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That Old Deluder Satan: Puritan Emphasis on Compulsory Education - Paul Revere House
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That Old Deluder Satan: Puritan Emphasis on Compulsory Education
May 15, 2020
By Ruaidhrí Crofton
By the mid 18th century, Boston
had established itself as a
significant port within Britain’s
North American colonies. As the
town’s population reached nearly
15,000, the community boasted a
number of meeting houses for
worship, wharves and
marketplaces to accommodate
Woodcut of a schoolroom
transcontinental trade, and
courts and other colonial
government buildings from which
to maintain law and order. Perhaps more significantly, Boston was also home
to the first public school in North America. By the time a young Paul Revere
grew up in the North End, there were at least five public schools which housed
approximately 500 students within the town.[1] Revere attended the North
Writing School between the ages of seven and thirteen before transitioning into
an apprenticeship at his father’s goldsmith shop. The fact that Massachusetts
had developed a relatively extensive system of public education early in its
history can largely be attributed to the colony’s predominantly Puritan roots
and the emphasis this population placed on education as a means for
maintaining a society of laws and faith. The Puritans had relocated to North
America from England in 1630 in order to “create a utopia for the godly.”[2] As
they saw it, Massachusetts would become a colony where Puritans could live
according to their notion of God’s will and serve as a model, a “shining city
upon a hill,” for the rest of the world to follow.[3] Education would become a
key part of that plan.
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That Old Deluder Satan: Puritan Emphasis on Compulsory Education - Paul Revere House
According to Puritan beliefs, “the only source of authority was sacred scripture
itself, which all people had to read for themselves in their own language.”[4]
Similarly, it was believed that all nations existed under God’s covenant, and it
was therefore the government’s responsibility to ensure that his wishes were
followed.[5] As a result, scripture would serve as the ultimate source of moral
and spiritual guidelines for all citizens in Massachusetts Bay Colony, while laws
set forward by the colonial government were shaped to reinforce the scriptural
teachings. In theory, this system would ensure the Puritan goals of establishing
the godly society they desired. To meet this goal, the need for education quickly
became apparent. Without basic instruction in reading the English language,
many would be unable comprehend the very scripture and laws that were
intended to not only allow them to lead a godly life on Earth, but to also aid in
achieving God’s favor to secure their afterlife in Heaven. Similarly, the
perceived ever-present threat of ‘that old deluder Satan’ meant that those
without an education were less well-informed and thus more likely to be
tricked into sinning by the Devil.
The colonial government’s first attempt at ensuring compulsory public
education was the passage of the Massachusetts School Law of 1642, which
called for all citizens to “indeavour to teach by themselves or others, their
children & apprentices so much learning as may enable them perfectly to read
the English tongue, & knowledge of the Capital Lawes [sic].”[6] It also played a
role in ensuring the education of citizens in a trade by requiring “parents and
masters do breed & bring up their children & apprentices in some honest
lawful calling, labour or employment, either in husbandry, or some other trade
profitable for themselves, and the Common-wealth.”[7] Community selectmen
would enforce the measures by making routine visits to ensure the law was
being followed. Should any violations be found, the violators were subject to a
fine for minor infractions, or if deemed necessary, the complete removal of
their children or apprentices to another master to ensure their proper
instruction.[8]
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Though the first law was an important step, it was not widely enforced, leading
to the passage of a second and perhaps more well-known school law: the
Massachusetts General School Law of 1647. Dubbed “The Old Deluder Satan
Law” as a result of its first line detailing Satan’s threat to those who lacked an
education, the law would ensure that any community with fifty or more
households would “forthwith appoint one within their town to teach all such
children as shall resort to him to write and read, whose wages shall be paid
either by the parents or masters of such children.”[9] Any town exceeding one
hundred households would be required to establish a grammar school “to
instruct youth so far as they may be fitted for the university.”[10] With the
passage of this law, and the subsequent Massachusetts School Law of 1648,
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That Old Deluder Satan: Puritan Emphasis on Compulsory Education - Paul Revere House
the compulsory education of the colony’s youth would be more stringently
enforced. By mandating education as a means to ensure that colonial citizens
were able to form their own relationship with scripture, the Puritan community
broke with several of the religious denominations that they felt did not
correctly follow God’s word.[11]
Before the school laws, Boston had actually founded the first public school in
North America, Boston Latin School, in 1635. However, it was not widely
accessible to the many children who lived outside of the town, not to mention
the fact that it existed mostly as a preparatory school to further boys’ chances
of attending Harvard College. With the Massachusetts School Laws, education
became more widely available both geographically and socially. Most
communities established a new school and both girls and boys from lower
classes gained access to schooling and were expected to take advantage of it.
Children typically spent six days per week in school, with the exception of
summers, for up to seven years.[12]
The implementation of school laws also set a standard for governments to be
responsible for the education of all children within its boundaries, a task that
had previously been left to the church or private agencies.[13] The benefits of
government-mandated public schooling were soon recognized by neighboring
colonies, such as Plymouth and New Haven, which adopted similar legislation
to Massachusetts Bay.[14] In many ways, the passage of the School Laws,
though different in their reasoning, was the first step in the establishment of
universal, mandatory basic schooling that is seen throughout the United States
today. Though no longer required solely as a means to understand an
individual’s relationship with God, the influence of the Massachusetts School
Laws can still be seen in the work of public schools to create knowledgeable
citizens and rid the world of “that old deluder Satan’s” favorite vulnerability:
ignorance.
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[1] Teaford, John. “The Transformation of Massachusetts Education, 16701780.” History of Education, 1970.
[2] Richter, Daniel. Before the Revolution: America’s Ancient Pasts. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press, 2011.
[3] Morgan, Edmund S. The Puritan Dilemma: The Story of John Winthrop. New
York, NY: Pearson Press, 2006.
[4] Richter, Before the Revolution.
[5] Morgan, The Puritan Dilemma.
[6]
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That Old Deluder Satan: Puritan Emphasis on Compulsory Education - Paul Revere House
[6] Massachusetts School Law of 1642, Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1642.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Bremner, Robert. Children and Youth in America. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press, 1974.
[9] Massachusetts School Law of 1647, Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1647.
[10] Massachusetts School Law of 1647, Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1647.
[11] Ibid.
[12] “How The Old Deluder Satan Act Made Sure Puritan Children Got
Educated.” New England Historical Society. September 05, 2018.
[13] Jernegan, Marcus W. “Compulsory Education in the American Colonies: I.
New England.” The School Review. 1918.
[14] “How The Old Deluder Satan Act Made Sure Puritan Children Got
Educated.” New England Historical Society.
Ruaidhrí Crofton is an interpreter at the Paul Revere House
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