But in
the trans-Alleghany country north of the Ohio, and in all the territory
west of the Mississippi (practically coterminous, let me again remind you,
with that region where the French were pioneers within the present bounds
of the United States) there was practically no dissension, though the
provision was meagre at the start. The public school had no more of the
atmosphere or character of a charity, a "pauper" school than the highway
provided for out of the same grant, where rich and poor met in absolute
equality of right and opportunity. It became the pride of a people, the
expression of the people's ideal, the corner-stone of the people's hope. I
suppose that three-fourths of the children of the territory whose ranges
have been surveyed by the magic chains forged of this first great
parcelling ordinance have had the tuition of the public schools--future
Presidents of the United States, justices, railroad and university
presidents, farmers, artisans, artists, and poets alike.
So while it was desire for revenue that prompted the early sales of the
public domain in the Mississippi Valley, the nation got in return not only
means to help pay its Revolution debt, but, incidentally, settlements of
highly individualistic, self-dependent, and interdependent pioneers,
gathered about one highly paternalistic or maternalistic institution--the
public school.
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