Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1865-09-07
Education at the south.

tlon held In Harrisburg, Par an address
was delivered by Professor j. b. Wick
ersham on Education as an Element in
the Reconstruction of the South" The
following extracts, all we can well
make room for, will be found Of inter.
est
"a system OF slavery necessarily Gre
ates three classes of persons first, q
class of rich Shareholders, second,
class of poor non-slaveholders, and
third, a class OF slaves. In the South,
these three classes have been well
marked for years. The strong hand of
war has 'emancipated the slaves, and
they are now freemen.
This act has greatly changed the con-
,dition of the blacks, but IL has left as
distinctly marked as before the two
Glasses of whites. Neither class as it is
at present. can be safe element in the
population of u republic. Many of the
late Shareholders would prefer to-day a
royalist from Europe, like Macmillan,
to rule over them, to being ruled by a
nan like Andrew Johnson, who has ris-
n, by his own native strength, up from
Il We ranks of the common people.
The class Of Shareholders are eX-
ire mely ignorant, and ready now as
the have been heretofore TO become
the tool of those cunning enough to de-
ceive them ana stronS enough 10 leao
them The freedmen have Just been
amanc ipated from bondage of more
tbant wo hundred years, and it is moth
inc IN sheir discredit that they are bad
iv nrens red TO assume at once ali the
p, respons bilities of citizens in a free
country.
To reco Instruct the Union upon firm
basis ALI hat is unfriendly to it, or that
stands in he way of its success, must
he remove, l. The hostile elements in
- +be South m ust be reconciled and the
Ventilation If the whole country must
no made hon logeneous in interest and
sympathy. ,.,
What can e. iuCaCloh 90 LOT the iate
slaveholders2 They are now what they
vere before the war and | am extremely
doubtful whetht there are any means
nv which they Ca n be made, as o class,
rood and loyal ci liens. At heart they
are still opposed to free governments
and TO the crownin g excellencies of free
oovernments-free men, free thought,
free speech and free chools.
If hardened and ! ermltted to retain
their property and the privileges of citi-
zeps, they will soon a tempt to regain
their lost power in the state and nation
al governments and to revive the arts
tocratic forms of southern society. If
pardone6, but not permitted to retain
their property or privileges as citizens,
few NAV quietly submit to what they
will consider their hard condition, some
will leave the corntry-the more the
hetter-wbile others win remain to
trouble every community ~ winch they
2 live with their illconcealed ti'SSsoh'
They have been already sadly M edu-
Gated, and they would scornfully reject
all prohers of education at our hands. |
They are thorns around which and in |
spite of which the wounds of the body |
% polite must heal. We must treat them !
like western farmers do stumps in their |
clearings-work round them and let |
them rot out. But we must not treat |
them with feeling of exultation or re- |
venge. s- .......s...
# "What can education do for the nom
slaveholding whites Of the South 2 |
Among this class there are some lntelli-
gent men, but the great majority are de-
plorably ignorant; more ignorant, If my |
observations are correct, than the slaves. |
1t was this ignorance that enabled the
rebel leaders to create prejudice in the
minds Of this class of persons against
the North, and to induce them to enlist
In their service, though their real inte-
rests were against the Shareholders, and |
with the laboring men of the North. |
Where the interests were unders TODD, !
they remained loyal to the government.
' No State that passed an act of seces-
sion should be allowed to take its former
place in the Union without having first
incorporated into its Constitution pro-
: vision for the establishment of a free
school system. And / trust petition
will emanate from this body, asking the
President to recommend this policy, and |
that like petitions will be sent to Con-
gress. A republican system of govern
rnent cannot exist without free schools.
A republic must make education univer- ,
sal among its people. Ignorant voters
endanger liberty.
In one of his speeches, some time ago, |
Wendell Phillips said that Behind every |
one of Graut's cannon there should be |
q placed a school. house ) but now, If our
rulers are wise, since they are ordering
the cannon to the rear, they will make
ass haste to order school houses to the
front. Educate the whole people of the !
South, and those Vaccinations will |
4. prove abortive; the rule Of the naughty |
ae slave lord will pass away.
What can education do for the freed
men of the South They are now with
out property and without that knowl-
edge and those habits of selfdirection
and self-reliance which are necessary to
secure them the comforts of life, much
less an honorable place in society. They
are ignorant, Supplemented and super
Stitious.
20 He spoke of the bravery of these men
during the war in furnishing our army
- information.
The education they need is not merely
TO read and write, but such an educa-
ton as will fit them for their new con-
dition as freemen and citizens. The sys-
= tenn must be general and systematic 1t
will require an army OF superintendents
and teachers. The Freedmens Associa-
=.