Attempting to create a successful education system in Colonial America was exceedingly difficult. The main reason being that the colonists were more concerned with finding a way to stay alive than educating their children in the way that we do today. In fact, the reason that so many of them were literate in the first place was because of religion. The colonists, especially the individuals in the Northern colony, wanted everybody to be able to read so they could understand the Bible. This is basically the reason why an education system was considered to be a very important addition to the colonies.

However, as stated above, the will to live was much more important to them, which is why it took until the 19^th century for schools to spread across the United States. Yet, the children at this time had the chance to learn a different type of education. From their parents they learned about cultivation, agriculture, and the willingness to work. In fact, it was believed that since there was an abundance of land, if a man was willing to work hard to make a living, and with a little luck, he would succeed. It was common to think that if a man was impoverished, or poor, it was because he was lazy. There were so many rich resources available to every working man, that learning how to use it was necessary. This was ultimately what education was in the very beginning, it was learning how to work the land successfully.

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