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Old-time Schools and School-
Books
1
BEGINNINGS
I
N 1642, twelve years after the settlement of Boston, the General Court of Massachusetts, " taking into consideration the great neglect of many parents and guardians in training up their children in learning and labor which may be profitable to the commonwealth," ordered that the selectmen in every town should have power to take account of all parents and masters as to their children's education and employment. Each town was to be divided by its selectmen into sections — a section to each selectman; and for the families in his apportionment the selectman was responsible. He must see that all the children learned to read, and that they were taught to understand the principles of religion and the capital laws of the country, and, finally, he must make sure that they were put to some useful work.
The education required could be provided by the individual parents in their homes, or it could be provided in any manner they chose to devise col-
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