What is most impressive in the McGuffey readers is the morality. From the First
reader through the Sixth, the morality is pervasive and insistent, there is
rarely a page but addresses itself to some moral problem, points up some moral
lesson - industry, sobriety, thrift, propriety, modesty, punctuality - these
were essential virtues and those who practiced them were sure of success...the
world of the McGuffeys was a world where no one questioned the
truths of the Bible, or their relevance to everyday conduct.
This evaluation of the McGuffey readers by Henry Steele Commanger, a Columbia University and Harvard historian, educator and scholar, confirms that America and its schools once had a Biblical foundation which shaped the nation's culture and way of life. The books and the schools promoted character, responsibility and achievement. We can agree that that it will be hard to find men with the wisdom, courage, ethics and selflessness of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin or Abraham Lincoln among the political leaders of today.
America was once a society which had its roots in the Bible. The founding fathers were the product of western civilization. That civilization developed over several centuries after Gutenberg invented the printing press and published the Bible. In a Bible-based society, America grew great on a foundation of basic concepts. They were proclaimed in the nation's churches and taught in the nation's homes and schools.
For more than half the century, textbooks and other curriculum materials produced under humanist control have attacked and undermined the foundational concepts. We want our country back!
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