General education among free citizens creates a better understanding of the guaranteed liberties they possess. More directly, the ability to read and write proves integral for a society to endure and advance. Without a broad comprehension of what it means to be free, a society becomes more susceptible for manipulation and deceit resulting in an absence of independence and advancements in a social order.
Educating the general public allows a free country as well as its people to progress over time. Freedom from tyrannical rule or oppression from others allows people to think with a more open mind. The ability to think with an open mind allows people to analyze both sides of an issue and determine the most successful path for themselves as well as their country. Upon analyzing both sides of the issue, the general consensus can successfully weigh the positives and negatives of each side and make sound and coherent decision. A citizen of any free country enjoys the ability to examine and critique problems that might exist in their own country. The ability for all of its citizens to critique the country makes the country capable to adapt and better itself. Moreover, the more educated the general public becomes, the easier it is for the country to adjust.
Upon its inception as a nation, the United States of America has exemplified for the rest of the world how to preserve a free nation. The existing value of education in the United States and the preservation of its independence do not exist as a coincidence but as a powerful claim that the advancements in a nation and strong educational background cannot exist without the other. The creation of documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America both serve as necessary documents created by educated men. These educated men were able to step outside what they had been forced what they were forced to believe and create a state that could adapt from all they saw wrong with the, then domineering, British empire.
