While the impact of schools in colonial America was soft before the mid-eighteenth century, devotion to education was strong and self-evident. By the early nineteenth century, schooling was well on its way to becoming universal for most children. As the nineteenth century wore on, the state became more and more involved in schooling. As taxation directed funds to state-supported Common Schools, the influence of privately financed schools began to wane. Educational choices became fewer and more costly after the mid-nineteenth century, partly due to a tax structure that left few options. Once the public tax-supported school achieved dominance compulsory school attendance laws followed in short order. Since most people were literate, and most children already attended school, why were compulsory attendance laws needed? Attendance laws were directed most specifically at deviant minorities who often did not attend public schools. If the public school was to instill the proper mores in those who might disrupt the social fabric, then that group had to be compelled to attend. However, this compulsion effectively usurped most alternatives, options, and variability in education. (Author/JG)