Free Public Education In America

One trait of an American is the dedication to education and literacy. Americans have the will power to better themselves through education and the ability to read. There was a time that there were no public schools in America for a child to get a free education. Very few knew how to read let alone write, those who did were considered to indispensable. Who had this vision of the educational system that we have today? Why was a free public education important? One might agree that public education is a way of getting ahead in today’s time, but in one era, it may have been revolutionary to think of such a system could exist.
Education in America was very expensive and most Americans could not afford to send their children to school. Even the eager Ben Franklin had a thirst for knowledge, but had little money to pay for books (Franklin 254). The private institutions that were around in the 1700’s was heavily influenced by the puritan religion, they were corrupted by the government, and required you to be of faith. Thomas Jefferson fought most of his political life for his concern of free public education separated from the religious hierarchy. Jefferson’s proposal of “bill 79 in 1779” gives insight that he knew that there was a different way to be able to educate all children (Mercer). Thomas Jefferson believed that the state universities should be separate from church council, therefore there should be a separation of church and state, but he wanted the faculty to be of …show more content…
Through Jefferson’s’ revolutionary plans and radical thinking, his dedication of laying the foundation for free public education, was shown by great example what one dedicated person can do with their education. He rose from poverty through will power, determination, and sacrifice to acquire his education. In doing so, Jefferson saw the importance of what education could do for Americans in the feature as