tional defense and economic development. Trained 
manpower—marine and otherwise—has seemed par- 
ticularly important both because of the rapid growth 
of the country, with the accompanying labor short- 
ages, and because of continuing changes in both 
military and civilian technology. This belief also 
reflects the idea, voiced most forcefully by Thomas 
Jefferson, that widely available education is vital 
to the development of a free society. Education is 
seen as the main vehicle for ensuring equal oppor- 
tunity, as well as one way to produce the informed 
and “enlightened” citizenry that is seen as vital for 
a healthy democracy. This idea of an informed and 
active citizenry is still very much with us, as seen 
in the recent public participation movement, which 
is affecting the marine field as well as elsewhere. 
Americans thus have long supported the concept 
of public education.* In addition, education policies 
also have reflected a second strong belief—the prin- 
ciple that public education primarily should be the 
responsibility of State and local governments and 
not the Federal. This has been partly for pragmatic 
reasons, particularly that State and local efforts can 
meet local needs better than the central Government 
in Washington, and partly for philosophical reasons 
based on the idea of federalism—a belief that edu- 
cation should be controlled at the lowest govern- 
mental level practical. Yet, there have long been 
important qualifications to this principle of State and 
local control, and over the years they have led to a 
strong Federal role in several parts of this Nation’s 
educational system. 
One important early theme was the role of the 
Federal Government as an employer and often fur- 
ther trainer of the professionals needed to staff the 
Federal agencies. The new Nation was large, un- 
developed, and in many places even unexplored, and 
from the earliest days of the republic the Federal 
Government was involved in surveys, public works, 
and other activities related to national development.* 
The Coast and Geodetic Survey (now the Na- 
tional Ocean Survey within NOAA) was the first 
important such agency in the marine field. As early 
as 1795, the Third Congress found that large sec- 
tions of the Atlantic Coast were inadequately sur- 
veyed. After further debate, the Coast and Geodetic 
Survey was created by the Ninth Congress in 1807. 
The National Ocean Survey continues to hire and 
help train marine scientists and other professionals.‘ 
* Encyclopedia Britannica, 1974 edition. ‘Education, History 
of,” by Adolphe E. Meyer and others. Macropedia 6: 365-367, 
381-383. 
*See chapter V, Marine Transportation, for a discussion of 
early Federal involyement in the development of the Nation’s 
Marine transportation infrastructure. 
*U.S. Department of Commerce. Annual Report of the Secre- 
tary of Commerce. Washington, D.C., Government Printing 
Office, 1976, p. 102. 
Then, in 1871, President Grant signed a bill es- 
tablishing an Office of Commissioner of Fish and 
Fisheries, creating an important source of employ- 
ment and further training for early fisheries special- 
ists. In 1885, the Commissioner established his 
headquarters at Woods Hole, Mass., creating the 
nucleus for a center of marine research and edu- 
cation.® 
A second aspect of the Federal role in education 
goes back to the beginning of the 19th century and 
the need for trained military officers. Since national 
defense was a Federal responsibility under the Con- 
stitution, President Jefferson was able to persuade 
Congress, in 1802, to establish a United States Mili- 
tary Academy at West Point. This was the first time 
that Federal funds were used in direct support of 
higher education. The Naval Academy was estab- 
lished in 1845, and the Coast Guard Academy in 
1876, confirming a national policy for training a 
sea-going officer Corps. Later naval reserve officer 
training programs were started at civilian colleges 
and universities. 
The research and training done by armed forces 
and their academies helped meet civilian as well as 
military needs. Among other things, West Point was 
the Nation’s first engineering school, and in 1824 the 
Army Civil Works Program was established for 
river and harbor projects. In the 1830s a young 
naval officer, Matthew Maury, made pioneering 
studies of winds, currents, and hydrology while on 
ocean voyages. In 1842, he was placed in charge of 
the Depot of Charts and Instruments, out of which 
grew two important centers of marine study and 
training, the U.S. Naval Observatory and the Hy- 
drology Office. Today the Navy continues to train 
marine specialists; many of the people now in the 
civilian ocean agencies, universities, and private 
companies at one time or another received training 
or experience while working with the Navy. 
A third major theme of the Federal role in edu- 
cation also developed around 1800—the principle that 
limited Federal assistance to States and localities is 
appropriate in certain cases where State resources 
are lacking. First, the Ordinance of 1787 reserved 
a plot of land in every prospective township west 
of the Alleghenies for the support of education, a 
step that became a precedent for national educational 
aid. Then, in 1862 the Morrill Act granted public 
land to every State establishing a public agricultural 
college. While the aim was to support agriculture 
and mechanics, the Act not only set a precedent for 
Federal support of civilian higher education, but also 
provided the model for the Sea Grant Program of 
a century later.® 
5 Ibid., pp. 108-109. 
° Adolphe E. Meyer and others, op cit. note 2, p. 365. 
VIII-5 
