Tax Supported Education in America

Education reform paved the way for our public schools today. Although much has changed from the nineteenth century until now, we can trace the steps of education to study the reasons the reform took place. Prior to the offer of free public education, children from wealthy families attended expensive private schools, while a large majority received their education at home. While the attempt to bring support to the idea of a public education was introduced it was met with a resounding lack of support from the people. The bad taste of high tariffs left most feeling the need to fight back, against what they felt was the government use of power, to impose even higher tariffs and possibly infringe on their rights to slave ownership. A few short years was all it took for American views to turn around and now they would agree to a tax-supported public education for children. The inspiration during the nineteenth century to provide a tax- supported public education came about because of the people’s desire to “improve the character of ordinary Americans, to make them more upstanding, God-fearing, and literate” (p. 307).
The idea of federally funded education initially proposed by George Washington was again proposed in 1825, by John Quincy Adams. The American people disliked this idea as they saw the prospect of even higher tariffs (P. 248). The idea that government could play a part with education, made Americans nervous that the power of the government might interfere with slave ownership rights. Meanwhile, the growth the country through agriculture and economy grew through the population of immigrants.
German immigrants that came to America between the 1830 and 1860, strongly believed in a good education more so than their American coun...

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...Guffey Reader was a white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant based book encouraging children to model its moral lessons.
The school system was looked upon as a way to Americanize immigrants. If the people were educated, then the belief was they would in turn become more productive. Finally, a push to dilute religion and culture was yet another reason for public education. They wanted to shape the character of the children by teaching the basic values of punctuality, obeying authority, honoring the rules and carrying out to their lessons. Although the American people started with a fight against education reform, they soon came to embrace the idea as there were valid reasons for the change. The important reason and basis for a tax-supported education was to be able to teach children the ways to become a productive member of a democratic society.

Works Cited

American History