Religion and Education in the Northwest Ordinance (1787)

Prior to the ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1788, the Congress of the Confederation passed the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. This act created the Northwest Territory that included what is now Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and part of Minnesota. The newly formed federal government then renewed the Northwest Ordinance in 1789.

Without going in depth into the ordinance, I want to note the reference to education in Article 3 of the the Northwest Ordinance of 1787:

Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.

Seeing that Michigan was part of the Northwest Territory, it should not come as a surprise that this was—and still is—quoted verbatim in the Michigan Constitution, Article 8.

Religion Is Necessary to Good Government

Now, I do not think religion must (or should) be run by government. However, I think this line about education in the ordinance is spot on. “Religion” is “necessary” to good government and the happiness of man.

Sadly, many schools today have sought to detach school from religion and morality, leaving only knowledge (and even this is being lost!). This effort to leave religion out of education has been an epic disaster. Young people are taught information with no foundation in which to base it.

Education has always been linked with religion (and thus morality), including in early America. Only modern secularism has sought to separate the two, and this has been a dismal failure. Public schools now teach children that God and the Ten Commandments are irrelevant to life—and no one should be surprised when they live like it.

How Government Can Encourage Education

Because religion is necessary to good government and man’s happiness, schools and education should be encouraged by the government. But ironically, the government has done the exact opposite of “encouraging” education by setting up its own school system. And this school system has banned religion! It has banned the very thing the Northwest Ordinance said is necessary for good government.

Instead of the government running the schools—as is the case with public schools—the government should free people up to run private schools. If the government wants to “encourage” true education, it should just get out of the way.

Decrease taxes, stop running schools, and give tax exemptions and benefits to those who run schools subject to the market. Then do what government is supposed to actually do by punishing and preventing violence and theft, thus creating a safe environment for schools. That is how government can encourage education.