Public System Of Education example essay topic

Thomas Jefferson was a politician, lawyer, revolutionary, and most importantly a philosopher. Every aspect of life found itself intriguing to the mind of this Virginian farmer. He was an architect, mathematician, inventor, meteorologist, naturalist, and cultivator of one of the biggest private libraries in America. It was from this library along with all of his worldly experiences that Thomas Jefferson amassed such a large wealth of knowledge. From this knowledge, Jefferson shaped most of his beliefs. From farming to education, Jefferson had a philosophical stance for every aspect of his life, and it was education that would prove to be one of his most strongly held beliefs that would forever remain a part of not only his political philosophy, but of his moral values as well.

As a child Jefferson partook of a classical style education. His father, Peter Jefferson, saw fit to hire private tutors to educate his son in Latin, Greek, reading and writing, arithmetic, and history. This education would become for young Jefferson "one of the most important tools of the continued self-education which he carried on to the end of his days". From the study of the ancient Greek and Roman philosophers such as Epicurus, Jefferson was able to develop a rather reasonable moral sense. He was in constant search for the ultimate good. In order for Jefferson to determine exactly what was good and right he constantly labored himself with study.

To be completely moral, just, and free, Jefferson believed that his mind must be completely free from the snares of outside influence. He believed that in order for a man to have a completely free mind, that he must learn all that he can, and then decide for himself what to believe and hold true; "the diffusion of knowledge would make man free". He continually looked for ways in which he could advance his mind, and as long as he did not know something, he saw that as a burden or yolk of sorts upon his mind; his mind was enslaved. To this, he said; "I have sworn before the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man".

Throughout the course of his life, Jefferson would continually question whether or not his actions, and the actions of the American people were entirely good. He believed that if something was right and good that it would ultimately overcome. Throughout his entire life, he believed this and even in raising his children he instilled within them the same values that he himself held dear. He made a great effort to teach them of the joys of a strong, sound, and moral mind. "A mind always employed is always happy. This is the true secret, the grand recipe for felicity.

The idle are the only wretched. In a world which furnishes so many employments which are useful, and so many which are amusing, it is our own fault if we ever know what ennui is, or if we are ever driven to the miserable resource of gaming, which corrupts our dispositions, and teaches us a habit of hostility against all mankind". He also made sure that they were, themselves, educated. As found evidence in his letters he always kept a close eye on the progress that his daughters, particularly Martha (Patsy) Jefferson, were making. He even would go as far as to delegate how their time should be spent, and for them to send him copies of the assignments from their tutors: "With respect to the distribution of your time the following is what I should approve. o from 8.

To 10 o'clock practice music. o from 10. To 1. dance one day and draw another o from 1. To 2. draw on the day you dance, and write a letter the next day. o from 3. To 4. read French. o from 4.

To 5. exercise yourself in music. o from 5. till bedtime read English, write &c. Communicate this plan to Mrs. Hopkinson and if she approves of it pursue it. As long as Mrs. Trust remains in Philadelphia cultivate her affections. She has been a valuable friend to you and her good sense and good heart make her valued by all who know her and by nobody on earth more than by me. I expect you will write to me by every post.

Inform me what books you read, what tunes you learn, and enclose me your best copy of every lesson in drawing. Write also one letter every week either to your aunt Epps, your aunt Skip with, your aunt Carr, or the little lady from whom I now enclose a letter, and always put the letter you so write under cover to me. Take care that you never spell a word wrong. Always before you write a word consider how it is spelt, and if you do not remember it, turn to a dictionary. It produces great praise to a lady to spell well. I have placed my happiness on seeing you good and accomplished, and no distress which this world can now bring on me could equal that of your disappointing my hopes.

If you love me then, strive to be good under every situation and to all living creatures, and to acquire those accomplishments which I have put in your power, and which will go far towards ensuring you the warmest love of your affectionate father, Thomas Jefferson was a true democrat in the fullest sense of the word. He loved the ideals for which America was founded. He believed that the people should indeed govern themselves instead of living under the rule of a tyrant. "The influence over government must be shared among all the people". However, he did believe that in order for a people to effectively govern themselves they must not be ignorant. "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be".

Logically the best way to dispose of ignorance would be to educate the people themselves, and this was exactly what Thomas Jefferson envisioned. He saw, "a system of general instruction which would reach every discretion of the citizens, from the richest to the poorest". He believed in a system that could effectively educate children so as to prepare them for "the conditions and pursuits of their life". To him, education was the foundation of republican society.

Through public education children would learn enough to become proper moral citizens of America. After his realization of the importance of an educational system, all that was left for him to do was set forth a legal plan by which to establish such a system. At the beginning of the eighteenth century most education was strictly restricted to private tutors, and only wealthy children could partake of this. A few colleges existed, primarily the College of William and Mary (at which Jefferson himself studied from 1760-1762. ), but other than this many children received what education they could simply from home. Jefferson sought rescue from this segregated, aristocratic system by providing a system of "mass education at public expense".

This was realized in 1779 when Jefferson proposed his Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge. This bill was quite revolutionary for the time, due to the very fact that public education was, for the most part nonexistent. This bill carefully laid out details to which a public system of education could be created within the nation. o Provided for the establishment of a system of public schools that would provide the masses with the basic education necessary to ensure good government, public safety, and happiness. o Each county would be subdivided into parts called hundreds (five to six square miles and one hundred citizens); each hundred was to provide an elementary school supported by taxes. At this level reading, writing, and arithmetic, along with history, ancient to modern, were to be taught to all white male and female children at for three years. o No religion was to be taught in class". "Instead of putting the Bible and Testament into the hands of the children at an age when their judgments are not sufficiently matured for religious inquiries, their memories may here be stored with the most useful facts from Grecian, Roman, European, and American history". o The state should also be divided into 20 districts (counties) with a public boarding grammar school built in each district. Latin, Greek, English, geography, and higher mathematics would be taught. o Each year impartial examinations would be administered to male children completing their elementary course to determine attendance.

Attendance would not only be from wealthy boys, but also from the brightest of the poorer children, who would have their tuition paid for by the state. o Upon completion of grammar school, ten of the scholarship recipients would receive 3 years study at the College of William and Mary, where they would study "all the useful sciences", primarily physics, philosophy, ethics, and economics, at state expense. The remaining scholarship students, according to Jefferson, would become masters in the grammar schools. These were the key factors of the bill, but it still carried one final purpose. Jefferson hoped that this bill would "collectively cultivate the individual's innate capacities, and to thereby promote a more just and harmonious society". Jefferson said of his bill, "The general objects of this law are to provide an education adapted to the years, to the capacity, and to the condition of everyone and directed to their freedom and happiness" by developing the "worth and genius" in the people regardless of "wealth, birth or other accidental condition". He also believed that it was necessary for the system to be supported by taxes because the system would nurture "those talents which nature has sown as liberally among the poor as the rich, but which perish without use, if not sought for and cultivated".

These talents would later become characteristics of the future leaders of the nation. His idea was that the men that would partake of his educational system would be moral, useful, and capable of understanding the interests of his neighbors, countrymen, himself, and of his nation. From education, society would receive its leaders; its politicians, and physicians. His system would create a prosperous cycle that would forever keep the American ideal of democracy alive. For Jefferson, his public school system would be far superior to that of the private schools. The public schools would be attended not only by those who could not afford private institutions or tutors, but also by the wealthy as well.

They would definitely not be the dump grounds for the poor. These schools would help to foster what Jefferson believed as the "natural aristocracy"; the ability to progress in society due to merit and mind, not wealth and power. These institutions would also allow for the community to support and unite within itself as well. However, the rich did not see it fit to pay for the education of others and the bill did not pass in 1779. It would take a few more decades for this to finally happen. Although his bill did not pass the first year he submitted it Jefferson would leave an educational legacy yet, the University of Virginia.

"It was devotion to learning and equality of opportunity that made Jefferson the founder of the University of Virginia, the mother of broad state-supported universities, free from any control less broad than that of the state, and of the plan of universal public education which has become the American pattern of instruction for all the children of the country". It was truly devotion to learning and the expanding of one's mind that made Jefferson a true hero of our nation, and although he was unsuccessful in 1779 with his Bill for the General Diffusion of Knowledge, he did find success in later years, and especially in today's society. Still today America remains a democracy and world power due to the heroic achievements of Thomas Jefferson and others like him. Today the citizens of the United States of America enjoy and benefit from public education because of Jefferson. American children follow a quite similar ideal of education. They attend an elementary school, then continue to some form of junior high curriculum that is then followed by high school.

Religion has also been omitted from the curriculum of public education as well which allows for a much more equal atmosphere in which to learn. Never has there been such a man as Thomas Jefferson; a true Renaissance man. A farmer, inventor, scientist, lawyer, politician, and the list could simply keep going. But the fact that he is all of these things rests on the ethics of his educational beliefs.

He made himself a great man by expanding his mind to new horizons never before ventured. He sought enlightenment and wished the same for the very citizens of the nation. He wished to create the perfect democratic state in which all would be aware of their government and have the mental capability to understand its function. The people then could be trusted with their own government. Above all he believed that the power of the people when properly educated is a power that is rivaled by none other. "Above all things I hope the education of the common people will be attended to.

Educate and inform the whole mass of the people. Enable them to see that it is to their interest to preserve peace and order and they will preserve them. They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty. Karl Lehmann, Thomas Jefferson, American Humanist. (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1947), pp. 189. Letter to William Short, with a syllabus; Monticello, Oct. 31, 1819.

(New York: The Macmillan Company, 1947). Pp. 190. James Wise, editor, Thomas Jefferson, Then and Now, 1743-1943, A National Symposium. (Bill of Rights Ses qui-Centennial Committee, 1943). Letter to Martha Jefferson. May 21, 1787 Letter to Martha Jefferson.

Nov. 28, 1783 Chronology given by Dr. Lowell Catlett, New Mexico State University. Garrett Sheldon, The Political Philosophy of Thomas Jefferson. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991), pp. 62. Bill for the General Diffusion of Knowledge; Thomas Jefferson. (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991), pp. 63. Ibid., pp. 63.

Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge - Thomas Jefferson. Josephus Daniels in Thomas Jefferson, Then and Now, 1743-1943, A National Symposium.