The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-01-03
ros1E CURIOUS SCHOOL BOOKS.
How the Children Were Taught in the South
During the War;


Washington Letter in Boston Herald
/ wonder if any one has made collection of
Confederate literature. A library of books pub
lished in the South during the war would not be
large one, but its value would grow greater
with every year. / came across a few specimens
of Confederate books the other day. found on
an old book stand in Charleston. Among them
was THE Confederate Primer" 1t was printed
IN Richmond, Va, by George L. Bidwood, 12l
Main street, 1864. The straits to which nuh-
fishers were put for material is shown by the
covers on this little primer, which are of COM
mon wall paper, the figures being turned inside.
Another more ambitious book is '"rhe Pictorial
Primer printed by West & johnson, Richmond,
1864. The illustrations are mainly such cuts as
may be seen in old country newspapers to add
to the attractiveness of advertisements. The
effect is very comical. Upon the title page is
the legend: Printed in the Fourth Year Of the
War of Independence"
1.-THE First Dixie Reader. is edited by Mrs M
B. Moore and published by Branson & Farrar,
Raleigh, N. c.. 1864 Some of the lessons were
written expressly for tins publication, for ''our
people and this time" Here is an ''easy lesson
for little girls" There comes old aunt Ann.
She is quite old. See how she leans upon her
stick. When she was young she did good work
for her master and mistress. Now she cannot
work much, bnt she knows that her young miss,
as she calls her, will take of her as long as
she lives. She is not like poor white woman,
who would starve if she could not work MANY
poor white folks would be glad to live in aunt
AIMS cabin. and eat what Miss Kate sends out
for her dinner
The Southern Speller and Definer," Charles
ton, S. G., 1868, thus defines slavery" "A sys-
tenn OF labor which exchanges subsistence for
work, which secures a life maintenance from the
master to the slave and gives life labor from
the slave to the master" Slave is defined as
"a person held to service or labor to another in
exchange for maintenance for life; bond
servant as distinguished from a hireng" Sew
eral pages are devoted to '.Africanisms,n which
have crept into the speech of Southern people.
1.-THE words, }" says the writer, '.bear so little
resemblance to those for which they are sub
stituted that we will treat them as barbarisms
and translate them into English: Dat for this,
dem for them deese year for these uddah for
other heeah for here ETC." The writer then
asserts that these provincialisms are even o
matter of pride to Southerners, as distinguishing
them from Yankees and that such people would
be very sorry to call cow anything but
''cowoo;" or house, anything but 'howose"
The NANNY" the dusky deity of every
Southern plantation, is made responsible for
these corruptions Of speech, which cling through
out life to men and women even where an effort
is made to correct them A song is given, the
chorus of which is:
Three cheers for army so true,
Three cheers for Price, johnson and Lee,
Beauregard and Davis forever,
The pride of the brave and the free.