2. The Character of the Older Academies.— The old academies were generally endowed in stitutions, organized under the control of self perpetuating boards of trustees or of religious bodies, established to serve the need of a wide constituency and not merely of a single com munity, and often located in small country places. Many of them made provision for boarders as well as for day pupils. They were not intended in any exclusive sense for the training of future members of the learned pro fessions, although many of them developed into preparatory schools. In the Western States preparatory schools attached to colleges were commonly called "academies.* But such was not the earlier purpose of the academies, which were largely schools for the middle classes and answered to a growing desire after learning for its own sake, or for the increased efficiency it would give in other than profes sional pursuits.
Their training was more °practical* than that of the colleges, wider and more liberal than that of the grammar schools, or of some of the colleges. They laid new stress on the study of the English language, together with grammar, rhetoric and public speaking. They taught mathematics, often including surveying and navigation; began the study of natural science, especially of natural philosophy (phys ics), of which astronomy constituted an import ant division; gave courses in geography. an cient history, English and above all American history, French often and German seldom. Latin and Greek were the substantial core of the instruction Offered. In the earlier days, the course of study was not well defined. In Eng lish, Latin and mathematics a good degree of continuity of work was apparently maintained, but in others, classes were formed at irregular periods, because of the exigencies of rural life which demanded certain courses be confined to a short winter term not interfering with farm labor. When finally definite courses of study were laid out, they varied in length from three to four or five years. Parallel courses were of fered. That including classical studies and covering the required preparation for admis sion to some college was commonly regarded as the standard course of the school. With this might be found an English course. Afterward a scientific course was often provided.
Many of these schools were established by religious bodies. Catholic secondary schools began to appear in this period, established by the several teaching orders. The Society of Jesus founded institutions of secondary and higher education in the United States after the Revolutionary War; the Brothers of the Chris tian Schools opened their first school in Amer ica at Montreal in 1838; soon after set up estab lishments within the United States, at Balti more and New York, and followed these ele mentary schools with secondary courses; and besides many conventual schools for girls were established, which drew a large clientage from other than Catholic families. The academies
established by Protestant bodies usually termi nated their formal connection with ecclesiasti cal societies upon their legal incorporation. The religious instruction which they carried on con cerned itself for the most part with the broad underlying principles of Christianity, so that the non-Catholic academies, even such as had arisen from the initiative of religious societies, tended toward the non-sectarian character which has been more fully exemplified in the public schools of later times.
The grammar schools had been exclusively for boys. Such was the case with many of the academies. But others were coeducational, and there grew up also a large number of acad emies for girls, which were all too often weighed down with the title of °female semi nary.' The last two prepared the way for two types in higher education, appearing in the fourth decade of the 19th century; namely, the coeducational college and the college for women exclusively.
The academies broadened the intellectual horizon of families and communities and re inforced the protest which was arising against the narrow curriculum of the American col leges. In the absence of special schools for the training of teachers, the better elementary schools were for a long time in the hands of academy graduates. Special classes were or ganized in New York and Pennsylvania acad emies for instruction in the art of teaching and a seminary for teachers was opened in con nection with Phillips Academy at Andover. When State normal schools began to be estab lished in Massachusetts in the year 1839, sug gestions for their organization and management were drawn from this seminary and from the current practice of academies. With the intro duction and subsequent rapid growth of normal schools in this country a new means of sec ondary training of considerable importance was added, since these institutions began and con tinued to devote a large share of their time to work essentially academic in character and of secondary rank.