I'm not so sure that's true. "Still, the opportunity to attend schools was limited. Formal schooling was largely restricted to those who could afford to pay. E

I'm not so sure that's true. "Still, the opportunity to attend schools was limited. Formal schooling was largely restricted to those who could afford to pay. Even "free" schools often required payment of tuition, and primary schools required entering students to be literate, barring children who had not been taught to read by their parents." Here's a link with period testimonials from actual early 19th century private school instructors. http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=38 http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cf...