 |
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
 |
|
In 1700, Henry Compton, Bishop of London (1675–1713), requested the Rev. Thomas Bray to report on the state of the Church of England in the American colonies. Rev. Bray, after extended travels in the colonies, reported that the Anglican Church in America had "little spiritual vitality" and was "in a poor organizational condition". Under Rev. Bray's initiative, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG) was authorized by convocation and incorporated by Royal Charter on June 16, 1701. King William III issued a charter establishing the SPG as "an organization able to send priests and school teachers to America to help provide the Church's ministry to the colonists." The new society had two main objectives: Christian ministry to English people overseas; and evangelization of the non-Christian races of the world. By 1710, the SPG's charter had expanded to include work among African slaves in the West Indies and Native Americans in North America. The SPG funded clergy and schoolmasters, dispatched books and supported catechists through annual fundraising sermons in London that publicized the work of the society's mission. Queen Anne was a noted early supporter, contributing her own funds and authorizing in 1711 the first of many annual Royal Letters requiring local parishes in England to raise a "liberal contribution" for the Society's work overseas. |
|
In 1701, the North Carolina General Assembly passed the Vestry Act to make the Church of England as the official church for the province. No copy of this Act has survived, and most historians assert that the Lords Proprietors probably disallowed it. A year later, in 1711, the North Carolina General Assembly passed another Vestry Act as above, but no copy of this Act has survived, and again, most historians assert that the Lords Proprietors probably disallowed it as well. In 1715, the North Carolina General Assembly passed the same Vestry Act as was passed in 1711, and this Act was signed into law. Click Here to read the entire Vestry Act of 1715. As was probably done in the first disallowed Act, the Vestry Act of 1715 established nine (9) parishes for the Church of England in North Carolina. As time went on, North Carolina established a total of forty-three (43) parishes for the Church of England; the last in 1774. Click Here to learn more about the many parishes established in North Carolina from 1701 to 1774. |
| In 1701, the above-mentioned Rev. Thomas Bray sent over one thousand books and pamphlets to what became North Carolina. This sizeable collection ended up in the town of Bath, which was the first town established in North Carolina in 1705. By 1715, the town of Bath was in St. Thomas's Parish. In that same year, the North Carolina General Assembly passed an Act - Chapter LXII - to ensure that the "Publick Library beloinging to St. Thomas's Parish" Also in 1715, the North Carolina General Assembly passed an Act - Chapter XLIX - defining how Orphans were to be taken care of, including their education. |
| In 1705, Charles Griffin established the first documented school in North Carolina near Symond's Creek, about eight (8) miles south of what is now Elizabeth City in Pasquotank County. Click Here to read more about Charles Griffin and his first school from the North Carolina Highway Marker program. |
| There were sixty-eight (68) known Acts passed by the North Carolina General Assembly from 1715 to 1800 pertaining to education. Most of the Acts passed prior to 1715 have been lost to history, but it is very unlikely that any included laws about education. |
|
During the Colonial period and prior to the American Revolution, the legislature of North Carolina authorized schools in three (3) towns: - 1745
- Edenton (town commissioners authorized to repair public buildings
and to build a School-House) Also in 1770, the North Carolina General Assembly passed an Act - Chapter III - to establish Queen's College in the town of Charlotte in Mecklenburg County, but the Crown rejected this Act and the college was never built. |
|
During the American Revolution, the new State Legislature passed eight known (8) Acts pertaining to education. All eight (8) Acts were to promote learning and education via the construction of schools and academies: - 1777
- Liberty Hall in Mecklenburg County |
|
After the American Revolution and before the turn of the century, the North Carolina General Assembly passed forty-seven (47) known Acts pertaining to education, mostly creating schools/academies in various counties, but also to establish and fund the University of North Carolina in 1789. Several Acts provided additional funding for the University of North Carolina. - 1784
- New Bern Academy in Craven County |
| << 1600s |
 |
 |
© 2016-2018 - J.D. Lewis - PO Box 1188 - Little River, SC 29566 - All Rights Reserved