The Study On Early American Civic Education And National State Construction

Noah Webster,as one of the great nationalists in the early days of the United States,devoted his whole life to the education of the United States,known as the "teacher of the American nation," the "revolutionary patriot." Outspoken Federalists,"forgotten Founding Fathers." Webster's national constructivist civic education thought is about cultivating citizens' independent nationality,independent language and cultural literacy,noble morality,etc.Committed to the early colonial nature of the United States,the establishment of a unified and stable nation-state.This paper first discusses the model of nation-state construction in America from the perspective of nation-state construction theory in order to clarify the early social formation of the United States.The formation of Webster's national constructivism civic education thought is closely related to the background of his time: the War of Independence inspired his nationalist feelings;Webster was deeply concerned by the lack of national and national consciousness since the founding of the people.The Puritans' strong sense of national independence and emphasis on education led Webster to consider how to cultivate citizenship in the field of education to consolidate the rule of the republic.Webster's thoughts on civic education.The thought comes from Locke's "liberalism" and "empiricism",the enlightenment thinker Rousseau's "nation-state theory" and "naturalism doctrine",and at the same time he was radicalized by his contemporary revolutionary Paine.The influence of bourgeois democratic thought and its book Common Sense,which takes national independence as the core,is based on the theory of Nationalism and the Declaration of Independence.Webster was one of the first educators in the United States to advocate the integration of civic education with the demands of a nation-state.He advocated scientific education and the substitution of civic education for religious education in order to achieve secularization of education.This is the starting point of the nation-state construction of the United States,and he hopes to establish a Republican state and cultivate the national character of citizens' independence,and the civiceducation under the ideal of "republic" is the foundation of the construction of the nation-state of the United States.The most outstanding thing is that he advocates independent language and culture education for citizens to ensure the purity of the American national language,writes American History,compiles reading textbooks with American characteristics,and at the same time,he also attaches great importance to the moral education of citizens.Civic education based on independent language culture and extensive morality is the soul of the nation-state construction of the United States.Finally,he believes that a national education system should be established.He regarded public education as a reliable means to maintain the Republican government and unite a multicultural nation,and civic education under the federal system was the end-result of the nation-state construction of the United States.Webster's civic education thought and practice have made great contributions to the early American language and culture independence and the nation-state construction of the United States,and to the civic education and nation-state construction of our country and the whole world.It has important theoretical value and practical significance.