Of the three “R’s” (“reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic”), reading was, from the earliest days of Puritan settlement, the most important school subject. In 17th and early 18th century New England, each town’s Congregational minister and the town’s elected selectmen were required to ensure that every child in their town learn to read the Bible. Ministers continued to be leaders in education in New England even after the American Revolution that had established the idea of “the separation of church and state.” Although schoolbooks became less theological and Calvinist, they continued to be very moral in tone and strongly Judeo-Christian in content. This reader by the Rev. Samuel Willard, liberal Unitarian minister in Deerfield, Massachusetts, in the early 1800s, reflects this trend. Note on the title page both his commitment to educational reform and his quotes from Jesus and St. Paul.
Willard, Reverend Samuel. Rudiments of Reading. 1815. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/m-w-4864/. Accessed on October 16, 2024.
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