James Buchanan

(1791-1868. Statesman; Fifteenth President of the United States)

My present purpose is to advocate that system of common education which, like the light of heaven, extends its advantages to all; and which will tend to make every citizen of this vast Republic wiser and better, more sensible of the blessings of civil and religious liberty which he enjoys, and more firm and determined in defending them against every attack.-Address on the Establishment of Common Schools, June 1828. Works, I, p. 371. Moore ed. Philadelphia and London, 1908.

Education lies at the very root of all our institutions; it is the foundation upon which alone they can repose in safety. Shall the people be educated? is a question not of mere policy, but it is a question of life and death, upon which the existence of our present form of government depends. . . . It is scarcely necessary to observe, before this enlightened audience, that it would be at war with the vital principle of our Republic to confine education to any particular class. Where there is universal suffrage, there ought to be universal education. These are the main pillars upon which our temple of liberty rests. . . . The next question which demands our consideration is, Ought common schools to be established by law, for the education [of] the people? To answer this question will be but an easy task. The history of the world has established the truth of the position that there is no other effectual method of imparting education to all but by means of public schools.--Works, I, pp. 373 74.

Abraham Lincoln

(1809-1865. Lawyer and Statesman; Sixteenth President of the

United States)

Upon the subject of education, not presuming to dictate any plan or system respecting it, I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we as a people can be engaged in. That every man may receive at least a moderate education, and thereby be enabled to read the histories of his own and other coun

tries, by which he may duly appreciate the value of our free institutions, appears to be an object of vital importance, even on this account alone, to say nothing of the advantages and satisfaction to be derived from all being able to read the Scriptures and other works, both of a religious and moral nature, for themselves.

For my part, I desire to see the time when education-and by its means morality, sobriety, enterprise, and industry-shall become much more general than at present, and should be gratified to have it in my power to contribute something to the advancement of any measures which might have a tendency to accelerate that happy period. Address to the People of Sangamon County, Mar. 9, 1832. Complete Works of Abraham Lincoln, I, p. 7. Ed. by J. G. Nicolay and John Hay. New York [C1894].

The old general rule was that educated people did not perform manual labor. They managed to eat their bread, leaving the toil of producing it to the uneducated. This was not an insupportable evil to the working bees, so long as the class of drones remained very small. But now, especially in these free States,

nearly all are educated quite too nearly all to have the labor of the uneducated in any wise adequate to the support of the whole. It follows from this that henceforth educated people must labor. Otherwise education itself would become a positive and intolerable evil. No country can sustain in idleness more than a small percentage of its numbers. The great majority must labor at something productive. From these premises the problem springs, "How can labor and education be the most satisfactorily combined?"

By the "mud-sill" theory it is assumed that labor and education are incompatible, and any practical combination of them impossible.

But free labor says, "No." Free labor argues that as the Author of man makes every individual with one head and one pair of hands, it was probably intended that heads and hands should cooperate as friends, and that that particular head should direct and control that pair of hands. As each man has one mouth to be fed, and one pair of hands to furnish food, it was probably intended that that particular pair of hands should feed that particular mouth—that each head is the natural guardian, director and protector of the hands and mouth inseparably connected with it; and that being so, every head should be cultivated and improved by whatever will add to its capacity for performing its charge. In one word, free labor insists on universal education.—Annual Address before the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, Milwaukee, Wis., Sept. 30, 1859. In Complete Works of Abraham Lincoln (Speeches, Letters, and State Papers), I, p. 582. Ed. by J. G. Nicolay and John Hay.

Andrew Johnson

(1808-1875. Governor of Tennessee; Seventeenth President of the

United States)

It must be apparent to all, that our present system of common school education falls very far short of coming up to the imperative commands of the Constitution. If the law establishing our system of common schools had been perfect in all its details, the common school

fund has been heretofore wholly inade

quate to put it into practical and efficient operation throughout the State. At the present period, and for a long time past, our common schools have been doing little or no good, but, on the contrary, have, in many instances and in different parts of the country, been rather in the way than otherwise, preventing the people from getting up and having schools upon their own responsibility, and at their own expense. The time has surely arrived when the Legislature and the people should lay hold of this important subject with a strong and unfaltering hand. All very readily concur in the opinion that something ought to be done to promote the cause of education, and still there are no effective steps taken. . . . The great difficulty that seems to have been in the way, and the excuse for doing nothing more than we have done, is, that we have had no means. . . If we are sincere in what we profess for the cause of education, we should, without hesitation, provide means to accomplish it. There is one way, if no other, that the children of the State can be educated, which is obvious to all, and that is, to levy and collect a tax from the

people of the whole State, or to authorize the county courts, separately, to do so in their respective counties, in such manner as may be deemed by them most acceptable to the people, sufficient in amount, when added to our present school fund, to give life and energy to our dying or dead system of common school education.

Upon the increase and diffusion of education among the great mass of people, and the elevation of labor, depends, to a very great extent, the perpetuity of our free institutions.-An address delivered Dec. 19, 1853, before the Senate and House of Representatives of Tennessee. Senate Journal (Tenn.) 1853 54, pp. 296-97.