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Thomas Jefferson's Idea Of Free Primary Education

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After the American Revolutionary War, Thomas Jefferson and the rest of the Founding Fathers proposed ideas on how to structure the future of the United States. Among other theories, the founding fathers discussed how to bring the citizens together in order to establish a strong foundation of the people, even from an early age. They knew that a successful reproduction of this notion would foreshadow a prosperous future for the nation. Jefferson recommended education in order to achieve a strong national identity and future. In his ‘Bill for the General Diffusion of Knowledge,’ he expressed his faith on his approach. It was of great importance to Jefferson that the education system would be a protection against tyrannism, something that was constantly seen in corrupt countries around the world. Moreover, in his bill, Jefferson addressed the idea of free primary schooling for both girls and boys for three years and strived for a specific curriculum that laid its foundation on history instead of religion. He stressed the idea that the American public, itself, had a role in the educational system of the new country. For this, he recommended the division of counties into “hundreds,” so that the schools could be located in convenient locations and thus, for the public to have a better chance of having their voice heard. …show more content…

Some “humbug teachers” thought that there were “between 40 and 50 days” in the month of October and there were “over ten and under fifteen” months in a year. Surely, a teacher that thought these things was not an appropriate person to teach children in the common schools. The future of the nation depended on educated children who needed educated teachers (“Mr. Hardin at the Kentucky Convention”). The purpose of the schools was to achieve “a sense of the common good, ” but only through accurate teachings! (Tyack

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