Lessons learnt from the past: a comparative investigation of inequality and public education in the USA, Mexico, and Argentina during the colonial period.

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the development of human capital in the Americas from 1600 until 1900. It emphasizes the effects social and economic inequality have had on public education development. By comparing and contrasting the cases of the USA, Mexico, and Argentina during the colonial period, it finds inequality in the distribution of political power the most plausible cause for the prevention of public education development.