In an interesting essay on religion and the American schools Robert Coughlan has made the observation that the rise of the nonsectarian public schools prepared the way for the development of a “vast, new, and profoundly sectarian school system—the parochial schools of American Catholics.” This movement was a consequence of the large immigration of Catholics, the prohibition of public support of sectarian schools in state constitutions, and the vigorous efforts of the Catholic hierarchy after the 1884 decree, which motivated the building of parochial schools.