t to the efforts which were put forth
in their behalf. There is much evidence to show that they took an
active part in the establishment[11] and the maintenance of schools
for their children. In those districts in which Negro schools were
maintained and an honest effort was made to better the conditions of
the Negroes, they responded heartily to their opportunities. The
following quotations are typical of the reports which the
superintendents in those counties were able to make in 1874: "In most
of the townships a commendable interest is manifested in the support
of Negro schools, which I am happy to report, is appreciated by the
Negroes[12] themselves. The schools have been well attended with
considerable diligence manifested by the pupils." A.A. Neal,
Superintendent of Pettis County, reported:[13] "The Negro schools are
doing better than could be expected under existing circumstances." The
Superintendent of Bay County said:[14] "The Negro schools have been
well attended. The pupils have manifested great enthusiasm, and have
made surprising advancement in the rudiments." _The Journal of
Education_[15] which was printed in St. Louis, by J.B. Merwin in 1869,
states: "It is a well known fact that our Negro population manifests
the greatest zeal in taking advantage of every opportunity for
acquiring education."

At the beginning of this period, popular opinion concerning free
public schools in general and Negro schools in particular was not
favorable. The school laws of the State were in advance of the people.
These laws[16] were the product of a few statesmen who appeared at
intervals, and who, in spite of well known social protests, pushed
forward with great energy school laws modeled after those of the more
progressive eastern States.[17] The State Superintendent complained in
his report for 1867 that in those counties in which the southern
sympathizers predominated, the people were either wholly negligent or
bitterly opposed to their public school right. Three classes of
opposers were enumerated;[18] those who believed that the public
schools tended to foster infidelity, those who believed that the
State, the county or a municipal body had no right to tax for
educational purposes, and those who regarded as unnecessary any
education beyond reading, writing, and simple arithmetic. In March of
the year 1866, four months after the constitution of 1865 had gone
into effect, of the thirty-four Negro schools[19] in the State