class, out of every 23 who can neither read nor write, 20 are
white. In the Southern class, out of every 42 who can neither read nor
write, 15 are white. Thus it can be seen that the white illiterates of
the United States outnumber those of all the other races together. It
might be profitable to the gentlemen who, upon every convenient
occasion, rail about "the deplorable ignorance of the blacks," to look
up this question a little![117]

The Colored people have made wonderful progress in educational matters
since the war. Take a few States for examples of what they are doing.
In Georgia, in 1860, there were 458,540 slaves. In 1870 there were 87
private schools, 79 teachers with 3,021 pupils. Of other schools, more
public in character, there were 221, with an attendance of 11,443
pupils. In 1876 the Colored school population of this State was
48,643, with 879 schools; and with 55,268 pupils in public and private
schools in 1877.

In South Carolina, in 1874, there were 63,415 Colored children
attending the public schools; in 1876 there were 70,802, or an
increase of 7,387.

In Virginia, in 1870, there were 39,000 Colored pupils in the schools,
which were few in number. In 1874 there were 54,941 pupils; in 1876
there were 62,178, or again of 7,237. In 1874 there were 539 teachers;
in 1876 there were 636, or an increase of 97. In 1874 there were 1,064
schools for Colored youth; in 1876 there were 1,181, or an increase of
117.

In the District of Columbia, in 1871, there were 4,986 Colored
children in 69 schools, with 71 teachers. In 1876, of Colored schools
in the District, 62 were primary, 13 grammar, and 1 high, with an
enrolment of 5,454.

The following statistics exhibit the wonderful progress the Colored
people of the South have made during the brief period of their freedom
in the department of education. These tables come as near showing the
extent, the miraculous magnitude of the work, as is possible.

COMPARATIVE STATISTICS OF EDUCATION AT THE SOUTH.

_Table showing comparative population and enrolment of the White and
Colored races in the public schools of the recent slave States, with
total annual expenditure for the same in 1879._

White. Colored.
States. ------------------------ -----------------------
[A] [B] [C] [A] [B] [C] [D][a]
Alabama 214,098 106,950 50 162,551 67,635 42 $3