The Struggle for Public Schools

Education in the Early Republic

I

n the late eighteenth century, Thomas Jefferson popularized the idea that a democratic republic required an enlightened and educated citizenry. He argued that government had a duty to assist in the education of a meritocracy based on talent and ability.

Resistance to publicly-financed education was strong. Virginia rejected an 1817 proposal by Jefferson to establish a state supervised system of public schools and colleges. His proposal can be found in the Jefferson collection at the University of Virginia.

The Revolution did, however, spark heightened interest in women’s education. The first private female academies, providing an education beyond the level of basic literacy and handicrafts, were established at the end of the eighteenth century.

The new view was that women, through their role as mothers, would shape the moral and intellectual character of their children. Republican government, according to a growing number of authorities, required educated mothers who would instruct their children in Republican values. Information about public views of women’s education in post-revolutionary America can be found at The Young Ladies' Academy of Philadelphia: Attitudes Toward the Formal Education of Women in America, 1790-1800.