The Scotch-Irish of Colonial Pennsylvania

The schoolhouse and the kirk went together wherever the Scotch‐ Irish frontier moved. The extraordinary zeal of this group for education is revealed in its emphasis on a learned ministry, in its founding of schools and colleges, and in its printing of catechisms and other books. CARL WITTKE

IN THEIR CONTRIBUTION to education in colonial Pennsylvania the Scotch-Irish were unexcelled, if indeed they were equaled by any other racial group. No less interested in establishing schools than in founding churches, we find these twin sisters of civilization advancing hand in hand into the frontier. The Scotch-Irish ministers being Presbyterians, the educational activities which they promoted were under the direction of that religious body. It appears that most of the Scotch-Irish ministers were more or less employed in teaching school and, in the event they were not teachers, were at least expected to have a general supervision over the instruction of the children of their congregations. ^i.

As among the other racial groups of the province, the typical elementary school among the Scotch-Irish was the church school. In their case the distinguishing feature was found in the fact that the religious instruction given was according to the standards of the Presbyterian Church, especially in the insistence upon learning the Catechism as a regular exercise. Little was taught in these schools beyond the rudiments. Reading, writing, arithmetic, and

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