Aristocratic Education and the Making of the American Republic

“Exceptional in most every regard . . . thoroughly compelling. Historians of education, and of American history more generally, would do well to emulate [Boonshoft’s] approach.”—Journal of Southern History

“[Boonshoft] makes a compelling argument that the flowering of academies was a significant, if relatively short- lived, development in American civic life.”—Journal of American History

“Incisive and insightful. . . . More than just a history of education, it is an account of the political conflicts and compromises that shaped the early republic.”—Journal of American Studies

“A thoughtful analysis of the emergence and evolution of educational institutions known as academies from the colonial era through the early antebellum period in the United States. . . . Boonshoft’s work helps to situate the role of academies in the larger narrative of American education.”—American Historical Review

“[Boonshoft’s] incisive narrative provides a useable past for dealing with issues of privatization, privilege, and inequity which continue to plague America’s public schools.”—American Nineteenth Century Review

“A deeply researched, well-written and unfailingly interesting contribution to the historiography of education and education reform in Colonial and Revolutionary America and the antebellum United States.”—History of Education

“In explaining the backlash against academies, Boonshoft cleverly presents nineteenth-century educational reform as a political proxy war over undemocratic tendencies in America. . . . Boonshoft provides a fascinating and insightful throughline from religious awakening and up through the shifting politics of the early republic to the emergence of modern notions of education.”—H-Nationalism

“Mark Boonshoft is outstanding in working with a huge range of sources and his argument is original, important, and convincing. Without exaggeration, this is a 'breakthrough book' of the first order.” — Jason Opal, author of Avenging the People: Andrew Jackson, the Rule of Law, and the American Nation

“This work is innovative and exciting because it transforms our understanding of the academies that blossomed after the Revolution. Mark Boonshoft does an exceptional job revealing education’s role in the social and political development of the new United States.” — Johann Neem, author of Democracy’s Schools: The Rise of Public Education in America