Passage 1 is excerpted from Noah Webster, “On the Education of Youth in America,” originally published in 1790. Passage 2 is excerpted from Benjamin Rush, “Of the Mode of Education Proper in a Republic,” originally published in 1798. The symbol [1] indicates that the following sentence is referenced in a question.
Passage 1
Another defect in our schools, which, since the revolution,
is become inexcuseable, is the want of proper books. The
collections which are now used consist of essays that respect
foreign and ancient nations. The minds of youth are perpetually
led to the history of Greece and Rome or to Great Britain; boys
are constantly repeating the declamations of Demosthenes and
Cicero, or debates upon some political question in the British
Parliament. These are excellent specimens of good sense,
polished stile and perfect oratory; but they are not interesting to
children. They cannot be very useful, except to young
gentlemen who want them as models of reasoning and
eloquence, in the pulpit or at the bar.
But every child in America should be acquainted with his
own country. He should read books that furnish him with ideas
that will be useful to him in life and practice. As soon as he
opens his lips, he should rehearse the history of his own
country; he should lisp the praise of liberty, and of those
illustrious heroes and statesmen, who have wrought a
revolution in her favor.
A selection of essays, respecting the settlement and
geography of America; the history of the late revolution and of
the most remarkable characters and events that distinguished it,
and a compendium of the principles of the federal and
provincial governments, should be the principal school book in
the United States. These are interesting objects to every man;
they call home the minds of youth and fix them upon the
interests of their own country, and they assist in forming
attachments to it, as well as in enlarging the understanding.
“It is observed by the great Montesquieu, that the laws of
education ought to be relative to the principles of the
government.”
In despotic governments, the people should have little or no
education, except what tends to inspire them with a servile fear.
Information is fatal to despotism. In monarchies, education
should be partial, and adapted to the rank of each class of
citizens. But “in a republican government,” says the same
writer, “the whole power of education is required.” Here every
class of people should know and love the laws. This knowledge
should be diffused by means of schools and newspapers; and
an attachment to the laws may be formed by early impressions
upon the mind. Two regulations are essential to the continuance
of republican governments: [1] Such a distribution of lands and
such principles of descent and alienation, as shall give every
citizen a power of acquiring what his industry merits.[2]Such a
system of education as gives every citizen an opportunity of
acquiring knowledge and fitting himself for places of trust.
These are fundamental articles; the sine qua non of the
existence of the American republics.
Passage 2
The business of education has acquired a new complexion
by the independence of our country. The form of government
we have assumed, has created a new class of duties to every
American. It becomes us, therefore, to examine our former
habits upon this subject, and in laying the foundations for
nurseries of wise and good men, to adapt our modes of
teaching to the peculiar form of our government.
The first remark that I shall make upon this subject is, that
an education in our own, is to be preferred to an education in a
foreign country. The principle of patriotism stands in need of
the reinforcement of prejudice, and it is well known that our
strongest prejudices in favour of our country are formed in the
first one and twenty years of our lives. The policy of the
Lacedemonians is well worthy of our imitation. When
Antipater demanded fifty of their children as hostages for the
fulfillment of a distant engagement, those wise republicans
refused to comply with his demand, but readily offered him
double the number of their adult citizens, whose habits and
prejudices could not be shaken by residing in a foreign country.
Passing by, in this place, the advantages to the community
from the early attachment of youth to the laws and constitution
of their country, I shall only remark, that young men who have
trodden the paths of science together, or have joined in the
same sports, whether of swimming, skating, fishing, or hunting,
generally feel, thro’ life, such ties to each other, as add greatly
to the obligations of mutual benevolence.
I conceive the education of our youth in this country to be
peculiarly necessary in Pennsylvania, while our citizens are
composed of the natives of so many different kingdoms in
Europe. Our schools of learning, by producing one general, and
uniform system of education, will render the mass of the
people more homogeneous, and thereby fit them more easily
for uniform and peaceable government.
Passage 1
Another defect in our schools, which, since the revolution,
is become inexcuseable, is the want of proper books. The
collections which are now used consist of essays that respect
foreign and ancient nations. The minds of youth are perpetually
led to the history of Greece and Rome or to Great Britain; boys
are constantly repeating the declamations of Demosthenes and
Cicero, or debates upon some political question in the British
Parliament. These are excellent specimens of good sense,
polished stile and perfect oratory; but they are not interesting to
children. They cannot be very useful, except to young
gentlemen who want them as models of reasoning and
eloquence, in the pulpit or at the bar.
But every child in America should be acquainted with his
own country. He should read books that furnish him with ideas
that will be useful to him in life and practice. As soon as he
opens his lips, he should rehearse the history of his own
country; he should lisp the praise of liberty, and of those
illustrious heroes and statesmen, who have wrought a
revolution in her favor.
A selection of essays, respecting the settlement and
geography of America; the history of the late revolution and of
the most remarkable characters and events that distinguished it,
and a compendium of the principles of the federal and
provincial governments, should be the principal school book in
the United States. These are interesting objects to every man;
they call home the minds of youth and fix them upon the
interests of their own country, and they assist in forming
attachments to it, as well as in enlarging the understanding.
“It is observed by the great Montesquieu, that the laws of
education ought to be relative to the principles of the
government.”
In despotic governments, the people should have little or no
education, except what tends to inspire them with a servile fear.
Information is fatal to despotism. In monarchies, education
should be partial, and adapted to the rank of each class of
citizens. But “in a republican government,” says the same
writer, “the whole power of education is required.” Here every
class of people should know and love the laws. This knowledge
should be diffused by means of schools and newspapers; and
an attachment to the laws may be formed by early impressions
upon the mind. Two regulations are essential to the continuance
of republican governments: [1] Such a distribution of lands and
such principles of descent and alienation, as shall give every
citizen a power of acquiring what his industry merits.[2]Such a
system of education as gives every citizen an opportunity of
acquiring knowledge and fitting himself for places of trust.
These are fundamental articles; the sine qua non of the
existence of the American republics.
Passage 2
The business of education has acquired a new complexion
by the independence of our country. The form of government
we have assumed, has created a new class of duties to every
American. It becomes us, therefore, to examine our former
habits upon this subject, and in laying the foundations for
nurseries of wise and good men, to adapt our modes of
teaching to the peculiar form of our government.
The first remark that I shall make upon this subject is, that
an education in our own, is to be preferred to an education in a
foreign country. The principle of patriotism stands in need of
the reinforcement of prejudice, and it is well known that our
strongest prejudices in favour of our country are formed in the
first one and twenty years of our lives. The policy of the
Lacedemonians is well worthy of our imitation. When
Antipater demanded fifty of their children as hostages for the
fulfillment of a distant engagement, those wise republicans
refused to comply with his demand, but readily offered him
double the number of their adult citizens, whose habits and
prejudices could not be shaken by residing in a foreign country.
Passing by, in this place, the advantages to the community
from the early attachment of youth to the laws and constitution
of their country, I shall only remark, that young men who have
trodden the paths of science together, or have joined in the
same sports, whether of swimming, skating, fishing, or hunting,
generally feel, thro’ life, such ties to each other, as add greatly
to the obligations of mutual benevolence.
I conceive the education of our youth in this country to be
peculiarly necessary in Pennsylvania, while our citizens are
composed of the natives of so many different kingdoms in
Europe. Our schools of learning, by producing one general, and
uniform system of education, will render the mass of the
people more homogeneous, and thereby fit them more easily
for uniform and peaceable government.