In these few pages, Lincoln reflects on how needed education is. He explains various subjects and how they aid the avid farmer in his daily tasks such as chemistry, botany, and natural philosophy. Lincoln thinks an uncultivated mind is a dangerous thing. He believes this will lead to a particularly grim existence. He finishes his thoughts by explaining how reading aids this process. Put together a civilized society he explains will have much less need for war. Lincoln thinks if people are educated they are much less likely to be taken advantage of. I think Lincoln was correct in his assumption. Education has been and I believe will continue to be a key role in American society. Thinking of a population of uneducated minds is a scary thing I think, as did Lincoln.
Kristy,
ReplyDeleteYou're right about L's focus on education -- similar to Jefferson in a way. I would have liked you to tie it a little more, though, to his topic in the speech -- a vision of social mobility for workers versus a fixed class system.
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