could. On the frontier, however, Charles Woodmason reported, “I have not
yet met with one literate, or travel’d Person.” Schooling was an urban activ-
ity. More schooling was offered in Boston than elsewhere; its schools were
generously supported by the annual town meetings and enrolled perhaps as
many as 700 students. Colleges, which were more or less the equivalent to
modern high schools, were opened on the East Coast; they included
Harvard, the College of New Jersey (later called Princeton), King’s College
(later called Columbia), and William and Mary. For advanced education,
particularly in law and medicine, the more affluent people sent their sons
back to England or Scotland. Philadelphia had twenty-six lawyers who had
read law there, and even the more rural southern states were well repre-
sented. Fifty-eight students went to England or Scotland from South
Carolina, forty-three from Virginia, thirty-three from Maryland, eleven from
Georgia and eight from North Carolina. Between 1760 and the outbreak of
the Revolution, a total of 115 young Americans went to London to read law
at the Inns of Court. Some, including the great Pennsylvanian writer,
lawyer, and statesman John Dickinson, later played an important part in the
events leading to the Revolution.
In the more settled areas, even modest households boasted (usually at
the time of death in wills) “libraries” that might contain as many as fifteen
or twenty books. By mid-century, bookselling was a prosperous trade.
Philadelphia and Boston were the leaders, with about fifty bookstores each.
Books on theology were common, but “almanacks” were also widely read.
Families were often isolated and had to rely upon themselves, so “how to
do it” books were as popular then as today. Since doctors were few and the
nearest doctor might be days of horseback riding away, what to do about
aches and pains could become literally a matter of life or death for the
patient. As literacy increased and the relationship with England was
debated, histories and political tracts were also widely circulated.
Books were expensive. So, in 1731, Benjamin Franklin led the way to
form lending libraries. Already popular in England, their worth slowly
came to be recognized in America. Other private initiatives were taken to
spread information and opinion to inform. In 1772, the Boston bookseller
and printer John Boyle offered an edition of Montesquieu’s Spirit of the
Lawsat a 40 percent discount because he thought it “ought to be in
The Growth of the Colonies 153