Cremin, Lawrence Arthur. The American Common School: An Historic Conception. New York: Columbia University Press, 1951.

== Summary ==
Although
some of its roots stem from the early colonial settlements, Cremin argues that
the conceptual, legal, and practical beginning of the common schools is rooted
in the first half of the 19th century. Contrary to prevailing
scholarship at the time that treated schools as independent and autonomous
processes, this book places the origins of the American Common School in the
context of conflicting political and economic groups, the dynamism of town and
industrialism, the influence of cultural and religious diversity, growing
nationalism, and demands of a democratic conception of schools (republicanism).
Amidst these contending forces, Cremin argues that proponents of the common
school sought to create a common educational experience that nurtured citizenship
and respect plurality; it embedded, to use
David Tyack’s words, a “utopian” vision of the school that put forth the
idea that only a common educational experience could combat and cope with the
tasks of a democracy.
Example:Moral (Republican and religious values), Tradition (Nativism), and Skills/Basic Academics (Labor) were part of all the education reformers proposals/ideas for common schools. Such proposals drawn from the movements of the 19th century: democratizing of politics (Jackson era), struggle to maintain equality and labor (market revolution), and nationalism (influx of immigrants).
See also: Bernard Bailyn, David Tyack,