Author: George R. Stetson

Publisher:

Published: 2015-07-06

Total Pages: 26

ISBN-13: 9781330797778

Excerpt from The Problem of Negro Education Of all the questions which disturb the mental equanimity of the patriotic and thinking citizen of our Republic, none is looming in his horizon with a more lurid and portentous aspect than the black cloud of illiteracy which is rapidly spreading over the country, and especially resting upon the Southern States of the Union. Compared with it as an element of vital danger to the Republic, Mormonism, communism, and socialism, sink into obscurity. In spite of all public and private effort, and "all the appliances of education, the increase of illiterate voters in the South from 1870 to 1880 was 187, 671," and, adds President Hayes, "In more than one third of the Union the ignorant voters are almost one third of the total number of voters." The great factor in this illiteracy of the South is the negro. By the proclamation of President Lincoln in 1863 upwards of four millions of slaves were suddenly made free, and shortly after nearly one million were clothed with the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of American citizenship. With no correct notions of morals or religion, no accurate conception of the positive duties arising from citizenship, improvident and ignorant, the race was, and still is, entirely unprepared for the responsible duties of freemen; and, naturally, when called upon to govern, or to hold offices of trust, it has signally failed. The negro is not to blame for this, and is not blamed; his misfortune is understood, and by those who knew him best his failure was foreseen. The only way out of the unfortunate dilemma, or of ameliorating the condition in which the country is placed by the thrusting upon it of this mass of ignorance, is by education: an education both mental and moral. But here we are confronted by the great and all-important question: How shall the education of the negro be accomplished? By the States most directly interested, alone and unassisted? This, for various reasons, is at present impossible. By the usual philanthropic efforts and methods of our religious societies? They are entirely inadequate. Shall we depend upon the individual munificence of the Peabodys, the Tulanos, and Slaters? Their princely gifts are but drops in the great ocean of our needs. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.