HORACE MANN ON EDUCATION AND NATIONAL WELFARE
.... According to the European theory, men are divided into classes,—some to toil and earn, others to seize and enjoy. According to the Massachusetts theory, all are to have an equal chance for earning, and equal security in the enjoyment of what they earn. The latter tends to equality of condition; the former, to the grossest inequalities. Tried by any Christian standard of morals, or even by any of the better sort of heathen standards, can any one hesitate, for a moment, in declaring which of the two will produce the greater amount of human welfare, and which, therefore, is the more conformable to the divine will? The European theory is blind to what constitutes the highest glory as well as the highest duty of a State....
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Education then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is a great equalizer of the conditions of men,—the balance wheel of the social machinery. I do not here mean that it so elevates the moral nature as to make men disdain and abhor the oppression of their fellow men. This idea pertains to another of its attributes. But I mean that it gives each man the independence and the means by which he can resist the selfishness of other men. It does better than to disarm the poor of their hostility toward the rich: it prevents being poor. Agrarianism is the revenge of poverty against wealth. The wanton destruction of the property of others -- the burning of hay-ricks, and corn-ricks, the demolition of machinery because it supersedes hand-labor, the sprinkling of vitriol on rich dresses -- is only agrarianism run mad. Education prevents both the revenge and the madness. On the other hand, a fellow-feeling for one's class or caste is the common instinct of hearts not wholly sunk in selfish regard for a person or for a family. The spread of education, by enlarging the cultivated class or caste, will open a wider area over which the social feelings will expand; and, if this education should be universal and complete, it would do more than all things else to obliterate factitious distinctions in society...
Source: Horace Mann, twelfth annual report to Massachusetts Board of Education.
Horace Mann, known as the father of American education, wrote this document while he was Secretary of Massachusetts State Board of Education addressing the board. He wrote it just as an annual report to reflect on the state of the schools in Massachusetts and inform the other board members. Written by the leader of the education reform, this document can be trusted and gives us a good picture of Horace's job. At the time when this was produced, the education reform was beginning with Horace Mann at the forefront, trying to create the public school system we have today. The document shows us that Horace had a position of power in the board and was trying to influence other members. Also, we see that the European way was to have people divide into a class system. This document is just the tip f the iceberg when it comes to education reform, there are many more aspects of the reform that are not covered by the document. In writing this report, Horace is trying to convince the school board that education must be given fairly to each student and everyone must have the same opportunities in the public school system. Mann says "all are to have an equal chance for earning, and equal security in the enjoyment of what they earn." This means that everyone is equal in their education. Horace speaks very eloquently and his words are very powerful which illustrates how much he cares about creating equality in education. Although the education reform was much more than this, the document gives great insight into Horace's ideals.
