226 



EDUCATION AND ILLITERACY. 



as the test, varied greatly in the different 

 States, and was perceptibly affected by the 

 proportions of colored and of foreign-born 

 population. The highest percentage of all was 

 in the Territory of New Mexico, where it was 

 65 ; but the next, 55-4, was in South Carolina, 

 which has the largest proportion of colored in- 

 habitants. Other percentages above 25 were: 

 Alabama, 50 ; Georgia, 49*9 ; Mississippi, 49-5 ; 

 Louisiana, 49-1 ; North Carolina, 48-3 ; Flori- 

 da, 43-4 ; Virginia, 40'6 ; Tennessee, 38'7 ; Ar- 

 kansas, 38 ; Kentucky, 29-9, and Texas, 29-7. 

 These are all States with a large colored and 

 comparatively small foreign population, but 

 the ratio of illiteracy among the native whites 

 is high in most of them : 25 per cent in Ala- 

 bama, 25-5 in Arkansas, 20'7 in Florida, 23 -2 

 in Georgia, 22-8 in Kentucky, 19'8 in Louisi- 

 ana, 16-6 in Mississippi, 31-7 in North Carolina, 

 22-4 in South Carolina, 27'8 in Tennessee, 13-9 

 in Texas, and 18-5 in Virginia. The percent- 

 age of colored illiterates in these same States 

 is as follows : Alabama, 80-6 ; Arkansas, 75 ; 

 Florida, 70'7; Georgia, 81'6; Kentucky, 70'4; 

 Louisiana, 79-1 ; Mississippi, 75'2 ; North Car- 

 olina, 77'4; South Carolina, 78-5; Tennessee, 

 71-7; Texas, 75-4; Virginia, 73'7. On the 

 other hand, the rate among persons of for- 

 eign birth in those States was comparatively 

 low : 7'7 per cent in Alabama, 5*6 in Arkan- 

 sas, 10 in Florida, 5*6 in Georgia, 9'7 in Ken- 

 tucky, 10-9 in Louisiana, 6 in Mississippi, 3-3 

 in North Carolina, 4'9 in South Carolina, 7'5 

 in Tennessee, 24'7 in Texa?, and 5'4 in Vir- 



ginia. The lowest percentage of illiteracy in 

 any of the States, measured by inability to 

 write, was found in Wyoming Territory, 8-4 

 per cent; the next in Nebraska, 3 - 6; and the 

 next in Iowa, 3'9. Other States and Territo- 

 ries follow in this order : Maine, 4'3 ; Dakota, 

 4*8; New Hampshire, 5 ; Michigan, 5 - 2; Mon- 

 tana, 5*3; New York, 5'5; Ohio, 5'5 ; Kansas, 

 5'6; Connecticut, 5-7 ; Oregon, 5*7; Wiscon- 

 sin, 5-8 ; Vermont, 6 ; Minnesota, 6'2 ; New 

 Jersey, 6'2 ; Illinois, 6 ! 4; Massachusetts, 6'5 ; 

 Colorado, 6'6 ; Washington Territory, 7; Ida- 

 ho, 7*1 ; Pennsylvania, 7'1 ; Indiana, 7'5 ; Cal- 

 ifornia, 7;8 ; Nevada, 8 ; Utah, 9-1. These are 

 all in which the rate is below 10 per cent. The 

 lowest rate for native whites is 0*7 per cent in 

 Massachusetts, and the highest, outside of New 

 Mexico, 31-7, in North Carolina. The lowest 

 rate for foreign-born whites was 3-3, in North 

 Carolina, and the highest, 27'3, in Rhode Island. 

 In Massachusetts it was 19'6 ; in New York, 

 12-5 ; in Pennsylvania, 15-1. The rate of illit- 

 eracy among the colored population in the 

 North was much lower than in the South, and, 

 as a rule, lower than that among foreign-born 

 whites. In Massachusetts it was 15*1 ; in New 

 York, 21-2; in Connecticut, 17'4; in Rhode 

 Island, 23-6 ; in Pennsylvania, 27'1. The fol- 

 lowing table shows the number of persons ten 

 years old and upward, in each State and Ter- 

 ritory, and the number returned in 1880 as 

 unable to read and unable to write, together 

 with a comparison of the figures for white and 

 colored persons unable to write : 



