Reply #70: John Adams rose to fame fighting King George III's attempt to shut down public education.

[ieoeja]

Before the end of the Civil War, all northern states had public education and an almost unheard of 98% literacy rate. No southern state had public education. A few even had state laws making public education illegal so no municipality or private entity could provide free education to all comers. Southern leadership was dominated by descendants of European aristocracy who wanted commoners to trust their betters and not start thinking for themselves. Literacy tests and poll taxes pre-date the Civil War and were originally intended to keep the White working class from voting.

This is one of those never ending fights.