On this day, June 18, in the year 1775, General George Washington rode out from Philadelphia to take command of the Continental Army in Cambridge. Washington, our first President and arguably one of the greatest proponents of education, once stated, “Knowledge is, in every country, the surest basis of public happiness.”

The American Revolution wasn’t merely a war; it was a revolution of ideas and enlightenment facilitated by education and discourse. Our forefathers were enlightened men who understood the value of an educated populace as the cornerstone of a thriving democracy.

Fast forward to the present, we grapple with a similar struggle. The ‘common core’ of our education system seems to be moving away from providing students with a comprehensive understanding of history, civics, and critical thinking skills. Instead, it leans towards information that aligns with a specific narrative, creating a generation that is potentially unaware of its own history and the principles upon which this great nation was founded.

The deliberate obfuscation and revision of history, the suppression of dissenting voices in educational institutions, and the general decline in academic standards bear eerie parallels to the control that King George III exercised over the colonies. It was a control that didn’t allow for free thought or the questioning of the monarchy, a situation that our founding fathers fought so fervently against.

In the face of this, we should remember the words of Thomas Jefferson: “Educate and inform the whole mass of the people… They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.”

To Be Continued…

Beadles

P.S. Happy Father’s Day to all you amazing Fathers out there!