clear emphasis on this division misleads the readers into thinking that there are only these two types of people, and that they are categorized in the fashion that Mann puts them in. From the questions he implies that the educated people are the better people, more civilized and disciplined, compared to the non-educated people. [...]
[...] The support must come from data and facts that can prove that education is can and will without a doubt be beneficial to everyone, especially in terms of materialistic needs. Mann decides to support his argument for education by receiving and sharing the responses that he received from the circular letter that he wrote. To support his argument, he needed to collect data from a large sample size with equal distributions and similar work. Consistency between sources of data is vital in collecting information. [...]
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