What Are Thomas Jefferson's Views On Education

Jefferson and his Model
Thomas Jefferson is thought to be a mass of contradictions. His views on slavery, religion, and education greatly puzzle those who analyze his life. From the time Thomas Jefferson was elected to the Continental Congress in 1775, he astounded America with his vast ideas and expertise. Some perceived Jefferson as a radical atheist because of his views on education, though he had purposeful equality in mind. No American Founding Father is so controversial and honored. Most know of his accomplishments as a writer and president, but deep in his array of feats lie his views on education. His life’s work and plans for public education shaped America forever.

Jefferson in Summary
Thomas Jefferson lived from 1743 to 1826. In

They saw the people as the dictators of the government, not the government as a dictator to the people. Jefferson proposed that for America to survive, continue, and thrive, children likely to be eligible for American citizenship (white, literate males of sound reputation) should be trained in the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic, so as to be prepared to continue the democratic system the founding fathers labored to create.

Equality Driving Separation
Jefferson proposed that public education should be void of religious training, considering that for an education to be equal for all men, the basis of it could not compromise a student’s beliefs. If a student were a Catholic and could only afford the less-expensive or free public school, but the school taught protestant theology every morning, he or she would feel compromised or at least misplaced. To remedy this, Jefferson detailed a plan for schools’ separation from the church to be led and partly funded, instead, by the state or federal government. Jefferson’s main goal was equality for the vast array of Christians, not condemning or removing Christianity in or from the