American Scenes, and Christian Slavery - A Recent Tour of Four Thousand Miles in the United States by Ebenezer Davies
page 270 of 282 (95%)
page 270 of 282 (95%)
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whole? I will try to do so. There is a class of things I greatly
admire; and there is a class of things I greatly detest. Among the former I may mention-- 1. Religious equality--the absence of a State church. 2. The workings of the voluntary principle in the abundant supply of places of worship, and in the support of religious institutions. 3. General education. With regard to their common schools, and also to their colleges, they are far in advance of us in England. The existence of universal suffrage has the effect of stimulating educational efforts to a degree which would not otherwise be attained. The more respectable and intelligent of the citizens are made to feel that, with universal suffrage, their dearest institutions are all perilled unless the mass be educated. As education is the great question of the day, I must not omit to make a few remarks on the Primary Schools of the United States. There is no _national_ system of education in America. Congress does not interfere in the matter, except in the "Territories" before they become "States." The States of the Union are so many distinct Republics, and, in the matter of education, as in all their internal affairs, are left entirely to take their own measures. With regard to education, no two States act precisely alike. If we glance at the States of Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio, we shall, however, discover the three great types of what in this respect generally prevails throughout the States. MASSACHUSETTS.--Scarcely had the "Pilgrims" been half-a-dozen years in |
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