| Massachusetts Education Law Of 1647 |
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"It being one chiefe project of that old deluder, Satan , to keepe men from the Knowledge of the Scriptures , as in former time .... It is therefore ordered .... after the Lord hath increased [the settlement to the number of fifty howshoulders, [they] shall forthwith appoint one within theire towne, to teach all such children as shall resorte to him, to write and read ... and it is further ordered, That where any towne shall increase to the number of one hundred families or howshoulders, they shall sett up a grammar schoole for the University ." The grammar school clause mentioned in the above text was intended to prepare students to attend Harvard College , whose mission was to prepare young men for the ministry. It should be noted that as very few towns in the Massachusetts of 1647 had at least one hundred families, this law neither required towns to have schools nor for students to attend them. |
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