Moreover, there was a decided lowering of intellectual standards upon the part of the colonists. The hard struggle to wring a living from an unpropitious soil, and the disturbances due to wars, Indian skirmishes, and the difficulties of pioneer life greatly lessened their feeling of need for a literary training. Another reason for the educational decline was the dispersion of the population in the towns. At first, because of possible attacks by the Indians, a law forbade any dwelling to be built more than half a mile from the church and school, and not infrequently the school was equipped with a watch-tower (Fig. 22). But, as the best land near the center was more and more taken up, the towns spread out in various directions, and the intervening hills, streams, swamps, and poor roads, together with the fear of Indians and wild animals, greatly hindered those on the outskirts in reaching the church and school of the town. As a result of all these conditions, the towns, most of which had been eager to establish schools even before being compelled to do so, began to seek various methods of evading the school law without incurring the fine. The minister was at times made the nominal schoolmaster, or a teacher was even employed during the session of the ‘General Court’ (i. e., legislature) and discharged upon adjournment. Laws were enacted against these subterfuges, greater vigilance was exercised, and the fine was increased first to £10 (1671) and then to £20 (1683), with a progressive increase where the number of families ran over one hundred (1712). Thus the fine came to be almost sufficient to support a schoolmaster, and it was made more and more unprofitable for a town to disobey the law. [Sidenote: Influence of ‘dame’ and private elementary schools and of parishes.] [Sidenote: The ‘moving,’] [Sidenote: ‘divided,’] [Sidenote: and ‘district’ schools.]