Of the intellectuals, no one would exemplify this philosophy more than Benjamin Rush. Similar to many of the American intellectuals, Rush wanted to produce a new generation of highly educated and politically active young men with formal republican education; “republican machines” as he would come to call them. He truly believed that educating the youth through a uniform system of public schools would be crucial for the birth a new American culture, “This must be done if we expect them to perform their parts properly in the great machine of the government of the state” (115). Rush would compile these thoughts into an incredible and revolutionary essay, “Thoughts upon the Mode of Education Proper in a Republic”. The obstacles Rush faced dealt primarily with how to assess what personal liberties students should have. Although brilliant in many respects, if one were to read carefully they would begin to see several issues in Rushes
Of the intellectuals, no one would exemplify this philosophy more than Benjamin Rush. Similar to many of the American intellectuals, Rush wanted to produce a new generation of highly educated and politically active young men with formal republican education; “republican machines” as he would come to call them. He truly believed that educating the youth through a uniform system of public schools would be crucial for the birth a new American culture, “This must be done if we expect them to perform their parts properly in the great machine of the government of the state” (115). Rush would compile these thoughts into an incredible and revolutionary essay, “Thoughts upon the Mode of Education Proper in a Republic”. The obstacles Rush faced dealt primarily with how to assess what personal liberties students should have. Although brilliant in many respects, if one were to read carefully they would begin to see several issues in Rushes