[Siamese Princess]

I don't know when government began the funding or regulation of public schools, but I know as sure as I'm sitting here that lessons in Christianity were taught in our schools in the very early 1800's. I've seen, read, and sold the books.

The original McGuffey Readers, published in the mid-1830s, were unabashedly Protestant. The second edition, published in the 1870s, was less religious (probably because of the influx of Roman Catholics into the US) but still moralistic. They were in use until 1920s.

[TheCrusader]

"The original McGuffey Readers, published in the mid-1830s, were unabashedly Protestant"

I've seen these, (sold a couple on eBay long ago). They even said a few nasty things about 'popery'.

[MayflowerMadam]

In the '50s and '60s, we had song books in Music class in NY State public school. About 25% of the songs were Protestant hymns.