ABSTRACT
Benjamin Franklin, perhaps more than any other colonial American, stressed the importance of education 'as the surest foundation of the happiness of both private families and commonwealths'. This chapter discusses not only Franklin's influence but how education developed in each section of the colonies, and the growth and evolution of higher education. In the English tradition, education was considered the responsibility primarily of the family and secondarily of the church. The southern colonies followed this pattern most closely. In New England a combination of factors facilitated the transition from old English educational tradition to the American emphasis on formal schooling. The middle colonies were famous for the quality of their private schools particularly those located in Philadelphia. Probably five-sixths of the approximately 3,000 living graduates of colonial colleges chose in 1776 to support and lead the American Revolution; and 22 of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence had graduated from colonial colleges.
