education was of primary importance to the English colonists and was conducted at home as well as in established schools. Regardless of geographic location or finances, most Americans learned to read and compute numbers. For many, the Bible and other religious tracts were their only books; however, the excellent language contained in such works usually made them good primers. Many families owned one or more of Shakespeare’s works, a copy of John Bunyan’s classic A Pilgrim’s Progress, and sometimes collections of English literary essays, poems, or historical speeches.