Massachusetts led the way in compulsion, passing the first compulsory education law in 1642 and the first compulsory school attendance law in 1852. The story we are told is that 19th century compulsory schooling was to be the "great equalizer" and that force was required for the "public good." The reality is that the chief architect of the 1852 law homeschooled his own children, and the roots of compulsory schooling were deeply anti-immigrant.