In the late 18th century, at the climax of the American Revolution, the United States declared independence from the British, citing violation of their civic liberties. This newfound agency required a virtuous citizenry that could “bear witness to truth and right in the face of corruption,” especially as conflicts with Great Britain continued (Beadie & Burkholder, 2021). The Founding Fathers recognized the importance of educating citizenry to foster American identity and liberty, or an "education for citizenship” (Beadie, 2010). However, this education was not afforded to everyone, as traditional schooling was confined to formal, self-governing institutions like colleges, academies, and seminaries for affluent White men. Civic education at this time included an array of disciplines from drafting and voting on resolutions to political philosophy and economics. This formed a “combined reservoir of social and political capital that constituted civic education” and what it means to participate in Anglo-American livelihood (Beadie, 2010).

As American livelihood flourishes and expands, so does the classroom. Some educators, theorists, and representatives considered the value of increasing public access to education outside of self-governing institutions; these were among the early arguments for creating a public education system.

Samuel Harrison Smith, a proponent of public schooling, wrote the following excerpt on the purpose of civic education in his essay, Remarks on Education:

"The citizen, enlightened, will be a freeman in its truest sense. He will know his rights, and he will understand the rights of others; discerning the connection of his interest with the preservation of these rights, he will as firmly support those of his fellow men as his own" (Smith, 1797).

To put it simply: Smith argues that an educated citizen is vital to a healthy democracy. This was the “enlightenment logic” that made way for the first ever public high school in Boston in 1821 (Beadie & Burkholder, 2021; Herbst, 1996). Smith and other public education supporters recognized that an educated “common man,” grounded in American identity, would go on to contribute positively to this growing civil society (Beadie & Burkholder, 2021). It should be noted, though, that Smith’s definition of the “common man” was still reserved to White men, excluding all others from early American citizenry and educational access.

In the late 19th century, however, civil rights activist Frederick Douglass argued that a common civic education must include Black children:

"Let the colored children be educated and grow up side by side with White children, come up friends unsophisticated and generous childhood together, and it will require a powerful agent to convert them into enemies, and lead them to prey upon each other’s rights and liberties" (Hess, 2014).

Social reformists like Douglass believed that civil virtuosity requires integrated civic education, eliminating racial divides and uniting under a common American identity. These arguments echoed the motivations of pro-public education initiatives: when students are share civic values, they are equipped to ward against civic injustice and promote American liberty. This was the true purpose of civic education.