From Prussia with Love: A History of the Factory Model of American EducationPublic education in the United States is modeled after the education system of 18th-century Prussian factory style that hinders creativity and academic excellence. success. To understand the roots of modern mass education, one must begin in Prussia. In 1806, the nation-state suffered a major military blow and Napoleon's army conquered much of its territory. The Prussian government decided that the way to overcome its loss and create a stronger, unified state was through education, and whether or not thanks to this idea Napoleon's army was eradicated in the War of liberation of 1813-1815 (Cubberly 456). . The beginnings of the Prussian tradition of systematic education, however, were much older. The Prussian king, Frederick William I, father of Frederick the Great, created the first system of compulsory public education in 1717 with the promulgation of a law on compulsory attendance from five to twelve years of age (Alexander 9). In 1763, Frederick the Great published the first regulatory school code, called the General Regulations for Elementary Schools and Teachers in Prussia. The code established the main rules for how schools were to be run across the nation-state, many of which are reminiscent of rules in American school codes today. Some of the points addressed in the regulations included compulsory attendance, graduation requirements, class hours, census and school records, teacher requirements and licenses, uniform textbooks, and annual inspection (Cubberly 458 -466). Highly standardized Prussian schools were supposed to standardize the population in accordance with the government. In his doctoral dissertation, Thomas Alexander describes the Prussian method as a ...... middle of article ...... of educational practice, theory and organization. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1920. Print. Kenny, Charles. “The Real Reason America’s Schools Stink.” Bloomberg Business Week. Bloomberg, August 19, 2012. Web. April 17, 2014.McPherson, Guy R. Letters to a Young Scholar. Np: Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2006. Print. “National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) – 120 Years of Literacy.” National Center for Education Statistics. Ed. Tom Snyder. US Department of Education, nd Web. April 17, 2014.The Odysseus group. “Chapter 7 – The Prussian Connection.” Frankenstein's Land - John Taylor Gatto. The Odysseus Group, 2003. Web. April 19, 2014.PBS. “Pioneers of the School: Horace Mann.” PBS. PBS and Web. April 19, 2014.Rose, Joel. “How to free ourselves from our 19th century factory model education system.” The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, May 9, 2012. Web. April 19. 2014.