It was in making education not only common to all, but in some sense compulsory on all, that the destiny of the free republics of America was practically settled.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Lowell claims that making education universal and mandatory was the single most important decision for the future of American democracy.
- In plain terms
- Universal education settled the fate of American democracy.
- What can you take from it?
- Education is foundational to freedom.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is education the key to freedom?
- What else secures a republic?
Another view
It assumes education alone guarantees democratic success without other factors.
More from James Russell Lowell
Puritanism, believing itself quick with the seed of religious liberty, laid, without knowing it, the egg of democracy.
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