Old Deluder Satan Law

Among the forces that influenced British colonial life in America were an increased momentum for political self-determination, religious expression, and social change; and a desire to educate colonial children according to the principles of English society. To achieve the desired outcomes of these forces would require the unwavering commitment of every resident, all government officers, all church elders, and every parent. The common means to sustain colonial laws, religious precepts, and cultural mores would be assigned to the local school and the appointed teacher. Such was the rationale for an early attempt at educational reform—Massachusetts' Old Deluder School Law of 1647. Some historians regard the Old Deluder Law as an early step toward the beginning of public education in America.

The colonial citizenry were intent on upholding the basic tenets of Protestantism and ensuring the local schools' capacity to reinforce colonial customs. In its different forms, the religious force focused on the belief that humans could achieve, and should achieve, a higher level of perfection and moral conscience. The school was expected to function in a lockstep manner with both conventional church teachings and common laws.

Church elders and local government officers shared the belief that with continued waves of new immigrants coming to the colonies, it was the mission of schools to concentrate on reading, writing, and religious training, so as to minimize negative influences. The representatives of government and church strategically merged their interests with the passage of the Old Deluder Law, promulgated to ensure that Satan would not interfere with a child's opportunity to learn about the Bible and colonial common law.

The 1647 law established four requirements:

• (1)
  every town within the colony was to create a school, or if a school was not established, the town had to make payment to another nearby town to provide an education for their school-age children;
• (2)
  each town with 50 families or more was expected to provide a teacher for the purpose of providing instruction in reading and writing as well as in Latin; (3) each town with 100 families or more was expected to provide both an elementary [Page 676]school and a secondary school; and (4) residents were required to provide support for these schools. Some scholars have argued that the law presaged public financing of schools; others have opined that the law marked the beginning of public schools. In fact, the Old Deluder Law required no more than the selection of a teacher and support for the school, which often involved a mixture of tax and private support.

Colonial citizens were not universally concerned that Satan would lead Christians astray and “work his evil on the uneducated youth.” Indeed, many citizens did not attach a high level of importance to this law. These dissenters viewed the law in a more pragmatic way. In their view, if the town had a very small number of school-age students that was less than required by law, no effort was made to establish a local school. Some citizens were more steadfast in their rejection of the local school concept. Even if there were a sufficient number of students to require a local school, the citizens would accept a monetary fine rather than create a school. In such instances, citizens considered the monetary fine to be less burdensome than having to find a teacher. Some citizens went so far as to mislead government officers and church elders into believing they were in compliance when, in fact, the citizens were only pretending to comply. Citizens would tell the government and church leaders they had hired a teacher to provide instruction, while the town shared a teacher with another town to give the impression that the law was being followed. In reality, neither town actually had hired a teacher; instead, the citizens tried to create the perception that a full-time teacher had been hired and, as a result, each town maintained an active school. To deceive government officers and church elders even more, citizens would not hire a full-time teacher but would have school be in session only while the General Court was in session. When the Court was not in session, the citizens would not maintain a school.

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