Representative James A. Garfield. later President of the Uffited States. sponsor of the education - bill acknowledged the wellunderstood idea thatOur system of government Is based upon the Intelligence of the people. He pointed to the high rate of illiteracy as shown in the 1860 census. including the Americanborn. and to the "onethird of a million immigrants who enter our country annually." most of whom were uneducated. The illiteracy problem "has been swelled by the 4 million slaves admitted to citizenship by the event of the Civil War." he said. "We must pour upon them all the light of our public schools" or the alternative would be disastrous for the Nation. He urged the Congress. by passage of the bill. "to foster and strengthen those educational agencies which alone can shield the coming generations from ignorance and vice. and make it the impregnable bulwark of liberty and law." Commissioner Barnards first report to Congress the following year bore out many of these fears and misgivings.
Identified stereotypes
Immigrants are described as uneducated and contributing to illiteracy.