US History

U.S. History Study Guide

Higher Education Although the number of institutions of higher learning, increased sharply in the early years of the 1800s, none were truly public. All relied upon high tuition rates for survival; less than one in ten young men, and no women, ever attended a college or university. The training these schools provided was very limited as well. The only professional training was in theology, and only a scattering of colleges offered brief courses of study in law or medicine. The University of Pennsylvania, for example, offered one year of medical schooling, after which a person could obtain a license to practice the healing arts. 9.17 The Growth of Cultural Nationalism Jeffersonian Americans tried to demonstrate their newly won independence by championing a strong sense of cultural nationalism, a feeling that their young republic represented the “final stage” of civilization, the “last great hope of mankind.” Literary Nationalism Although most Americans had access to one or more newspapers, the market for native authors was quite limited. Publishers preferred to print work from British authors or to import books from Europe. A few Americans who were willing to pay the costs of publishing their own works found a growing number of readers. Significant American Authors • Washington Irving was by far the best-known native writer in America. He excelled in telling of folk tales and local color stories, and is best remembered for his portraits of Hudson River characters. • Mercy Otis Warren, the revolutionary pamphleteer, published a multi-volume History of the Revolution in 1805. • “Parson” Mason Weems wrote the bestsellers Life of Washington in 1806, which was short on historical accuracy but long on nationalistic hero-worship. • Noah Webster’s “Blue Backed Speller,” as well as his dictionary of the “American” language, reflected the intense desire to promote patriotism and a feeling of national identity. • Phyllis Whitely was a slave who became a famous poet. She was taught to read and studied English, Latin and Greek. Phyllis began writing poetry in 1767. Her first poem, on the death of George Whitefield, was published in 1770. She received much acclaim, but unfortunately Phyllis lived her final days as a servant and died in poverty.

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