In 1842 the Chickasaws asked the Secretary of War for a large manual labor boarding school so the young men would not have to sent out of the nation to be educated. Bureaucratic procrastination followed, the situation continued to deteriorate and by 1847, there were no schools in the Chickasaw district - the last teacher had abandoned his post and their were no missionaries. In 1848 contracts were made and by 1852 the Chickasaw Manual Labor Academy opened followed by Bloomfield Academy, Wapanucka Academy and Colbert Institute.  The Manual Labor Academy, Bloomfield and Colbert were operated in conjunction with the Methodist Episcopal Church South while Wapanucka Academy operated in conjunction with the Presbyterian Church.

Prior to this, the few who were educated were sent to Choctaw schools in the Choctaw Nation or in Kentucky. Several also attended Plainfield Academy, located in Plainfield Connecticut.

Much of the Constitution of 1856 was devoted to the organization of a national school system. A superintendent of public education was to be elected for a four-year term. Contracts between the boards of trustees of the various schools and teachers were to have legislative approval. The elected superintendent of instruction appointed the trustees of the school within the counties established in 1856. In addition, he had to ride circuit visiting the schools every three months, at public examination time and any time the situation at a particular school got out of hand, which rarely happened.

A feature of the schools in the Chickasaw Nation was the oral public examination. Reverend John Robinson provided this characterization:  "The examination was without any special previous preparation, and the selections were made from every part of the course they had studied, exhibiting schools in their true condition, making reasonable deduction in their favor on account of embarrassment. I was had in the presence of a large number of respectable citizens and strangers."

Steacy, Stephen. The Chickasaw Nation on the Eve of the Civil War. Chronicles of Oklahoma, Vol. XLIX, No. 1, Spring 1971, p. 56

Prior to removal to the West (Indian Territory) in 1837, a number of Chicasaw boys were being educated at the Choctaw Academy located at Blue Springs, Scott County, Kentucky.

Following removal the Chickasaw were unwilling to build homes, churches and schools on the lands of another tribe (Choctaw); and it was not until Dec 1844 that Congress passed a bill to establish a Chickasaw Manual Training School. The school was to be under the joint care of the tribe and the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and was to be located near the present town of Tishomingo. Due to many setbacks, including illness and weather, the school did not open until 1851. Meanwhile, several Chickasaw boys were attending Delaware College, Newark, Delaware (later the University of Delaware), while others attended Plainsfield Academy in Plainsfield, Connecticut.

The Chickasaw Nation was officially established in the south central section of Indian Territory in 1855 with a governor and a bicameral legislature. They had courts, law enforcement officers and other officials including a tribal superintendent of schools. Tishomingo City became the capital of the nation.

Twenty-six neighborhood schools were established throughout the nation. Faculty member were required to meet standards set by the trial superintendent of schools. Not just anyone could open a school. Construction of schools varied from crude one-room log school houses to modern buildings of the period. English was the language of instruction generally, although Chickasaw might be the prevailing language of the community.

Several academies were established and well attended. They included the Chickasaw Manual Training School for Boys, later Harley Institute; Wapanucka Academy; Bloomfield Seminary, a school for girls; Colbert Institute, later Collins Institute; and Lebanon Academy, an orphans' home.