Foreword; Carl F. Kaestle 1. Introduction; Benjamin Justice PART I: METHODS 2. The Mysterious No. 3; Lisa Green 3. 'Raked from the Rubbish': Stylometric Authorship Attribution and the 1795 American Philosophical Society Education Contest; Eric Strome PART II: MEANINGS 4. False Start: The Failure of an Early Race to the Top; Campbell Scribner 5. Useful Knowledge in the Early Republic; Nancy Beadie 6. Race and Schooling in Early Republican Philadelphia; Hilary Moss 7. Gender and Citizenship in Educational Plans in the New Republic; Margaret Nash 8. The Significance of the 'French School' in Early National Female Education; Kim Tolley 9. The Place of Religion in Early National School Plans; Benjamin Justice 10. The Perceived Dangers of Study Abroad, 1780-1800: Nationalism, Internationalism, and the Origins of the American University; Adam Nelson PART III: MATERIALS Essays from the American Philosophical Society Education Contest, 1795-1797 Introduction to the Essays: Reading the Late 18th century in the Early 21st; Benjamin Justice Samuel Harrison Smith, Remarks on Education Rev. Samuel Knox, An Essay on the Best System of Education Review of Essay #3 Hiram, On Education and Public Schools Academicus, Plan for the Education of Youth Hand, Concerning Education in Public Schools Freedom, Concerning Education in Pennsylvania