19th Century American Oralism

What were the arguments that led to the adoption of the oral method of education in the latter portion of the 19th century?

There were three major events that influenced the adoption of oralism: The Civil War’s end in 1865, Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, and the Milan conference of 1880. Before the 1860s, sign language was the accepted method of education for Deaf people; however, the above events led to a “textbook case of the oppression of a minority by the majority” (Plann, 1997, p. 2).
After the Civil War, America was discouraged, and needed a “national identity” (“Late Nineteenth-Century,” n.d., p. 1). One way was to create a “homogenous society” (Greenwald, 2014, para. 6), that shared a language and a culture. One man who embraced this ideology was Alexander Graham Bell. Bell believed that teaching deaf children to speak would lead to their “social integration and to their personal and professional advancement” (Greenwald, 2014, para. 4). Bell stressed the need for deaf people to assimilate into society, and because America for a social identity, professionals around America quickly accepted Bell’s arguments and styles of oralist teaching. Many believe that “Bell, more than any other American, was the most important figure in the movement to teach deaf children speaking and lipreading in ongoing efforts to …show more content…
Individual, systemic and institutional biases fueled America’s focus on oralism, and while there are still those who support this unnatural form of education for Deaf people, there is hope, and there is a shift towards giving people the option to choose their preferred method of communication. Hopefully we will continue to see more of an openness in society so we can truly respect and celebrate diversity, individuality, and the basic rights of every human being in any