In his first annual address to Congress in 1790, President Washington stated the following, documented as recorded. Fitting for what is happening today.
Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness. To the security of a free Constitution it contributes in various ways. By convincing those who are intrusted with public administration, that every valuable end of Government is best answered by the enlightened confidence of the people: and by teaching the people themselves to know and to value their own rights; to discern and provide against invasions of them; to distinguish between oppression and the necessary exercise of lawful authority; between burthens proceeding from a disregard to their convenience and those resulting from the inevitable exigencies of Society; to discriminate the spirit of Liberty from that of licentiousness, cherishing the first, avoiding the last, and uniting a speedy, but temperate vigilance against encroachments, with an inviolable respect to the laws.
In other words, a well-educated citizenry is essential to maintain both the law and liberty and for having the ability to distinguish between liberty and license. This discernment comes through education. Washington insisted that religion and morality were integral to a sound education.
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