History of Education
There were some things on the timeline that I was unsure about and knew that I needed to study more about them and as I did, I read up on Thomas Jefferson’s Bill for the Diffusion of Knowledge that he proposed twice, but it was not passed. Later on James Madison proposed the bill several times before revising it and then it was finally passed. What the bill states is that history has shown that when men have power in a government, the government eventually becomes corrupt. Thomas Jefferson wanted to safeguard the country against this and proposed a public education system so that the American citizens could be educated. He believed that by educating Americans about the facts about government and its history, the country would not evolve from being a great land to a corrupt country of tyranny. I feel like this was the most important development in the history of education because it proposed a basic form of the public education system. It was an idea that was not practiced by countries at that time and a major reason as to why it was so hard to pass. I believe a major reason as to why our country has progressed so quickly compared to other countries is because we have educated our citizens and for a long time believed strongly in the importance of education. Jefferson’s idea was not perfect, but it laid the groundwork for a system that could function appropriately to provide everyone with equal educational opportunities. I really like this part of the Bill that was proposed where it talks about the importance of educating all citizens and not just the wealthy; “…whom nature hath endowed with genius and virtue, should be rendered by liberal education worthy to receive, and able to guard the sacred deposit of the rights and liberties of their fellow citizens, and that they should be called to that charge without regard to wealth, birth or other accidental condition or circumstance.” Thomas Jefferson recognized the worth of each individual and their potential to be great and knowledgeable.