Table Of ContentCopyright by
Ashley Foster
1952
Sponsoring Committee t Professor Adolph E. Meyer, Associate
Professor D. Campbell W^rekoff and Professor Samuel P.
McCutchen
THE EDUCATIONAL VIEWS AND INFLUENCE OF SAMUEL KNOX
ASHLEY FOSTER
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy in the School of Education of
New York University
December 14, 1951
The student hereby guarantees that no part of the disserta
tion or document which he has submitted for publication has been here
tofore published or copyrighted in the United States of America,
except in the case of passages quoted from other published sources;
that he is the sole author and proprietor of said dissertation or
document; that the dissertation or document contains no matter which,
if published, will be libelous or otherwise injurious, or infringe
in any way the copyright of any other party; and that he will defend,
indemnify and hold harmless New York University against all suits and
proceedings which may be brought and against all claims which may be
made against New York University by reason of the publication of said
dissertation or document.
Ashley Foster
1 A B L E OF C O N T E N I S
Introduction page 1
CHAPTER I Colonial America. page 5
CHAPTER II After the War page 24
CHAPTER HI Education for Americana page 4t
CHAPTER IV The Essay on Education (1797) naee 66
CHAPTER V Frederick!own 1797 to ISO'-J page 96
CHAPTER VI Baltimore 1803 to 1822 page 128
CHAPTER VH Fredericktown 1822 to 1832 page 149
CHAPTER VTH Objectives of Education and
Views an Public Education. page 161
CHAPTER H National Education and the
National University page 188
CHAPTER X Summation and Concluding
Remarks............. page 201
Chronology page 210
Bibliography page 211
^ N T R O D U C T I OH
This paper is concerned, mainly, with the educational
ideas of Samuel Knox, with particular stress on their cultural
context. The proper evaluation of any set of ideas, however,
necessarily forces one to transcend its chronological and even
intellectual limitations. Nature abhors a vacuum; ideas cannot
achieve meaning except by relationship. Since ideas do not spring
forth fully grown, like Athena from the head of Zeus, this study
must concern itself as well with the trends in educational theory
and thought of post-Revolutionary America* In the main, the ideas
that are discussed are those which date from about 1785 to 1803.
The roots of the post-Revolutionary ideas on the nature of soci
ety — from which Knox derived his views on education — are firmly
and deeply imbedded. Here, however, the larger view will be con
sidered only in the light of whatever influence they exercised
upon the ideas of Samuel Knox and his contemporaries. Although
Knox propagandized for educational reforms as late as 1826, in
his seventieth year, his ideas lose their force and significance
when one considers the newer forces affecting American education
in the twilight of Knox's career, the second and third decade of
the nineteenth century.
There are three basic assumptions underlying this paper*
Hie first is that the forces struggling for dominance in the post-
Revolutionary political scene were those of the business versus
Hie agrarian Interests whose philosophical equivalents were, inci
dentally, an English constitutionalism derived from Locke as op
posed to a French, humanitarian!sm which stemmed from the romantic
-a -
views of Rousseau*,
The second assumption is that the American Philosophical
Society represented' the elite of the post-Revolutionary non-theological
intellectuals in America, and that it was- a culturally influential
organization*
The third assumption is that the members of the American
Philosophical Society were acquainted with the educational views
of Samuel Knox,
The purpose of this thesis is to examine the educational
views of Samuel Knox and the Influence they may have had upon those
of his contemporaries who were in a social and political position to
implement such views with appropriate social and political action*
Both the philosophical, social and educational forces that
underlay the post-Revolutionary milieu and the forces that helped to
mold the post-Revolutionary social and educational thinking are dis
cussed in Chapters I, II and III* The chief historical authorities
cited in the development of the position taken herein were Everts B*
Greene, Henry Adams, Arthur M* Sehleslnger, Vernon I* Parrington, Sir
Ernest Barker, Curtis P* Nett els, Merle Curti, Claude G* Bowers,
Allen 0* Hansen, John A* Krout, Dixon R* Fox and James T* Adams*
All the obtainable facts of the life of Samuel Knox are
included in this thesis* This biographical information, though scant,
is utilized as the matrix for the development of this thesis* Chapters
III, V, VI, and VII Include all discoverable facts in the life of
Samuel Knox* These excerpts have been arranged chronologically in each
chapter* Chapter divisions are based upon the place of residence of
Samuel Knox* Thus the end of Chapter ICC includeb all that is known of
Samuel Knox until 1797, including his residence at Bladensburg, Mary-
-3-
land. Chapter V Includes: the biographical data an Samuel Knox from
1797 to 1803, t&en he was living at Frederlcktown, Maryland* Chapter VI,
which Includes the time that Knox resided In Baltimore, covers the years
from 1803 to about 1822* Chapter VII, which deals with the last yean of
Knox's life in Frederlcktown, covers the years from 1822 to 1832* The
educational writings of Samuel Knox are discussed according to the time
and place they were written* Thus, a work written in 1806 is Included in
Chapter VI*
In Chapter IV, his Essay on Education* which won an award from
the American Philosophical Society, is presented with but limited dis
cussion* A more elaborate discussion is reserved for the last three
chapters* Those historical and philosophical antecedents of the educa
tional views of Samuel Knox are discussed which relate specifically to
his essays.
The educational ideas of Samuel Knox are compared to those of
his contemporaries in Chapters VUI and EC* Contemporary political
figures such as Washington, Adams, Jefferson and Madison are presented
in Chapter III in the relation of political events and educational ac
tivities* These contemporaries include educational theorists, Benjamin
Rush, Lafltte du Court ell, Samuel Harrison Smith and Robert Coram
among them, as well as other distinguished men such as Joseph Priestley,
William Godwin and Richard Price* The educational theories of all these
men were expressed between 1785 and 1803* In Chapter VUI, the dis
cussion centers about the general objectives of education and the
various theoretical approaches to public versus private education* In
Chapter IX, the discussion is limited to the ideas dealing with a national
system of education and a national university for the United States, as
advanced by Knox's educational contemporaries*
The significance of the educational ideas of Samuel
Knox has been related to the time and the place in which his ideas
were presented. A general summary of the contribution of Samuel
Knox is Included in Chapter X*
The primary hypothesis of this thesis is that the educa-
tional views of Samuel Knox were fairly representative of the views
of most of the politically republican cultural leaders of his time*
Other hypotheses of this thesis are that the educational views of
Samuel Knox reached a wide audience and were influential in his time*
The reader may have to pass judgment on the pertinence of most of
the educational ideas expressed ty Samuel Knox to the problems that
beset the educator of today*
Samuel Knox ( 1756 - 1832 ), pamphleteer, parson and
pedagogue, who propagandized for a specific technique and shape
of educative process for his own time, only assumes significance
when seen as one portion of a larger pattern.
Before one can in any way evaluate the contribution of
a Samuel Knox, one must first accord him his proper place in the
larger scheme of things, not only in matters educational but also
in the philosophical, social, economical and political currents
which determined and shaped his educational views. Only in this
manner can Knox's specific recommendations achieve an historical
meaning in a proper frame of reference.
In general, it was a quest for liberation from various
sorts of tyranny that provided the dominating motive for the
colonization of America. The Puritans labelled the land a New
Zion and most of the colonists were preoccupied with hopes for the
immediate as well as the spiritual future. Colonial America was
the terminus for people who were all fundamentally similar. Scattered
-6-
up and down the Atlantic coastline, the English, the Dutch, the
Gemans, the Swedes, the Welsh and the French Huguenots possessed
many values and traditions in common and, generally, a similar out
look upon nature, man and society. Many of their intellectual
traits and characteristics had their common origin in the period
of the Reformation. The colonists did not exceed the accomplish
ments of the mother country during their first few generations
away from home and, of necessity, the colonist could not evade the
cultural heritage of his origin.
If America has followed an evolutionary path divergent
from that of Europe, it is because she has been faced with dis
similar problems which required solutions different from those of
the Old World. After living in the colonies for some twenty years,
the Frenchman, de Crevecoeur, wrote during the Revolutionary War
that despite divergent opinions the people possessed certain common
characteristics that differentiated them from Europeans — charac
teristics which might be considered distinctly American. The basis
for this underlying unity may be perceived easily if one recalls that
political and social leadership was in the hands of a single national
group, chiefly English-speaking and English descended. The domina
ting governmental institutions were patterned on the fundamental
English ideas on popular representation, trial by jury and the many
O
common-law safeguards of liberty and property.*
1. M.Curti* The Growth of American Thought, p. 6. and
M.W.Jernigant Factors Influencing the Development of
American Education Before the Revolution, p. 7.
2. E.B.Greenei The Revolutionary Generation. 1763 - 1790*
p. 180.
