# State Education and the 19th Century Voluntaryist Movement

**URL:** <https://www.libertarianism.org/videos/state-education-19th-century-voluntaryist-movement>

**By** George H. Smith

**Published:** October 1, 1981

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George H. Smith shares with the audience his discovery of the writings of the 19th-century voluntaryists in England.

George H. Smith was formerly Senior Research Fellow for the Institute for Humane Studies, a lecturer on American History for Cato Summer Seminars, and Executive Editor of Knowledge Products. He authors a weekly essay series, _Excursions_, at Libertarianism.org.

In this lecture from a Center for Libertarian Studies conference in 1981, Smith shares with the audience his discovery of an entirely new body of libertarian literature: the writings of the 19th-century voluntaryists in England, particularly their insistence on a separation between the church and the state and their writings about resisting a British state education system.