Southwest High School - Roundup Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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DEMOCRACY AND EDUCATION By MARGARET FULTON In considering the subject of democracy we must not neglect the important role of education. Throughout the history of our country there has been a close relationship between the development of democracy and the advance of education. Without the basic principles of democracy, it is doubtful whether our free educational facilities could have developed to the high point that they have. While education in America has yet a long way to go to attain the ideal, we have come a long way in a comparatively short time. Since democracy is fundamentally the rule of the people, it demands for successful operation an educated people. Democracy in our country cannot take many additional steps forward unless the great number who are illiterate and who don't think for themselves is greatly reduced. A democracy in the hands of an uneducated people will inevitably degenerate into boss rule, the iirst step on the road to dictatorship. The warning given in Sinclair Lewis's It Can't Happen Here should jar every American out of any feeling of false security. In the infancy of our country a very few men understood the need for an educated people, and advocated an extensive system of free public schools. During the colonial period while we were under the rule of England, schooling for the masses was not thought important in this country. Most of the few schools that existed were private schools, supported by churches or missionary societies. The boys, except a few who could prepare for college with a tutor. received no education beyond the early teens. There were no medical schools or schools of law, and the boys who wanted to enter these professions became apprentices to a practicing doctor or lawyer. It was not considered necessary, of course, to send girls to school. The daughters of the wealthy might take lessons in French, dancing, music, and painting: but the majority of girls received no formal schooling, All that was expected of girls was to marry early after learning the household tasks from their mothers. It is difficult for us in 1940 to understand the narrow, aristocratic point of view that prompted Governor Berkeley of colonial Virginia to say, I thank God there are no free schools or printing, and I hope that We shall not have Twenty-ttbo

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and South are not enemies, but friends. Continuing he stated, We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. Thus Lincoln firmly believed in the preservation of the union, but a union based on understanding and cooperation among its several parts-not states loosely joined, but the United States. He believed in a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations. He believed that every American, every lover of liberty should have reverence for the laws. Lincoln was acquainted with the smiles and tears of a nation torn by internal strife. However, through his simplicity, his truthfulness, his wholehearted- ness, and his trust in a just God, Lincoln led his people onward to a complete victory. Little appreciated in his lifetime, as were Washington and Jefferson, Lincoln's role as savior of the Federal Union has been increasingly clear to each succeeding generation. Woodrow Wilson, student, thinker, writer, teacher, and statesman was truly a leader. In time of world strife he became the spokesman for democracy and thereby further exalted America as the champion of liberty and justice. He believed that no government could succeed without the reign of law based on the consent of the governed and sustained by the organized opinion of mankind. He also believed that world peace should be founded on the Uequality of nations and that every people should be left free to determine its own policy, its own way of development unhindered, unthreatened, unafraid, the little along with the great and powerful. At Versailles in l9l9 Wilson argued for peace without victory. However, unfortunately, this great humani- tarian viewpoint was not employed as the guiding principle in making the treaty, and thus the foundations for the present European chaos were laid. Regardless of our birthplace, regardless of our parentage We, as true Ameri- cans, should honor the memory of such leaders as Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Wilson. Vle should express gratitude for the inheritance be- queathed to us by these men, and we should highly resolve to preserve, protect. and defend this inheritance unimpaired, and pass it on to our descendents, enlarged and enriched. Virginia I:'4lmi'nxmn Twenty-one

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them these hundred years. Learning has brought disobedience and heresy and sects into the world, and printing has divulged them and libels against the best government. God keep us from both! Gradually several states passed laws requiring towns of iifty families to support an elementary school, and towns of one hundred families to support a Latin grammar school to prepare boys for college. During this period some of our famous colleges of today were established. The first three were: Harvard, which was founded in 1636, followed by William and Mary in 1690, and Yale in 1701. All the colleges formed during this period were originally limited to the training of ministers. The well-rounded curriculum of the present College of Liberal Arts has been a slow development through the years. After our independence from England, free public education became much more extensive. The influence of the new democracy was the chief factor in this progress. In the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, provision was made for public schools in the Northwest Territory, and sections of land were set aside for their support. These public schools were to be further supported by public taxation, one of the first steps of this kind. Although these schools were often taught by school masters who knew little more than their pupils, they were at least a start toward our school system of today. As a further result of democracy women gradually obtained the right to receive an education. In 1841, Oberlin College gave the first college degree to a woman, and the long, slow struggle for the recognition of the social and political equality of women had gained another victory. And so it is clear that only under the democratic spirit of American institutions could education have made such a tremendous advance. ln many of the countries of Europe today, the educational system is rigidly supervised by the government. The text-books have been so changed that their teachings are worthless in the search for truth. Propaganda has, in those coun- tries, universally replaced education. Now, at a time when democracy is so challenged by threats of oppressive and radical systems, it is the supreme duty of education to come to the aid of democracy. There are several ways in which education can be of invaluable assistance to democracy. In the first place, the masses know very little about Twenty-three