A SKETCH or EDUCATION IN SOUTH CAROLINA. 



535 



age. With the exception of a few " free people of color" (always free), 

 there is not now, nor will there be for some time, a single colored voter 

 who was not once a slave. Next, with one exception. South Carolina was 

 the heaviest sufferer by the war, her assessed property shrinking from 

 $480,000,000, in 1860, to $183,000,000, in 1870, while the true shrinkage 

 was from about $550,000,000 to a little over a hundred millions ; more 

 than half her territory was ravaged by hostile armies. After the surren- 

 der came two years of political chaos, and eight of rapacious robberj^ 

 Not until 1876 did South Carolina shake off the leash and enter the 

 race afresh. 



What has been done for education has been shown ; the results will 

 now be considered. 



In discussing education before the war, it is but proper to exclude the 

 slaves from consideration. The subjoined table gives the total white pop- 

 ulation of several States, with the number of illiterate whites twenty 

 years of age and over twenty. Comparison is made Avith States justly 

 celebrated for zeal in education. A much more favorable showing might 

 have been made. This and the following tables are compiled from 

 statistics of the U. S. Census. 



Comparative White Illiteracy 1850 and 1860. 



The percentage decreased in South Carolina. In some others, notably 

 the New England States, possibly owing to immigration, the rate ad- 

 vanced. In 1860, the rate for South Carolina was 5 per cent. ; for INIas- 

 sachusetts, 3.7 per cent ; and for Rhode Island, 3.4 per cent. By 1870, 

 the percentage of illiterates over twenty years had increased to 4.2 in 

 Connecticut ; 3.8 in Illinois ; 5.6 in Indiana ; 2.1 in Maine ; 5.8 in Massa- 

 chusetts ; 4.2 in Ohio; 5.1 in Pennsylvania; 7.5 in Rhode Island; 10.5 

 in South Carolina ; and 4.0 in Vermont. It must' be remembered that 



