Jefferson, Thomas (1743–1826)

Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge

Shortly after authoring the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson returned to Virginia in the fall of 1776 to resume his duties as a legislator. Clearly dissatisfied with the state of affairs under which the colony had been governed, Jefferson proposed that a committee be formed to study the laws of colonial Virginia and indicate which should be continued, modified, or repealed in order to suit the needs of a more democratic society. Jefferson was appointed to head the committee that 3 years later presented a package of 126 bills to the legislature. One of the bills considered by Jefferson to be among the most important was Bill 79, a Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge.

By authoring this bill, Jefferson set in motion a challenge to the laissez-faire tradition of considering education as a private matter to be determined by the financial means and interests of the family or, in some instances, the charity of a local benefactor or church. Believing that in a republican society equality of opportunity and access to education should be provided by the state, Jefferson proposed that every county in Virginia should be subdivided into “wards” that would function as “little republics.” Local citizens in these wards would supply funds to provide for elementary schools to which all free children, male and female, would be admitted without charge. Schooling at this level would supposedly equip all citizens with the basic literacy and computational skills they would need in order to manage their own affairs [Page 488]and to know and exercise their rights. As seen by Jefferson, education should be a public investment in the possibility of self-government and human happiness at both the individual and the societal level.

...