https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/05/how-to-break-free-of-our-19th-century-factory-model-education-system/256881/

I believe ubiquitous government schools - especially prizing conformity, rote memorization, and obedience - have contributed to the loss of Americans' freedoms relative to prior generations.

I believe previous generations relied on tutoring and apprenticeship to a much greater degree, and the modern "standardized" model was imported from Prussia (ie the most militaristic and hierarchical part of Germany and Poland) in the late 1800s and early 1900s.