I made my 7th-grade students recite from memory, the Declaration of Independence from “When in the course...” to “...deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” Of course they hated it, but it was funny. Some kids who weren’t good students aced it on the first try. First try, they could get a 100, second an 85, third try a 70. The best part was that nearly all of them got through it, something that most believed was impossible when they first heard the assignment.
Yep, I can’t remember the grade I was in but it was the early ‘50s that we had to recite the Declaration of Independence from memory also.
I believe it was a common practice then, and still should be.