[Joe]

The U.S. at the turn of the 20th Century invested in state universities, or land grant colleges, in all forty-eight states. We also created special "teacher colleges" to churn out teachers for a nation-wide, standardized, free, public school system.
England, by contrast, developed a generous welfare system - which came to named as "The Dole" to give out money and assistance without much proof of need. They were more concerned with preserving the class structure, and fearful of possible upward mobility of the lower classes.
Within a generation, the U.S. supplanted England as the richest, most powerful nation.