Most fourth graders have probably asked, in exasperation at some point, “Why do I have to go to school?” A short and even more exasperating answer might be, “because of New England.” Or more precisely, because of the Puritans and their Yankee descendants. Colonial New England not only enjoyed some of the highest literacy rates in the world, it established institutions of higher education at very early dates. After independence, New England Yankees carried on these two traditions, launching the common school movement to educate all (white) American children and leading the way in higher education. The United States has benefited greatly from these initiatives, even though Yankee educators could be rather imperious in their approach. Fourth graders may not be surprised by that part.
Jay Case is Professor of History at Malone University. He has taught a wide range of history classes at Malone in American, African and Latin American history. His main areas of scholarly interest are in American Religious history, particularly 19th-century evangelicalism and the missionary movement. He has also published articles and book chapters on African American Christianity, world Pentecostalism, Methodism and religion in Brazil. In 2012 he published a book, An Unpredictable Gospel: American Evangelicals and World Christianity, 1812-1920 from Oxford University Press. He is currently working on a religious biography of Bob Dylan.
