of the
masses.

The Negro having been looked upon by his master and schooled to look
upon himself and his fellow bondmen as possessing none of the
intelligence and virtues essential to success in life, there is little
wonder that a comparatively small number of freedmen took advantage of
the opportunities offered immediately after the close of the Civil War
to become land owners. Indeed, when we take into account the fact that
there was a sort of caste feeling among the slaves, with the "field
hands" as the "mud sill," and all glad of any opportunity offered to
rise above the despised position, the great wonder is that so many
were willing to continue an occupation considered so degrading. The
fact is, that it was to a very great extent simply a matter of
accepting cheerfully the inevitable that held so many of the freedmen
to the farms and to farm life.

Among the positive forces that operated in taking the Negro from the
farm there was, perhaps, none stronger than the desire to have his
children educated--the opportunity for which being very poor in the
country districts--many of the very best and most thrifty among them
left the farms for the towns and cities.

But whether on the farm or in the city, only a few years of freedom
and its attendant responsibilities were necessary to enable the more
intelligent ones of the ex-slaves to see the importance of not only
knowing something, but owning something as well, if they were to
entertain any hopes or aspirations above those of the "field hand,"
and it was from this class of Negro farm hands that the real Negro
farmer came into existence. While there were many who showed decided
intelligence, sound judgment and shrewd business sense by the manner
in which they managed their affairs, still the great masses had
arisen, if at all, only from the position of the master's farm animal
in slavery to that of his less cared for farm hand in freedom.

The condition just described represents the state of affairs during
the first few years after the war, as indeed it does present
conditions, except that the number of those who may be called farmers
is constantly increasing and the number of mere farm hands is growing
proportionately smaller. We should keep constantly in mind the
distinction between the man who tills his own land and the one who
works the land of another, the former is the farmer, the latter the
farm hand.

The distinction just noted would seem to be entirely