The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1867-01-16
Education of Freedmen.
To THE PEOPLE OF Mississippi:

To THE PEOPLE, OF MISSISSIPPI:
Citizens Solicited at home and abroa'
10 give my views on the subject of the ed
ucation of the children of our former slaves
and deeming the matter one OF great i'm
portance in itself, | beg to offer the follow
ing suggestions for your candid and dlspas
sionate consideration:
Major General Wood, q. S. A., Assis
tant Commissioner Bureau Refugees, etc.
The distinguished commander of this dis
trict, recently issued Order No. II, datet
November 81, offering certain facilities ane
funds III aid of the schooling of coloree
children, which brings the matter directly
to the attention of the citizens and people
of this State at large. A communication
addressed to me from an eminent citizen O
New York connected with an association
organized for the purpose OF carrying out
the same object, offers funds in aid OF the
same peculier work. And besides, the
idea which has suddenly seized upon the
great mass of our former slaves, that, in
some way, their children are to be educa
ted, and the anxiety many Of them feel on
the subject, united with many other con.
siderations, lead me to answer all inquiries
addressed to me in this formal, and, hope
excusable manner.
The education of the freedmen's children
in the common branches of learning taught
in our schools, is unquestionably q duty we
owe alike to ourselves and to them. | am
deeply and painfully impressed with the
disabilities under which thousands of the
poor white children of our commonwealth
suffer for the want of schooling. Neither
class should be overlooked. True philan.
thropy must clear its path of every obsta-
Gle in, the way of its proper work, and move
steadily forward in its accomplishment till
all classes rejoice in the blessings of its
mission.
AS citizens, and as Christians, our rela-
tions are entirely amicable towards the
freedmen. We understand them, if any
people do. All they are to-day above their
savage ancestors, they have been made by
the white people of the South. 1t is due
to you, therefore, in calling your attention
to the new form of domestic care you are
expected to bestow upon them, to recog-
nize the great and matchless advantages
they have derived heretofore from your
guardianship. You are entitled to the
commentator of the civilized and chris
fian nationalities of the world for the share
OF services you have rendered to the mil
lions of Africans who have inhabited this
land. They were forced upon your sires
by England and by New England, against
their solemn and repeated protests. They
were then benighted heathens. They did
not know the proper use Of clothing, nor
the correct methods of preparing and eat
ing their food; nor did they like living in
houses, or know the necessity for the free
use of water. They were, in numerous
instances, cannibals, and, until recently,
have been practicing their old ancestral
habits, while of the marriage duties and
obligations they had scarcely heard. Their
minds were full of the grossest superstltions,
they were idol worshippers, and were ruled
and held in awe by their conjurors, trick
men, and fortune telers. Their manners
were repulsive; their habits filthy, disgust
ing, intolergble. OF God and the worlds
Redeemer they knew nothing-they were
literally without God and without hope
in the world" Physically they were weak,
and generally diminutive in stature; being
unframed to systematic labor, the essential
muscles of profitable toll were undeveloped.
Their intellects were as dark as the rayless
night that brooded, and still broods, over
their native land. AS a general truth they
cared nothing for each other, were bound
BY none OF the common ties of civilized
men; were by nature, tradition and habits
die, thriltless and improvident. They
knew nothing of q coming morrow, and
cared less. They spoke innumerable dia-
ects, or jabbered in the unintelligible glib
perish of the hundred tribes, whose chiefs
lad rescued them from their shambles of
acritice and death, to sell tor the English
N American traders for glass beads, Jews
larps, bogus jewelry, and New England
'um.
now look upon these people, whom pa
riarchal slavery has soNeducated, so eleva-
ed, so christianized in your hands, with
and gratitude to God, and con-
;ratulate you upon having performed for
hem The greatest work of beneyolence. ed
lcational development, moral improvement
md religious culture, ever achieved on so
rand a scale since men needed civilization.
All the boosted missionary work Conduct
d by the united powers of christendom in
wo hundred years past, pale and sink from
comparison with the vast and unparalel-
d blessings your labor has accomplished
Or them.
Despite the l-advised and passionate
nactments Of legislative bodies, stung al.
lost TO fury by the fanatical attempts of
to excite them to rebellion,
nsurrection, arson and murder, thousands
them everywhere learned to read and
rite. And hut for these insane interfe-
ences with your domestic affairs, they
hight long ago have had multitudes of
chcols established among them, and pro-
ably newspapers adapted to their capaci-
les, circulated on nearly all the plantations.
low to learn and dull of comprehension
enerally, they were nevertheless rising
radually in-the scale Of improvement as
'st as their natures were capable of advan-
ing.
Christianity had won her converts among
lem by hundreds of thousands; and their
nowledge of the Bible, the catechism, and
lie obligations of religion, however imper-
ct, would shame the millions of Anglo
axons who struggled with vice and igno-
nee under the very shadow of monumen-
! churches and world-renowned halls,
here the profuse outlay of millions of |
'llars annually on schemes of foreign re-
y, sadly illustrate the mock benevolence /
1leh has little or no charity for the {
Greeks at the door," 9
The African slaves in the hands of mas t
rs have made greater Improvement phys $
logically, mentally and morally, and been |
lsed higher above the level where the two h
ces stood two hundred years ago, than t
s the Caucasian. '
Mere mechanical improvement is the c
ost significant form of the white mans c
ogress. He burns gas, rides on steam h
rs, and steams over all the waters of the s
rid in sailless ships, while he belts the Il
and bridges the oceans with
ns Df a1oofr,o oo,nn,u n, 10, H. Eah&,