Chapter V

Democracy, Education, and Civic Morality

The author begins this chapter by asserting that education is the foundation of republican government.
Without enlightenment of the people, he writes, “democracy degenerates into license, and liberty becomes but another name for anarchy.”
Both Jefferson and Hamilton, despite their differences, recognized that an educated citizenry was the safeguard of free institutions.
Jefferson sought universal instruction through local schools, while Hamilton desired institutions of national learning that would cultivate statesmanship and discipline of thought.

Simpkins credits George Washington for embodying the harmony of these views.
In his Farewell Address, Washington urged that “virtue and morality are the pillars of political prosperity.”
Hamilton’s own advocacy for a system of public credit, balanced by Jefferson’s appeals for civic virtue, demonstrated how intellect and morality must work together to sustain the Republic.

He denounces the tendency of modern politics to substitute wealth and influence for public service,
warning that the “selfish and ambitious citizen who forgets his duty to the commonwealth becomes the enemy of republican simplicity.”
Education, therefore, must not only inform the mind but train the conscience.

Simpkins writes:

“The founders of the Republic did not intend that equality should mean the leveling of all distinctions,
but rather the equal opportunity for the development of character, that each might rise according to his merit and virtue.”

The chapter closes with a moral reflection drawn from John Adams, who declared that “our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people; it is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
To this Simpkins adds:

“When virtue fails, law becomes powerless.
When conscience sleeps, liberty dies.”

“The liberty of the people is not secured by the ignorance of their rulers, but by the intelligence of their citizens.” — Jere T. Simpkins