The Daily clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1866-1888, 1866-12-16
rhe Education of Freedmen
THE PEOPLE OF MISSISSIPPI

Eve my views on the subject of the educa
i m of the children of our former slaves, ant
eming the matter one of great Importance
i itself beg to offer the following sugges-
i &ns for your candid and dispassiOnate con
HieratIOn:
6uaior General Wood. u. S. A, Assistant
Hn,gissioner Bureau Refugees, etc, the dis
Mruished commander of this district, re
4ntIv issued Order No. II, dated November
I offering certain facilities and funds in aiC
the schooling of colOred children, which
#nos the matter directly to the attention
I the citizens and people of this State al
he A communication addressed to me
- An eminent citizen of New York con
\ ,red with an association organized for the
Arnose of carrying out the same object, of
IL finds in aid of the same peculiar work
4 besides, the idea which has suddenly
1ed upon the great mass of our former
Is that, in some way, their children are to
Educated, and the anxiety many of them
A on the subject, united with many other
Hsideratious, lead me to answer all inqui-
III addressed to me in this formal, and, ]
H.. excusable manner.
Mbe education of the freedmen's children
Mbe common branches of learning taught
Hnr schools, is unguestiOnably a duty we
II alike to ourselves and to them. | am
NDy and painfully impressed with the dis
#ities under which thousands of the poor
M Mte children of our commonwealth suffer
4 the want of schooling. Neither class
Huld be overlooked. True philanthrophy
Isl clear its path of every obstacle in the
IN of it's proper work. and move steadily
HEard in its accomplishment till all classes
ice in the blessings of its mission.
HBs citizens, and as Christians, our
III 41v Il,
Al freedmen We understand them,
any people do. All they are to-
" above their savage ancestors, they
Ia been made by the white people of the
Ill 1t is due to you, therefore, in calling
VI attention to the new form of domestic
Al YOU are expected to bestow upon them,
AcOgnize the great and matchless advan-
u they have derived heretofore from
M guardianship. You are e'entitled to the
nnendation of the civilized and chris
III nationalities of the world for
lH share of services you have rem
4 II to the millions of Africans who
t n inhabited this land. They were forced
ih your sires by England and by New
land against their solemn and repeated
|, Hests They were then benighted hea-
sHs They did not know the proper use of
ling, nor The correct methods of prepa-
n and eating thnir food; nor did they like
- in b1r :, o. know the TecesSity for
zee Use on " ater They were, in numeT-
rStances, cannibals, and, until recently,
been practicing their old ancestral hac-
~ hile of the marriage duties and Obliga-
!. Il they had scarcely heard. Their minds
= fall Of the grOssest superstitiOnS; they
D.. M idol wOrshippers, and were ruled and
A in awe by their cOnjurOrs, trick men,
NJ ortune tellers. Their manners We're re-
#ve; their habits filthy, disgusting, intolz
- OF God and the worlds Redeemer
knew nothing-they were literally
Aout God and without hope IN the
Physically they were weak, and
aaly diminutive in stature; being un-
j. ID to systematic labor, the essential
uc les for profitable toll were undeveloped.
Hintellects were as dark as the rayless
~ that brOoded, and still broOds, over
native land. AS a general truth
cared nothing for each other,
nc bound by none of the common
rp f civilized men; were by nature,
on and habits idle, thriftless and
4yident They knew nothing of a com
Borrow, and cared less They spoke in
GS nble dialects, or iabbered in the unln-
LTHHe gibberish of the hundred tribes,
chiefs had rescued them from their
les Ofsacrifice and death, to sell to the
" h or American traders for glass beads,
IS, rps bogus iewelry, and New England
2w look upon these people, whom pa
IN pal slavery has so educated, so eleVa-
=" christianized in your hands, with
DbFm and gratitude to God, and con-
ass ate YOU upon having performed LOT
Pie greatest work of benevolence, ed-
snd pal development, moral Improvements,
ford% igious culture, ever achieved on so
~ scale since men needed CIVILIZATION
b0asted missionary enterprises con-
by the united powers of chrlstendom
augA hundred years past, pale and SINK
- comparison with the vast ana uh-
A. ed blessings your labor has accom-
for them.
LESs te the ill-advised and passionate en-
Is Of legislative bodies, stung almost
~ the fanatical attempts of abolition
1cite them. to rebellion, insurrectIon'
IN d murder. thousands of them every
Naued to read and write. And but
IildiN insane inte1ferenceS with your 40
MliairS, they might long ago have had
leS of schools established among
4 o. probably newspapers adapted TO
M5aclties, circulated on nearly al Tue
IONS Slow to learn and dull OF COM
y, ON generally, they were neVertheleSs
Hadually in the scale of improvement
HFRCHS Is their natures were capable OF ad-
anity had won her converts among
hundreds of thousands; and their
gr of the Bible. the catechism, and
43tions of religion. however lmper-
~ Qd shame the millions of Anglo-SaX-
Struggle with vice and ignorance
Ahe very shadow of mOnumental
- ii and world-renowned halls, Where
Se outlay of millions of dollars an
schemes of foreign rellef, saoly
> the mock benevolence when mas
no charity for the Greeks at the
IflCan slaves in the hands of masters
sur greater Improvement physiology
II Hntally and morally, and been raised
Ire OOye the level where the two races
hundred wears ago, than has the
Hechanical improyement is the most
and ~ n form of the white mans progress.
ing - gas, rides on steam cars, and steams
g nn he waters of the world in sailless
be "a alle he belts the mountains, ana
CD oceans with lines of electric com
%. He fights naval battles with
uonSters, and land battles Win
n sDf 'oers, needle guns and multl1orm
nsuts
ng OIL 4 u. u all, we enjoy life no more nor as
ted 70 - ancestors did two hundred years
ereepsse peally doubt if we have gained
onsE eaectually but little; and IL ne
.hasip '0ved in religion, it is only IN the
7argge argges
IIEB