The early Bible Commonwealth, which was to later become the United States of America, was a network of democratic communities -- small republics -- linked by a common Christian ideology, overseen by a Governor and a representative legislature which exercised civil authority by the higher laws of God. Into this framework was nestled the common schools, the original public schools, found in New England and adjoining areas into which New Englanders migrated. The Puritans created town schools to insure continuance of the Biblical commonwealth by rearing a literate community. Biblical literacy was necessary since Biblical authority ruled the community. Hebrew, Greek and Latin were studied in the New England wilderness to enhance the community's understanding of the sacred Scriptures.