补充22-2

The founders of the Republic viewed
their revolution primarily in political rather
than economic or social terms. And they
talked about education as essential to the
public good―a goal that took precedence
over knowledge as occupational training or
as a means to self-fulfillment or
self-improvement. Over and over again the
Revolutionary generation, both liberal and
conservative in outlook, asserted its
conviction that the welfare of the Republic
rested upon an educated citizenry and that
schools, especially free public schools, would
be the best means of educating the citizenry
in civic values and the obligations required of
everyone in a democratic republican society.
All agreed that the principal ingredients of a
civic education were literacy and the
inculcation of patriotic and moral virtues,
some others adding the study of history and
the study of principles of the republican
government itself.
    The founders, as was the case of
almost all their successors, were long on
exhortation and rhetoric regarding the value
of civic education, but they left it to the
textbook writers to distill the essence of
those values for school children. Texts in
American history and government appeared
as early as the 1790s. The textbook writers
turned out to be very largely of conservative
persuasion, more likely Federalist in outlook
than Jeffersonian, and almost universally
agreed that political virtue must rest upon
moral and religious precepts. Since most
textbook writers were New Englander, this
meant that the texts were infused with
Protestant and, above all, Puritan outlooks.
    In the first half of the Republic, civic
education in the schools emphasized the
inculcation of civic values and made little
attempt to develop participatory political
skills. That was a task left to incipient
political parties, town meetings, churches
and the coffee or ale houses where men
gathered for conversation. Additionally as a
reading of certain Federalist papers of the
period would demonstrate, the press
probably did more to disseminate realistic as
well as partisan knowledge of government
than the schools. The goal of education,
however, was to achieve a higher form of
unum for the new Republic. In the middle
half of the nineteenth century, the political
values taught in the public and private
schools did not change substantially from
those celebrated in the first fifty years of the
Republic. In the textbooks of the day their
rosy hues if anything became golden. To the
resplendent values of liberty, equality, and a
benevolent Christian morality were now
added the middle-class virtues-especially of
New England-of hard work, honesty and
integrity, the rewards of individual effort,
and obedience to parents and legitimate
authority. But of all the political values taught
in school, patriotism was preeminent; and
whenever teachers explained to school
children why they should love their country
above all else, the idea of liberty assumed
pride of place.

6..     The passage provides information that would be helpful in answering which of the following
    questions?
     (A) Why were a disproportionate share of early American textbooks written by New England
          authors?
     (B) Was the Federalist party primarily a liberal or conservative force in early American
          politics?
     (C) How many years of education did the founders believe were sufficient to instruct young
          citizens in civic virtue?
     (D) What were that names of some of the Puritan authors who wrote early American
          textbooks?
     (E) Did most citizens of the early Republic agree with the founders that public education was essential to the welfare of the Republic?

Here, how can we know B is right?Just according to "Additionally as a
reading of certain Federalist papers of the
period would demonstrate, the press
probably did more to disseminate realistic as
well as partisan knowledge of government
than the schools. " which appeared in the last paragraph? But I think the info here has nothing to do with liberal or conservative as mentioned in B? And I wonder why E is wrong?

Could any NN help me with this confuse?

Thank you!!!

Thank you!

我觉得是第2段里highlighted这句话能回答B选项的答案！