"The crowd was scattering away then, but Laura stood stock still. Suddenly, she had a completely new thought. The Declaration and the song came together in her mind, and she thought: God is America's king.
"She thought: Americans won't obey any king on earth. Americans are free. That means they have to obey their own consciences. No king bosses Pa; he has to boss himself. Why (she thought), when I am a little older, Pa and Ma will stop telling me what to do, and there isn't anyone else who has a right to give me orders. I will have to make myself be good.
"Her whole mind seemed to be lighted up by that thought. This is what it means to be free. It means, you have to be good. "Our father's God, author of liberty--" The laws of Nature and of Nature's God endow you with a right to life and liberty. Then you have to keep the laws of God, for God's law is the only thing that gives you a right to be free."
from Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little Town on the Prairie
Laura's political thoughts on America aside, it's how she came to those thoughts and where she takes them that's thrilling. I must say that I read this passage and I "stood stock still."
The science of relations.
All education is self-education.
The mind feeds on ideas.
I am, I can, I ought, I will.
All come together in this one short passage. The words of the Declaration of Independence and "My Country Tis of Thee" combine to give Laura one of the most profound lessons of life--in the midst of a dusty July 4th celebration, between the buggy races and the lemonade. This "completely new thought," this connection made entirely on her own, lights a fire of action and virtue that fuels and inspires her young heart.
Miss Mason doesn't claim that her methods are new or unique; rather, she looks at natural and classical patterns of learning and uses those patterns to forge her principles.
The fact that we can draw connections across broad subjects,
that if we draw those connections ourselves they are more meaningful,
that the mind subsists on a diet of ideas such as those encountered here,
that the aim of education is virtue and right action--
Laura certainly wasn't educated at a PNEU school, but she didn't have to be to provide us a perfect example of Miss Mason's educational philosophy in action.
Wonderful! What a great example of the science of relations and the CM Motto! And, would that thinking about what it means to be an American be in greater measure today. (I'll go there ...) Thanks!
ReplyDeleteWow...I've read Little House on the Prairie multiple times over the years and I can't say I remember that part! What a great example of why Commonplace Books are such a great tool to use.
ReplyDeleteSo true--I don't think I'll ever forget this section again, even though I didn't remember it at all from previous readings!
DeleteHi Celeste,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy your blog & have been quite inspired by you! Do you attempt to organize your Commonplace book or just log entries one after another?
Molly, I have a post on this very topic ready to publish later this week, so watch for that! :) Short answer: I have several commonplaces, organized by genre, but within each one, I just make entries by date. More coming soon!
DeleteI'm loooking forward to that, I've been meaning to ask the same question :-)
DeleteThank you Celeste! I just saw the entry today and I look forward to reading it.
DeleteI love that passage. Did you know that Rose Wilder Lane was heavily involved in politics and is thought to have invented the word "libertarian" and is a co-founder of the libertarian movement in America? She was a communist in her youth but after witnessing the rise of Bolshevism in Russia, revised her views completely and declared herself a "fundamental American." Anyway, I always liked that passage, but it is more significant when I read it with knowledge of Rose's history. In fact, not to discount the connection you made in the least, but I imagine the story might very well have been one influenced as much by Rose's experience as by Laura's given how closely she worked with Laura in writing the Little House books.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I did know that about Rose (she definitely had a checkered life!). Perhaps Laura mentioned to Rose this seminal moment from her young adulthood (I think of it as one of those defining coming-of-age moments), and then Rose guiding her in pinpointing the message--who knows. :) I actually find her comments about America here naive in a sort of girlish way, which is what I think she was going for--it's a realistic realization in that sense. It's just particularly lovely coming right before Mary's leaving for college, which is the "right action" for which all Laura's work is directed before and after this moment.
DeleteI found this link via AO on Twitter...of course I clicked because I can't resist a little LIW. So happy to hear *your* connections across the subjects.
ReplyDeletePeace keep you.
Thank *you* for stopping by, Kortney, from one LIW fan to another. :)
Delete