If You Went to School at the Time of Lewis and Clark

What was it like to go to school in 1804? Very different than it is today. First of all, only the richer families could afford to send their children to school, so unless you were the child of wealthy parents you would not receive any formal schooling. Poorer children usually helped out on the farm (most people lived in the country on farms rather than in towns and cities). When they became teenagers they sometimes got jobs working for neighboring farmers. What little schooling they received came from being taught to read (usually from the Bible) and write by their parents or relatives. Of course, there were many people in America who could neither read nor write in 1804. Children of illiterate parents often did not learn to read and write themselves. Some areas of the country had small schools, but in 1804 they were not free public schools - parents still had to pay for their children's education, and so most children received very few years of schooling. The very, very wealthy could send their sons to boarding schools on the East Coast, or even to Europe. These boys could also attend college. Several of the most famous colleges in America had been founded long before 1804, including Harvard, Yale, Columbia, William and Mary, Dartmouth and Princeton. The U.S. Military Academy at West Point was founded in 1802, and was one of the few schools in America that offered an education free of charge.

There were many different kinds of "schools" at the time. Many boys in towns and cities became apprentices. An apprenticeship was an agreement signed between someone skilled at a trade - a mason, a cooper, a miller, a wheelwright, etc. - and the parents of a boy. The agreement usually stated that the boy would be housed, clothed, fed and educated by the tradesman in exchange for labor. The boy would help out around the shop and gradually learn the business. At the end of the apprenticeship (a seven year period was common) the boy, by now 18 or 19 years old, could go out and begin to earn his own living at the trade he had learned.

In 1804 boys and girls were not educated together, nor did they learn the same skills or information. For those who could afford to attend school, boys learned from a schoolmaster and girls usually attended what was called a "Dame School," run by an elderly woman. Boys learned reading, writing and arithmetic. They were taught a lot about the history, culture, philosophy and literature of the Ancient Romans and Greeks. This was thought to be important because many people in 1804 felt that European and American societies were just beginning to equal the "lost" cultures of the ancient world in the wake of the Dark Ages. It was thought that the more one learned about the Romans and Greeks, the more society could be improved. Boys might also be taught some basic science and religion.

Girls went to a Dame School to learn the "social graces." These included dancing, dressing properly, standing straight and walking gracefully, how to manage a household and deal with servants, doing needlepoint and embroidery, and other subjects that were thought to make them attractive wives for potential husbands.

St. Louis School for Boys - Block 8B
Sketch Courtesy of Don Crosby, AIA

The St. Louis schools of 1804 prepared wealthier boys and girls for the roles they would play as adults. The school for boys was run by Jean Baptiste Truteau, a very learned man who was also one of the early European explorers of the Missouri River. Truteau ran his school for 45 years (from about 1780 until 1825) in his house on Main Street at Chestnut. The Dame School was run by the widow Maria Josepha Pinconneau dit Rigauche. In 1797, she opened a school for girls under the encouragement of the Spanish Governor, Carondelet, who promised to pay her 15 pesos a month. Although she never received this money, she was given a large land grant in 1800. Madame Rigauche conducted classes for village girls until at least 1804.

St. Louis School for Girls 1804 Block 53A
Sketch Courtesy Don Crosby, AIA

Especially in a mercantile town like St. Louis, children were looked upon for what they might bring to the family. Boys were educated from a very early age in the fine points of trade, and worked in the trading houses of their fathers. Many made early trips, while still quite young, into Indian territory up the Missouri River to be introduced to tribal leaders. Pierre Chouteau, for example, who later became one of St. Louis' richest and most powerful traders, spent several years of his boyhood living with the Osage tribe. A boy with this type of training often turned out to be an expert businessman and could forge alliances with other important families and Indian tribal groups. This would bring in more money and make the family more important in the community. Daughters of a wealthy family were often matched with eligible bachelors in families with similar business interests. Marriages between the children of two powerful mercantile families strengthened business ties (like a corporate merger of today) and made their families even more powerful.

In many ways, education in 1804 was seen only as a practical preparation for life. People sent their children to learn what was necessary for them to get along in the world and be successful. At about this time, however, the ideals of the new American Republic were starting to make people wonder if education could be even more - if education could be the key to helping children improve their station in life. The idea of equality of opportunity soon led to the idea of free public schools that could be attended by all. The United States soon found itself with the highest literacy rate in the world and with a fluid society where any person who had the intelligence and the proper breaks could start a business, publish a book or become involved in government. Of course, these breaks were first limited to white Americans but later spread to minority groups as slavery ended and laws were changed during the late 19th century.

Although the state of education in America was restricted and very different than today in 1804, the type of education available to all today was beginning to emerge as a democratic nation began to apply the principles and acknowledge the importance of education for all.