No system of education, which a freeman can accept, has yet been established, for the poor; whilst thousands of dollars of the public money have been appropriated for building colleges and academies for the rich.
No law has been passed, calculated to raise the price of the poor man’s labor; but yet, the whole community has been taxed, by heavy Tarrif duties upon foreign importations, in order that rich men may build up manufactories.
Banks and other privileged corporations are increasing without number through the land, all tending by their power to monopolize business and control the circulating medium, to strengthen the aristocracy, and reduce the power of the farmer, mechanic and laborer.
Resolutions at a Working Men’s Meeting, September 26, 1829
quoted from; Mechanics Free Press, (Philadelphia, October 24, 1829)
found in: Eugene L. Schwaab. 1952. “The Faith of Our Fathers – an anthology expressing the aspirations of the American common man 1790-1860. Edited by Irving Mark. New York, Alfred A. Knopf