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The Beginnings of Public Education in North Carolina;
A Documentary History, 1790-1840. Volume I:
Electronic Edition.

Coon, Charles L. (Charles Lee), 1868-1927

Funding from the Institute for Museum and Library Services supported the electronic publication of this title.

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University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
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(spine) Publications of the North Carolina Historical Commission. Public Education in North Carolina; A Documentary History, 1790-1840. Coon. Vol. I, pages 1-531
(title) The Beginnings of Public Education in North Carolina; A Documentary History, 1790-1840. Volume I
Coon, Charles L. (Charles Lee), 1868-1927
xlvii, 531 p.
Raleigh
Edwards & Broughton Printing Company
1908

Call number C370.9 C77b v. 1 c. 11 (North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)


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PUBLICATIONS
OF THE
NORTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL COMMISSION

The
Beginnings of Public Education
in North Carolina


A DOCUMENTARY HISTORY
1790-1840

BY

CHARLES L. COON

VOLUME I

RALEIGH
Edwards & Broughton Printing Company
1908

Page ii

THE NORTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL COMMISSION
J. BRYAN GRIMES, CHAIRMAN
W. J. PEELE
D. H. HILL
THOMAS W. BLOUNT
M. C. S. NOBLE
R. D. W. CONNOR, SECRETARY

Copyright 1908 by The North Carolina Historical Commission.

Page iii

Chronological Table of Contents.

VOLUME I.

        
1744. Free School in Beaufort: James Winwright's Will.
1759. Free School in New Hanover: James Innes' Will.
1791. Civil List for 1791.
1795. Rev. John Alexander's Will.
1798. Warrenton Academy Asks State Aid.
  David Caldwell Asks for Exemption of His Students from Military Duty.
1800. Census North Carolina Counties.
  Educational Conditions.
1801. Raleigh Asks State Aid to Establish Academy.
  Newbern Academy Asks State Aid.
1802. Gov. Williams' Message on Education.
  Joseph Graham's Plan for Military Academy.
1803. Gov. Turner's Message on Education.
  Dudley's Bill to Encourage Academies.
  O'Farrell's Bill to Establish Academies in Each County.
1804. Gov. Turner's Message on Education.
  "Sentinel" on Extravagance.
1805. Gov. Turner's Message on Education.
1806. Gov. Alexander's Message on Education.
1807. Gov. Alexander's Message on Education.
1808. Gov. Williams' Message on Education.
1809. Gov. Stone's Message on Education.
1810. Gov. Stone's Message on Education.
  Education in Caswell County.
  Education in Edgecombe County.
  Education in North Carolina.
1811. Gov. Smith's Message on Education.
1812. Gov. Hawkins' Message on Education.
  The New Bern Charitable Society.
  Treasury Receipts and Expenditures.
1813. Miles Benton's Free School.
  The Wayne County Free School.
  Fayetteville Orphan Asylum.
1814. The Dixon Charity Fund.
1815. Gov. Miller's Message on Education.
  Assembly Committees on Education.
1816. Gov. Miller's Message on Education.
  Assembly Committees on Education.
  Murphey's Report on Education.
  Gov. Miller on Emigration.
  Lottery for Fayetteville Academy Refused.
  The Griffin Free School 1816--1840.

Page iv

1817. Gov. Miller's Message on Education.
  Assembly Committees on Education.
  Murphey's Report on Education.
  Walker's Report on Education.
  Murphey's Bill to Diffuse Knowledge.
  Female Benevolent Society of Wilmington.
  Lottery for Smithville Academy Refused.
1818. Gov. Branch's Message on Education.
  Assembly Committees on Education.
  Martin's Bill to Establish Schools.
  Slaves May Be Taught to Read or Write.
1819. Gov. Branch's Message on Education.
  Assembly Committees on Education.
  Some System of Public Education Urged.
  Education Report of 1819.
1820. Population of the Principal Towns.
1821. Incorporation of a Baptist Church Refused.
1822. Gov. Holmes' Message on Education.
  Assembly Committees on Education.
  Proposed Subsidy for Academies.
  Teachers and Students Must Perform Public Duties.
  Approrpiation of Public Lands for Education.
  Work of Raleigh Female Benevolent Society.
1823. Gov. Holmes' Message on Education.
  Assembly Committees on Education.
  Hill's Resolution on Establishing Schools.
  The Legislature Urged to Establish Common Schools.
1824. Gov. Holmes' Message on Education.
  Hill's School Fund Bill.
  Senate Committee Report on Education.
  Ashe's Bill for Educating the Youth of the Poor.
  Committee on Plan of Education.
  Haywood's Plan to Create a Literary Fund.
  Haywood's Plan Approved by Western Carolinian.
  Review of Other School Systems; North Carolina Urged to Establish Schools.
  An Edgecombe Appeal for Free Schools.
1825. Raleigh Register on "Education of the Poor."
  "P. S." on Education.
  Judge Gaston's 4th of July Toast.
  The Raleigh Register on Necessity of Education.
  Proposed History by Judge Murphey.
  Gov. Burton's Message on Education.
  Assembly Committees on Education.
  Assembly Resolutions on Education.
  Education Report of 1825.
  Attempt to Raise School Fund by Lottery.
  The Literary Fund Law.

Page v

1825. Memorial of Orange Sunday School Union.
  Lottery for Publication of N. C. History.
  Attempted Legislation.
  Lotteries for Academies Refused.
1826. Comment on School Law of 1825.
  Manumission, by Raleigh Register.
  Gov. Burton's Message on Education.
  Assembly Committees on Education.
  Proposed Lottery for Public Schools.
  Lottery for Increase Literary Fund and Publication of North Carolina History.
  Potter's Political College Bill.
  Potter's Speech on His Political College Bill.
  Discussion of the Morality of Lotteries.
  Failure of Bill to Encourage Sunday Schools.
  Failure of Attempt to Increase Literary Fund.
  Failure Statistical Information Bill.
  Failure of Bill to Prohibit Teaching Colored Apprentices.
  Organization of Literary Board.
  First Report of Literary Board to Legislature 1826-7.
  Lotteries for Academies Refused.
1827. Proceedings Literary Board.
  "Upton" on Education.
  Causes of Emigration.
  Gov. Burton's Message on Education.
  Assembly Committees on Education.
  Legislative Inquiry into Condition of Literary Fund.
  Smith's Bill to Repeal Literary Fund Law 1825.
  Drake's Bill to Repeal Literary Fund Law 1825.
  Literary Fund Clerk Bill Rejected.
  Report on Literary Fund Repeal Bill.
  Deaf and Dumb Institution Incorporated.
  Second Report Literary Board.
  Spirit of Economy and Individualism.
1828. Plan for the Education of Teachers.
  Gov. Iredell's Message on Education.
  Internal Improvements Remedy for Emigration.
  Third Report of the Literary Board.
  Domestic Industry and Economy.
  Assembly Committees on Education.
  Senator McFarland's Bill to Educate Poor Children.
  House Resolutions on Education.
  House Report on Education.
  Proceedings of Literary Board.
1829. X's Open Letter Against Schools and Internal Improvements.
  Dr. Caldwell on Opposition to Taxation.
  Gov. Owens' Message on Education.

Page vi

1829. Kinney's "Plan of Public Schools."
  Committees on Education.
  McFarland's Bill to Educate Poor Children.
  Loan Asked for Edenton Academy.
  What Other States Are Doing for Common Schools.
  Neglect of the Public Library.
1830. A Teachers' Association Suggested.
  The Establishment of Schools Urged.
  North Carolina Urged to Follow Tennessee in School Legislation.
  Gov. Owens' Message on Education.
  Assembly Committees on Education.
  McFarland's Bill to Educate Poor Children.
  Assembly Resolutions on Education.
  Inexpedient to Appropriate School Fund.
  McFarland's Bill to Increase Literary Fund.
  Monk's Bill to Increase the Literary Fund.
  Loan Asked for Oxford Academy.
  Bill to Collect School Statistics.
  Literary Fund Receipts 1830.
  Disbursements State Treasury 1830.
  Slaves Must Not Be Taught to Read and Write.
  Census of North Carolina.
1831. Gov. Stokes' Message on Education.
  Assembly Committees on Education.
  McFarland's Resolution on Schools and Literary Fund.
  Taxation for Free School in Johnston County.
  Literary Fund Receipts.
  Slavery and Education.
  A Cruel Punishment Abolished.
  History of the First Teachers' Association.
  Plan of Schools by "People's Friend."
  Deaf and Dumb Asylum.
  Necessity for Schools.
  Lottery for Publication of N. C. History Refused.

VOLUME II.

        
1832. Assembly Committees on Education.
  Central Normal School Proposed.
  Teachers and Students Not Exempt from Militia Duty.
  Ralph Freeman Must Not Preach.
  Slaves Must Not Preach in Public.
  Receipts of Literary Fund.
  Use of Literary Fund by State.
  Expenses of the State Government 1810-1832.
  Caldwell Letters on Popular Education.

Page vii

1833. Causes Which Retard Schools.
  The Cause of Emigration.
  Valuation of Property and Taxes Assessed 1833.
  Cost of Public Printing 1814-1833.
  Stock in Banks Owned By Literary Fund.
  Use of Literary Fund.
  Valuation of Property and Taxation 1815 and 1833.
  Social and Economic Conditions.
  Report of Literary Board.
  Gov. Swain's Message on Education.
  Why Schools Were Not Established.
  Assembly Committees on Education.
  Report and Resolution of Committee on Education.
  Objection to Chartering Denominational Schools.
  "Old Field" on the Necessity for Schools.
1834. Taxation and Revenue System.
  Friends Ask for Repeal of Certain Slavery Laws.
  Johnston County Free School Law Repealed.
  Assembly Committees on Education.
  Assembly Resolutions on Education.
  House Report on Education.
  Proceedings of Literary Board.
  Report of Literary Board.
  McQueen's Education Bill.
  The Standard's Comment on McQueen's Bill.
  The Star on Free Schools.
1835. The New Constitution Should Provide for Public Schools.
  Gov. Swain's Message on Education.
  Assembly Committees on Education.
  Report of Literary Board.
  The Use Made of Literary Fund 1835.
  Proceedings of Literary Board.
  Charter for N. C. Bible Society Refused.
1836-7. Gov. Spaight's Message on Education.
  Assembly Committees on Education.
  Donaldson Academy Asks State Aid.
  Assembly Resolutions on Education.
  Literary Fund: Receipts.
  Legislation on Swamp Lands and Literary Fund.
  Proceedings of the Literary Board.
  Citizens of Fayetteville on Economic Conditions.
  Receipts, Disposition and Investment of the Surplus Revenue.
  Educational Conditions 1836.
1838-9. Popular Education: A Sermon.
  The Legislature Ought to Establish Schools.
  Gov. Dudley's Message on Education.
  Assembly Committees on Literary Fund and Education.

Page viii

1838-9. Assembly Resolutions on Education.
  Report of Literary Board on Common Schools.
  Report on Literary Fund.
  Report of Committee on Education.
  Mr. Cherry's Original Bill.
  Mr. Hill's Original Bill.
  House Bill Reported from Committee of the Whole.
  Conference Bill and Conference Report.
  Newspaper Comment on School Bills.
  The Educational Campaign of 1839.
  Members Legislature by Counties.
  Literary Board 1827-1839.
  Proceedings of Literary Board 1838 and 1839.

Page ix

THE BEGINNINGS OF PUBLIC EDUCATION, 1790-1840.

        Introductory note

        One of the most interesting chapters in North Carolina history is the fifty years' agitation which preceded the enactment of the first public school law. These two volumes are the result of a desire to put the story of that agitation and the educational ideals of the people of that day in convenient form for the use of students of our social and economic history.

        Much of the material herein brought together has never before been published, or, if published, has remained inaccessible to all except a very few. This material is practically complete. The documents are printed as they were written, mistakes and all. Whenever a paper could not be found, there is a note telling as much.

        In the summary which follows, I have tried to put in concise form what I conceive to be the meaning and the substance of the documents. It is my hope that this summary may not prove wholly uninteresting to the general reader, and that it may call the attention of students to the importance of this phase of North Carolina history.

I. Educational and Economic Conditions.

        Population 1790 and 1840; expenses of State government.

        Narrow bounds of legislation.

        Educational conditions in 1835.

        An excuse for these conditions.

        A prophecy as to what historians will say of the legislation of this period.

        In 1790, North Carolina was the third State of the Union in population, having at that time a total population of 393,751, of which 73.2 per cent was white. In 1840, the State had fallen to seventh in population, having then a population of 753,419, of which 64.4 per cent was white. In 1790, the total expenses of the State government were only $41,480, and $24,000 of that sum was the cost of the legislature. As late as 1835, the actual expenses of the State government were a little less than $87,000 and the legislature cost $40,000. Governor Swain,1

        1 P. 652.


 in his message to the legislature of 1833, said that "the apathy which has pervaded the legislation of half a century
Page x

is most strikingly exhibited by the fact that the mere expenses of the General Assembly have ordinarily exceeded the aggregate expenditures of all other departments of the government, united to the appropriations which have been made, for the purpose of Internal Improvement"; and added, "that government can not be wisely administered, where those who direct the expenditure of the public treasure, receive more for this service than the amount of their disbursements." Two years later he lamented the fact that there was then but one college in the State, but few respectable academies, and that there was no adequate provision "to diffuse even the elementary principles of education among the poor"; also that there was then not a single work of internal improvement in progress. The amiable governor excused this dark picture somewhat by saying that the legislation of the general government had always been unfavorable to North Carolina, especially mentioning the land laws and the tariff.1

        1 P. 713.


 But he could not conclude his last message to the General Assembly without telling it again that it spent too much on itself and without adding a paragraph2

        2 P. 714.


 declaring that "the history of our State Legislation during the first half century of our political existence, will exhibit little more to posterity than the annual imposition of taxes amounting to less than a hundred thousand dollars, one-half of which constituted the reward of the legislative bodies by which they were levied, while the remainder was applied to sustain the train of officers who superintend the machinery of government. The establishment of schools for the convenient instruction of youth, and the development and improvement of our internal resources by means beyond the reach of individual enterprise, will seem scarcely to have been regarded as proper objects of legislative concern."

        North Carolina three centuries behind in education and other improvements; causes stated by President Caldwell

        In 1829, Dr. Joseph Caldwell, in his address3

        3 P. 434.


 to the Internal Improvement Convention at Raleigh, declared
Page xi

that North Carolina was three centuries behind in public improvements and education, and attributed this condition largely to the widespread and fatal delusion that taxation for such purposes was considered contrary to a republican form of government. There can be no doubt that the dominant sentiment made it well-nigh impossible, during this period, to carry through legislation on any subject not connected with the bare preservation of life, liberty, and property. This individualistic policy which paralyzed all efforts to establish schools and begin a comprehensive system of internal improvements seems to have been the outgrowth of sparse population and what Dr. Caldwell called the fatal delusion that taxation was contrary to a republican form of government. But whatever the cause of it, the people of eastern North Carolina were unacquainted with those of the west. Unfortunate sectional jealousies were kept alive by lack of the means of communication between the sections, while commerce and trade languished and the masses of the people remained poor and ignorant, ready to oppose internal improvements and State aid to education as leading to aristocracy and taking the position that plain farmers and mechanics needed no education.1

        1 P. 431.

        Illiteracy; some general and particular statements.

        Governor Owen on educational and economic conditions.

        President Caldwell on our social conditions.

        Teaching held in contempt; Caldwell's description of the North Carolina schoolmaster.

        Scarcely any one, except an idiot, not incompetent to teach.

        These documents give, in many places, glimpses of the actual educational condition of the masses of the people. As early as 1810, Jeremiah Battle wrote that not more than one-third of the women in Edgecombe County could write their names.2

        2 P. 70.


 In 1823, the Western Carolinian declared that the people at large were deplorably deficient in the rudiments of education.3

        3 P. 215.


 In 1824, an Edgecombe correspondent of the Raleigh Register speaks of the lack of knowledge among the country people.4

        4 P. 244.


 The next year, a Lincolnton writer,5

        5 P. 252.


 in the Western Carolinian, says that "the dullness and incapacity which is permitted to enter our legislative hall, and disgrace us even in the national representation, and our former tame subserviency to the
Page xii

interests of another State, evince most unequivocally the mental debasement of a large portion of our population." In 1830, Governor Owen said that we were behind other States and that our so-called policy of economy had kept the poor in ignorance and the State in poverty.1

        1 P. 458.


 The same view of the situation was expressed by Upton in the Fayetteville Observer, when he said that our penny-saving legislators had doomed the people to ignorance.2

        2 P. 356.


 In 1832, Dr. Joseph Caldwell, in his letters on popular education, said that the people had long resisted any change in routine legislation; that there was great aversion to taxation beyond the mere necessities of the government; that the people lacked commercial opportunities; that money was scarce and the markets of the world were far away; that a large part of the people looked with indifference upon education, while many boasted of their ignorance of letters.3

        3 P. 545.


 In comparison with other occupations, teaching was regarded with contempt.4

        4 P. 560.


 The same authority described the North Carolina schoolmaster by saying: "Is a man constitutionally and habitually indolent, a burden upon all from whom he can extract a support? Then there is one way of shaking him off, let us make him a schoolmaster. To teach a school is, in the opinion of many, little else than sitting still and doing nothing. Has any man wasted all his property, or ended in debt by indiscretion and misconduct? The business of school keeping stands wide open for his reception, and here he sinks to the bottom, for want of capacity to support himself. Has any one ruined himself, and done all he could to corrupt others, by dissipation, drinking, seduction, and a course of irregularities? Nay, has he returned from a prison after an ignominious atonement for some violation of the laws? He is destitute of character and can not be trusted, but presently he opens a school and the children are seen flocking into it, for if he is willing to act in that capacity, we shall all admit that as he can read
Page xiii

and write, and cypher to the square root, he will make an excellent school master." And again, he says that "in our present mode of popular education, we act upon the principle that school-keeping is a business to which scarcely any one but an idiot is incompetent, if he only knows reading, writing and arithmetic. If in almost every vicinage there happens to be one or a few who have more correct opinions, the numbers who think otherwise carry it over their heads, and our primary schools are kept sunk down to the lowest point of degradation, and education is disgraced by our own misconceptions and mismanagements."

        Gov. Burton on the difficulty of obtaining primary education; legislative committee on economic conditions in 1833.

        Halifax citizens give causes of emigration.

        Further statement of economic conditions in 1833.

        In 1826, Governor Burton said that primary education was more difficult to obtain than in 1776, and he lamented the fact that the legislature had, for forty-nine years, neglected to aid the establishment of primary schools, as required by the Constitution.1

        1 P. 294.


 The next year he said that sectional jealousies have palsied the energies of the State and rendered every system of improvement abortive.2

        2 P. 362.


 In 1833, the Legislative Joint Select Committee on Internal Improvements3

        3 P. 615.


 said that no class of our citizens were prosperous; that the thrift displayed by the citizens of other States was not visible in our borders; that improvement in agriculture and mechanic arts was not even attempted; that intellectual advancement was retarded by poverty and listlessness; that there were no good markets of easy access; and that a comprehensive system of internal improvements appeared the only means at hand to unite all sections and to improve educational and economic conditions. During the same year, the citizens of the town of Halifax drew up a memorial4

        4 P. 619.


 to the legislature in which they said that the State was in a retrograding position and that our people were forced to seek homes elsewhere, because "sufficient importance in intellectual, and physical improvements, has not been felt by the State generally."
Page xiv

These citizens also said that prosperity and intelligence could only be aided by a system of internal improvements and public education. Of the same tenor was the report1

        1 P. 631.


 of another legislative committee of 1833, to whom was referred "sundry documents and schemes relating to the Internal Improvements of this State." This committee said that nine-tenths of our farming lands were then for sale and referred to the laggard policy of North Carolina in delaying for thirty years any general system of improvements. This report also referred to the prejudice then existing against railroads and said that people were daily leaving the State to go where they would have better opportunities to reap the fruits of their labor.

        North Carolina said to be a century behind in education.

        "Old Field," a correspondent of the Raleigh Register during 1833, grimly observed that he thought "the people will have to learn to spell internal improvements before they can comprehend the meaning of that term." And he added that North Carolina was then a century behind other States in education and all other subjects of importance, caustically referring to the policy of borrowing the small Literary Fund each year, with which to pay the members of the legislature.2

        2 P. 670.

        Disturbing influence of convention question.

        Proposal to make school establishment a feature of new constitution.

        The convention question was long a disturbing factor in the life of the State. After it had been settled, in 1834, that a convention would be called to amend the constitution, the Raleigh Star said that this question had "long proved a bone of contention in the councils of the State, to the exclusion of calm deliberation on everything else."3

        3 P. 707.


 On the eve of the assembling of this convention, a Raleigh Standard correspondent, who signed himself "D," suggested that the new constitution should contain a provision regarding public schools, and argued that the lack of schools was daily draining the State of wealth and population. This article resulted in a declaration on the part of the Standard, oft repeated, in favor of "the universal
Page xv

diffusion of the blessings of education."1

        1 P. 710.


 But no change was made in the educational clause of the constitution of 1776, nor was the question considered by the convention of 1835.

        Fayetteville citizens and Gov. Dudley on economic and educational conditions 1837.

        From 1835 to 1840, conditions do not seem to have improved to any great extent. In a memorial2

        2 P. 795.


 to the legislature of 1836-7, the citizens of Fayetteville represented that they had year after year witnessed "with pain and mortification the depressed condition which each section of our State presents." The memorial also spoke of the "discontent, decay and ruin" manifest throughout the State, and of the "illiberal and contracted policy to force our people" to "go forth and seek other lands." In his inaugural address,3

        3 P. 803.


 in 1837, Governor Dudley said that North Carolina was "actually least in the scale of relative wealth and enterprise"; that her "lands [were] depressed in price, fallow and deserted"; that her "manufacturing advantages [were] unimproved," her "stores of mineral wealth undisturbed"; and that her "colleges and schools [were] languishing from neglect."

        Illiteracy in 1838.

        In 1838, Rev. A. J. Leavenworth,4

        4 P. 813.


 a Charlotte Presbyterian clergyman, estimated that "we have probably 120 thousand children between the ages of 5 and 15 years, who are destitute of a common school education." He further said that "in some parts of the State, many large families are found, not one of whom, parents or children, can read their alphabet; and in others, whole neighborhoods of forty and fifty families exist, among whom but few individuals can read their Bible." In his report5

        5 P. 862.


 on education to the legislature of 1838, Wm. W. Cherry said that "those who have mixed much with the people of our State know that there is an average of nearly half of every family in the State, who have reed no education and who are as yet unprovided with the means of Learning even to read and write." And the Western Carolinian6

        6 P. 816.


 remarked about the
Page xvi

same time upon "the prejudice entertained by some to have their children educated in a 'free school,' preferring them to remain in ignorance rather than have them educated at the public expense."

        Why so little was done.

        Wealth of State in 1833.

        Public schools possible before 1840 and why.

        But why was so little done, by the legislature during all these years, to remedy the educational condition of the State? In 1834, an assembly resolution1

        1 P. 680.


 to inquire into the "present facilities for instruction possessed by the people of North Carolina" failed of consideration. And the Raleigh Star,2

        2 P. 704.


 about the same time, naively inquired: "Can it be presumed for a moment that the Legislature would have so long indulged in a profound and listless apathy on the subject of popular education, if it had been sensible of the number living in ignorance and dying in darkness?" Possibly the remark of the Western Carolinian ten years earlier touched the question more nearly when it said that the people complained much of taxes and would not approve the establishment of schools by that means, and expressed the opinion that the only hope of their establishment lay in providing a permanent school fund.3

        3 P. 238.


 Then the popular idea that a State with such sparse population and no large towns could not maintain a system of public schools, undoubtedly had its effect on legislative action. It was true that New Bern, the largest town in 1820, had only 3,663 population, 2,218 of whom were negroes. But as early as 1815,4

        4 P. 622.


 the landed property of the State was valued at $53,521,513. The personal property valuation at that time must have been at least $100,000,000, for in 1838 the Literary Board5

        5 P. 834.


 estimated the land value of the State at $64,000,000 and the personal property at $136,000,000, making an aggregate value of $200,000,000, notwithstanding the fact that the State Treasurer said in 1833 that the deficient property assessment laws and the poll-tax listing laws resulted in defrauding the State out of as much revenue each year as was actually
Page xvii

collected.1

        1 PP. 622, 628, 672.


 The actual revenue then collected was about $68,000. If this amount had been doubled by proper legislation as Governor Swain and others urged, it is easy to see that an educational income nearly as large as was actually in hand in 1840 could have been easily provided as early as 1830, and possibly much earlier. These facts seem to dispose effectively of the argument so often advanced during these years that the State was doing all it was able to do on the subject of education.

        Educational ideals.

        But it would not be a true picture to recite all these things and not say something of the educational ideals voiced by so many of the leading men of this period. Though their voices were unheard for a long time, still what they said about education must have had some weight. It is, at least, true that what these men said has great historic value in any discussion of the evolution of our social institutions.

        Educational ideals of some early governors.

        In 1802, Governor Williams called the attention of the legislature to the subject of education and said that education would enable the people to appreciate their civil and political rights.2

        2 P. 31.


 The next year, Governor Turner said that education was the foe of tyranny.3

        3 P. 43.


 In his message of 1804, he said that prosperity and happiness depended on education, and mentioned the subject of taxation for schools.4

        4 P. 49.


 In 1811, Governor Smith observed that education prevented crime,5

        5 P. 80.


 while Governor Stone two years earlier had suggested the establishment of schools secondary to the University, the first mention of State aid to high schools in these documents.6

        6 P. 60.

        Opponents of narrow courses of study.

        The narrow courses of study then dominating all the schools had vigorous opponents. In 1803, O'Farrell's school bill declared that the dead languages were not necessary to be taught in the schools of a republican government.7

        7 P. 46.


 In 1810, Jeremiah Battle raised objection to the
Page xviii

dead languages as the basis of all education.1

        1 P. 69.


 In an account of the course of study in one of the Warrenton female academies, 1810, it was said that the standard English authors were read.2

        2 P. 77.


 In 1795, Rev. John Alexander wished both "books and needles" to play a part in the education of his daughters.3

        3 P. 10.


 Before 1810, music, painting and embroidery were taught in the Raleigh Academy.4

        4 P. 76.

        Education in agriculture favored.

        As early as 1810, an agricultural society was formed in Edgecombe and a library of books on agriculture began to be collected.5

        5 P. 71.


 In 1822, Governor Holmes lamented the neglect of agricultural education and suggested the teaching of agriculture in the State University. He also referred to the fact that the learned professions were crowded with incompetents who might make excellent farmers.6

        6 P. 195.


 The next year he urged the acquisition of a farm near the University, on which students might be taught agriculture.7

        7 P. 212.


 In 1826, Robert Potter, of Halifax, introduced a bill in the General Assembly to establish a political college on a farm in Wake County. This college, if established, would have had a professor of agriculture and the students would have spent a considerable part of their time in farm work.8

        8 P. 300.


 In 1831, a law passed the General Assembly to establish a free school in Johnston County. This school was to have a farm attached and trades were to be taught.9

        9 P. 494.


 In 1836, Donaldson Academy at Fayetteville asked State aid for the equipment of a manual labor department, a teachers' department, and an engineering department.10

        10 P. 736.


 These facts are abundant evidence that this period possessed many men who fully realized the importance of training in agricultural and mechanic arts, but possibly the presence of slavery had something to do with the failure of all their plans.

        Educational ideals of other governors and citizens.

        Opponents of schools enemies of the people.

        Present day ideal first stated by Friends.

        However, it was not the early governors alone, who

Page xix

voiced educational ideals beyond their day and generation, as these documents show. In 1815, Governor Miller was democratic enough to say that public education was the only means by which all could be educated, and that education was the surest means of breaking down class distinctions.1

        1 P. 100.


 The next year he declared that ignorance was best if you intended to make slaves of men.2

        2 P. 103.


 In 1816, Judge Murphey proposed a system of public instruction to include the rich and the poor, in primary and secondary and higher schools. He even included the education of the deaf and dumb and the clothing and feeding of poor children at public expense, in his plan.3

        3 P. 106.


 In 1817, John M. Walker declared that liberty would vanish when wealth and education were the possession of the few only.4

        4 P. 147.


 In 1824, Charles A. Hill declared on the floor of the Senate that education was the foe of tyrants and the foundation of liberty; that education and civilization go hand in hand; and that ignorance was the cause of vice, while vice followed the neglect of the education of the children.5

        5 P. 224.


 In 1825, an anonymous correspondent of the Western Carolinian spoke of intelligence as the life of liberty, of education as the only sure basis of agricultural and commercial prosperity, and of the patriotic duty of all to promote the cause of public schools.6

        6 P. 252.


 During the same year, Governor Burton placed the establishment of a system of public education above internal improvements in importance, because of its influence on the moral character of the people and the preservation of our political institutions.7

        7 P. 263.


 In 1827, Upton, in the Fayetteville Observer, said that virtue would always be found in the train of education, that the prosperity of our neighboring States was due to the diffusion of knowledge, and that schools were intimately connected with the future well-being of our political institutions.8

        8 P. 356.


 In 1829, Charles R. Kinney answered the argument that it was unjust to tax one man to educate another's children,
Page xx

by saying that the blood of the poor man was very often split in defense of the rich man's property.1

        1 P. 440.


 In 1830, the Raleigh Register reminded the people that the legislature was under a solemn moral obligation to provide education for all the white people of the State.2

        2 P. 454.


 And about the same time Governor Owen said in his message to the legislature that vice, irreligion and poverty were the results of ignorance, and that a tax on the rich for the education of the poor was justifiable.3

        3 P. 458.


 In 1831, the Raleigh Register made its strongest editorial utterance in favor of schools. It declared: "Let this be the test word by which the people try every candidate for office: is he friendly to free schools; popular education? If not, he should be marked as an enemy to the people; to their rights as freemen; as anti-republican in his principles, and unworthy of the confidence of those for whose benefit this Government was instituted."4

        4 P. 528.


 But the present-day idea that it is the duty of the State to provide education for all, regardless of race or financial condition, is nowhere clearly stated in these documents, except in the memorial5

        5 P. 675.


 of the Friends, sent to the legislature of 1834, wherein they protest against certain repressive slavery laws,6

        6 Pp. 477, 503, 536.


 such as prohibiting slaves and free negroes from preaching and making it a crime to teach a slave to read and to write. This memorial boldly declared "it unnecessary to urge the incontrovertible arguments that might be advanced from reason and Religion, to prove that it is the indispensable duty of the Legislature of a Christian people to enact laws and establish regulations for the literary instruction of every class, within its limits; and that such provisions should be consistent with sound policy, tend to strengthen the hands of Government and promote the peace and harmony of the community at large." This fine educational statement, far in advance of the times, fell on deaf ears. Some of our so-called
Page xxi

wisest men of that day continued to talk about "the education of the poor" and to introduce measures for the education of that class and to propose still harsher measures governing slaves. But Jeremiah Hubbard, or whoever wrote this Friends' memorial, was the wisest educational prophet of the period, in that he saw clearly the necessity of educating all classes of the people and the futility of making laws to repress the natural instinct of all human beings for more knowledge.

        Conclusion.

        These references are sufficient to give the reader some idea of the educational creed of the wisest leaders of this period of our history. Their bold and concise statements of the educational duty of the State have not yet been realized in North Carolina. From what has been said, it is easy to see why they were impossible before 1840.

II. Educational Agitation: Measures and Results.

        Barriers to community action.

        Hatred of taxation, sparse population, primitive means of communication, the presence of slavery, the educational destitution of the masses of the people, and the lack of a common religion made it extremely difficult during this period to gain friends for any measure looking to social and physical improvement. The people of the State lived apart. It took many long years to unite all the diverse elements of our population and to fuse them into one homogeneous people. The New England States did not have to go through this long process of fusion, hence they could begin earlier than North Carolina the work of public education and the realization of the ideals of great leaders. Here our educational leaders had to be content to utter their voices in the wilderness and then await the slow and tedious changes from an individualistic life to that of community cooperation.

        Proposed colonial free schools.

        Even in colonial days, Governor Dobbs with the aid of a number of our leading men proposed to establish one free school in each county. But the measure failed, partly

Page xxii

because the governor and the Assembly disagreed about other matters and partly because no adequate means could be provided after the disappointing settlement the colony secured incident to the winding up of its claims against the mother country for its services in the French and Indian War.1

        1 State Records, XXIII, 392; Colonial Records, V, 298, 496, 573, 1041, 1095; Colonial Records, VI, 5, 477.

        Bequests of Winwright and Innes.

        But individuals were not wanting in those early days, possessing a keen appreciation of the educational needs of the people. In 1744, James Winwright left a bequest to establish a free school in Beaufort. In 1754, James Innes left his property by will to establish a free school for the benefit of the youth of North Carolina. But both of these bequests failed to realize the hopes of the donors.2

        2 Pp. 2, 4, 5. These documents are not printed in the Colonial Records, hence their presence here.

        Educational clause in Constitution of 1776.

        Academy plan first hope of people to establish public schools.

        When the constitution of 1776 was framed, its 41st section provided that schools for the convenient instruction of youth should be established and that one or more universities should encourage all useful learning. This clause was always interpreted by the friends of education to mean that public schools were required to be provided by the legislature, as well as the support of the State University. Hence we hear often during this period the newspapers, the governors, and others reminding the legislature of its solemn duty to provide for public education. But the failure of the legislature to carry out the 41st section of the constitution of 1776, except in the one particular of chartering the University in 1789 and providing for its meager support, caused the early growth of the idea of State aid for academies already established by private means, as well as encouraged individuals to supply the lack of public schools. In 1795, Rev. John Alexander left a conditional bequest to provide education for the poor children of Hertford and Bertie counties.3 In 1798,

        3 P. 11.
Page xxiii

Warrenton Academy asked State aid to assist the efforts of private individuals, observing that this academy had been preparing youth for the State University, "A circumstance they humbly conceive that can not fail of attracting Attention, and inducing Consent to their present prayer." This request was refused on the ground that the condition of the finances of the State did not warrant making the donation.1

        1 P. 14.


 In 1801, the citizens of Raleigh asked the Assembly to give them a lot in the town of Raleigh on which to erect an academy, which was granted on the condition that the title to the property should remain in the State.2

        2 P. 25.


 The same year the trustees of New Bern Academy asked release from the payment of the balance on their bond given the State for the purchase-price of one of the "Palace" lots. This request was rejected as improper to be granted.3

        3 P. 28.

        Bills to aid academies introduced.

        Free school societies and their work.

        Speaking of educational conditions in 1794, Judge Murphey declared there were, at that time, not more than three schools in the State "in which the rudiments of a classical education could be acquired," while there was great lack of books in even these few schools pertaining to history and literature.4

        4 P. 22.


 This condition of education, no doubt, caused Governor Williams to urge some "adequate and suitable means for the general diffusion of learning and science throughout the State," in 1802.5

        5 P. 31.


 This same year, Gen. Joseph Graham submitted his plan for a State Military Academy.6

        6 P. 32.


 The next year, Governor Turner urged the establishment of schools in every part of the State,7

        7 P. 43.


 and two bills were introduced in the Assembly looking to the establishment of academies. One of these bills, Dudley's, proposed to establish an academy in each superior court district and partialy support them by escheats;8

        8 P. 44.


 the other, O'Farrell's, proposed to establish county academies of science but provided no certain means of support.9 Both

        9 P. 46.
Page xxiv

these bills failed. In 1804, Governor Turner said he was desirous of seeing some plan of education introduced which would "extend itself to every corner of the State."1

        1 P. 49.


 He observed that "many respectable academies have been instituted in different parts of the State" and that "several of them have failed for the want of sufficient support, and others are in a languishing state." But the Assembly paid no attention to his recommendation. The next year he again called attention to the subject of education "upon some plan that shall be general and effective, whether by affording some uniform support to one or more well regulated school or schools in every county in the State, after the example of our sister State South Carolina, or in some other adequate mode, is submitted to your wisdom."2

        2 P. 52.


 And again the legislature failed to consider the subject in any way.

        While Governor Turner was urging the legislature to take some action relative to establishing schools, a society of citizens of Edgecombe County, raised two or three hundred dollars to establish a free school for the education of poor children. Some few children received the benefit of this charity, but the intended school was never established.3

        3 P. 71.

        Between 1800 and 1825, these societies for the education of poor children seem to have been numerous, and to have had considerable influence in securing funds for their work. Besides the society in Edgecombe, there were societies in New Bern, Fayetteville, Wilmington, Raleigh, Wayne County, and Johnston County. The New Bern charitable society for the education of poor females was incorporated by the legislature of 1812.4

        4 P. 83.


 The Wayne County free school was incorporated in 1813,5

        5 P. 89.


 as was the Fayetteville orphan asylum, whose object was to clothe, educate and bind out to trades poor orphan children.6

        6 P. 91.


 The Wilmington Female Benevolent Society was incorporated in 1817, and its objects were declared to be "to secure to
Page xxv

poor children and destitute orphans, a moral and religious, as well as a common education; and besides furnishing with such education, to adopt, support and provide with situations that are useful."1

        1 P. 166.


 In 1822, the Raleigh Register mentioned the work of the Female Benevolent Society of that place and said its purpose was to promote "industry and instruction of the children of indigent parents in the first rudiments of learning." The course of study in this school embraced instruction in the "rudiments of English language, the common rules of Arithmetic, Writing, Sewing and Knitting."2

        2 P. 208.


 In 1825, the Orange County Sunday School Union sent a memorial to the legislature in which they said that their society had taught many poor children to read and asked an annual donation of twenty-five cents for each scholar for the purpose of supplying books. This request was promptly rejected.3

        3 P. 283.


 In 1831, the Johnston County Free School Law was passed. This law proposed to establish a central county free school, supported by county taxation, in which trades were to be taught. Permission was given the trustees to locate the school on a farm and to require the poor pupils educated in the school to teach after the completion of their studies. This law was repealed in 1834.4

        4 Pp. 494, 678.

        Bequests to establish free schools.

        In addition to the efforts of these societies to improve the educational condition of the masses, these documents refer to the generosity of Miles Benton, of Gates County, who left his property to establish a free school;5

        5 P. 86; 1813.


 to Alexander Dixon, of Duplin County, who left $12,000 in 1814 to establish a charity school for the poor children of that county;6

        6 P. 94


 and to Moses Griffin, of New Bern, who left a considerable bequest, in 1816, to establish a free school for poor children.7

        7 P. 114.


 Benton's bequest was lost in litigation which arose over the settlement of his estate. Griffin's heirs brought suit to test the constitutionality of the bequest
Page xxvi

on the ground that it created a perpetuity contrary to our State Constitution. In 1820, the Supreme Court declared the bequest legal, but unfortunate management of the fund resulted in failure to establish the school prior to 1840. This fund is still in existence in diminished amount and is now used by the public schools of the town of New Bern. The Dixon Fund was also mismanaged, but is still in existence, yielding an income of a little less than $150 annually, and is used as a part of the public school funds of Duplin County.

        Legislative indifference to establishment of schools.

        Murphey's report of 1816.

        From 1806 to 1814, the legislative records of the State do not disclose enough interest in education on the part of the Assembly to consider the subject in any form, although Governors Alexander, Williams, Stone, Smith and Hawkins repeatedly urged the consideration of the subject as of highest importance. In 1815, Governor Miller reminded the legislature that only by public aid could "the temple of science" be opened to all, and urged the consideration of some plan by which every member of the community could receive the benefits of education.1

        1 P. 100.


 But still nothing was done beyond the appointment of a joint committee of the two houses, consisting of Frederick Nash, Simmons J. Baker, and James McKay, the first education committee ever appointed.2

        2 P. 101.


 The next year Governor Miller warned the Assembly of the dangers of a union of two such powerful agents as wealth and talents and proposed the consideration of providing a fund for the education of all the people.3

        3 P. 103.


 On the education committee of 1816 was Senator Archibald D. Murphey, of Orange. Murphey had proposed to refer the governor's remarks on education to a special committee,4

        4 P. 104.


 and later he was made chairman of the committee and wrote with his own hand its wonderfully interesting report,5

        5 P. 105.


 in which he declared that the State's strength lay in the great mass of the people, that the State should afford to all the means to become enlightened without
Page xxvii

distinction of class, and that primary and secondary schools should be established leading directly to the University. At the close of this report Mr. Murphey proposed the appointment of a committee "to digest a system of public instruction" and submit it to the next General Assembly.1

        1 P. 111.

        Murphey's report of 1817.

        When the Assembly met in 1817, Governor Miller invited its attention to the subject of education "in a particular manner," and on November 29, Mr. Murphey submitted his plan for the establishment of public schools.2

        2 P. 123.


 In brief his plan was to provide a school fund to be managed by six commissioners with the governor at their head, with power to locate schools, to fix salaries of teachers, to appoint the trustees of the secondary schools, and to devise a plan for the promotion of pupils from the primary schools to the secondary, which were to prepare students for the university. His plan further provided that the counties were to be divided into townships with primary schools in each and also that the incorporated towns were to establish such schools, all aided by a combination of State and local funds. The secondary schools were to be aided by the State's paying one-third the salaries of the teachers. There were to be ten secondary schools. Mr. Murphey's plan further included many details relating to the organization of schools and their courses of study, their method of instruction and discipline, the education of poor children at public expense, and the establishment of an asylum for the education of the deaf and dumb. On December 16, Mr. Murphey introduced a bill3

        3 P. 165.


 to carry into effect the recommendations contained in his report. This bill passed its first reading in each house and then disappeared. There is no record to show what disposition was made of the measure. It is certain, however, that it did not become a law, and it is also within bounds to say that this measure and the report on it embraced the profoundest and most
Page xxviii

comprehensive educational wisdom ever presented for the consideration of a North Carolina legislature.

        Walker's report of 1817.

        Following Mr. Murphey's report of 1817, there was presented another report1

        1 P. 147.


 by one of the committee appointed in 1816. This report was signed by John M. Walker. Mr. Walker's plan consisted in providing for the education of teachers. His theory was to educate a great number of teachers, thereby reducing by competition the price of tuition to that level at which all parents might be able to pay for the education of their children.

        Martin's bill to establish and regulate schools.

        When the Assembly of 1818 met, Governor Branch called its attention to the constitutional requirement to establish schools, and added that "we are bound as servants of the people under the solemnities of an oath to steer the vessel of State; and when we connect this imperious duty with the luminous and impressive appeals which have been so often made to the Legislature for the last year or two, I apprehend that nothing that I could add would impart additional force."2

        2 P. 171.


 During this session of the Assembly, William Martin, of Pasquotank, introduced a bill3

        3 P. 174.


 to establish and regulate schools, which passed its second reading in the Senate but met death in the House of Commons on its first reading. This bill provided for the establishment of schools in each militia district, under the direction of five county commissioners chosen by the county courts. There were to be three committeemen for each school to employ the teacher, fix the rates of tuition, and to designate the poor children to be taught free. This law further provided that each teacher was to receive an annual salary of $100 to be paid out of the public funds and two-thirds of the tuition money. Each county was empowered to levy a tax of as much as 10 cents on each $100 valuation of property and 50 cents on each poll in support of schools. And finally, this law provided free books and supplies for poor children.

Page xxix

        School fund definitely proposed.

        The next year Governor Branch declared that education was the paramount question in North Carolina and called attention to the "languishing condition of some of our nurseries of science."1

        1 P. 180.


 During this year the Blakeley Gazette2

        2 P. 182.


 said that public sentiment favored the establishment of free schools, but that there was a division of opinion as to the best plan, whether by providing a school fund or by endowing central academies and requiring them to establish branch public schools. But Governor Branch's message could not be wholly neglected. The education committee, through its Chairman, Emanuel Shober, made a somewhat lengthy report in which it was admitted that the children of the State could not be educated by private means and suggested establishing a school fund on the basis of the Cherokee lands or the bank stock then owned by the State, the proceeds to be applied to education in the several counties.3

        3 P. 184.

        Attempt to secure national aid and to subsidize academies.

        Hill's resolution to establish schools ignored.

        Gov. Holmes says he has little hopes of any school legislation.

        Hill's school fund bill fails.

        Ashe's bill to educate the youth of the poor rejected.

        Committee to prepare a plan for public schools.

        The Assembles of 1820 and 1821 did not consider the school question, but in 1822 Governor Holmes4

        4 P. 194.


 made such an earnest appeal for carrying out the constitutional requirement in regard to schools that the taxes on auctioneers were proposed to be devoted to aiding academies5

        5 P. 197.


 and a special committee report on the policy of the national government relative to the proceeds of the sale of public lands was rendered and a resolution adopted, asking Congress to appropriate the proceeds of such sales to the States for purposes of education.6

        6 P. 199.


 But nothing came of either proposal. However, the friends of education did not despair in the face of so many failures. When the legislature of 1823 met, Governor Holmes7

        7 P. 212.


 repeated his suggestion about teaching agriculture in the University, while J. A. Hill, of New Hanover, introduced a resolution directing the committee on education to inquire into the expediency of establishing schools in conformity with the 41st section of
Page xxx

the constitution. But this committee made no report and introduced no bills,1

        1 P. 214.


 although the Western Carolinian assured the legislature that no appropriation which it could make would be so little objected to as one for the support of common schools.2

        2 P. 215.


 The next year Governor Holmes, in his message,3

        3 P. 217.


 spoke of the overflowing treasury of the State, and regretted that not one cent had been appropriated to improve the minds of the children. "But," said he, "I have harped on it so often that I now touch the chord with almost hopeless expectations and frigid indifference." Still he thought the legislature would not hesitate to create a fund to promote the education of the people. But in this expectation he was to be disappointed. His suggestion4

        4 John Haywood, State Treasurer, this year suggested a plan for a school fund. See p. 236.


 relative to the creation of a school fund, however, met with a hearty response from Charles A. Hill, of Franklin, chairman of the Senate committee on education, who introduced a bill,5

        5 P. 219.


 on December 6, 1824, to carry out the wishes of the chief executive. This measure had for its long and singular title: "A Bill to create a fund for the purpose of educating that part of the infant population of the State who shall from time to time be found destitute of the means of becoming otherwise properly taken care of in that particular." This bill provided "that all the Bank stock, which shall be acquired by this State, through the investment of the Treasury notes ordered to be issued by the last General Assembly; together with all the monies which shall annually be collected from taxes at present laid on Gates, natural and artificial curiosities, peddlers, negro traders, and Billiard tables" shall belong to the school fund. The management of the fund was placed in the hands of the governor, the secretary of State, the treasurer, and the comptroller. On the third reading, the Senate passed the bill,6 38 ayes to 16 noes, but

        6 P. 222.
Page xxxi

the House of Commons rejected it. The lower House earlier in the session had indefinitely postponed a bill1

        1 P. 229.


 by one of its own members, Samuel P. Ashe, of Cumberland, entitled: "A Bill providing a fund and plan for the Education of the youth of the poor in the different Counties of this State." This bill contained a provision for county commissioners of schools, one from each captain's district, to be appointed by the governor, with the chairman of the county court as chairman of the board of commissioners to manage the schools. The duties of the commissioners were declared to be the apportionment of the county school fund and the determination of the poor children to be educated at public expense. The commissioners were empowered to elect a treasurer and a secretary. This bill contemplated supporting the schools by a direct appropriation from the State treasury and made no provision for county or local taxation in any form. These measures and a resolution to appoint John Louis Taylor, Joseph Caldwell, Peter Browne, and Duncan Cameron a committee to prepare a plan or system of Public Education for the instruction of children of poor or indigent parentage" and report to the next Assembly2

        2 P. 235.


 constituted all the educational work of the Legislature of 1824.

        Sentiment in favor of some action increasing in vigor.

        The real reason why schools were not established.

        Again the legislature had met and done nothing to establish public schools. But "A. B.", in the Western Carolinian, about this time, said that North Carolina had always acted as if nothing could be done. However, he observed that in case of war the State could annually support with ease 1,000 men in the field, and could now as easily support 1,000 teachers half the year.3

        3 P. 241-3.


 An Edgecombe correspondent of the Raleigh Register also urged the establishment of public schools, and spoke of a public meeting recently held in that county to petition the legislature to establish them.4

        4 P. 244.


 Although the legislature of 1824 had done nothing for education, still it looked like
Page xxxii

the sentiment in favor of some action was increasing in strength and vigor as the years went by. As soon as the legislature passed the joint resolution to appoint Judge Taylor and others to formulate a plan for establishing public schools, the Raleigh Register1

        1 P. 251.


 said that nothing had before prevented their establishment "but the difficulty of forming a suitable plan for effecting the object." For once the Register nodded. This had always been the last excuse of the opponents of public schools for not establishing them, but no one can, at this distance, believe that was the real reason. Every conceivable plan had been proposed that could have been proposed; first, to subsidize the academies; second, to create a school fund; third, to support the schools by a combination of local taxation and permanent income, which was Murphey's plan; and fourth, to establish schools by county taxation. But none of these could be gotten through the legislature, all because, if we are to believe the Register, no suitable plan had yet been proposed! The truth is that no local or county taxation measure could pass, because that would raise taxes. And the creation of a permanent school fund large enough to support a system of schools was only remotely possible by setting aside for that purpose all the bank stock then owned by the State, the income of which was being used at that time to help defray the expenses of the State government. This plan would have resulted in raising taxes indirectly and would have meant the same thing as establishing schools by direct taxation. But the majority of the people were not ready to increase their taxes in order to establish public schools and that is the real and only good reason why they were not established.

        Work of Legislature of 1825; Gov. Burton's memorable message.

        In October, 1825, the Register2

        2 P. 257.


 said that it trusted that "our Legislators will consider it among their most sacred duties to adopt immediate and efficacious steps for establishing public schools." On the assembling of the legislature,
Page xxxiii

Governor Burton1

        1 P. 263.


 sent it one of the strongest educational messages ever sent to a North Carolina assembly. He said that internal improvements were important, but that education was more important; that the former regarded only the face of the country and the pecuniary interests of the people, but that the latter was concerned with the temporal and eternal happiness of mankind. He pleaded earnestly for brushing aside every difficulty in the way of establishing schools, though they arose at every step. He also said that "if the preservation of our political principles in their original purity be of any value--if the moral character of the people be matter of moment--if honest merit should have fair play in our elections, then let us not delay, but immediately begin the important work!" And much more of the same tenor.

        Committee report on plan of education.

        Failure of lottery scheme and passage of Literary Fund law of 1825.

        Early in the session the people of the county of Beaufort sent a petition2

        2 P. 266.


 to the Assembly asking for the establishment of free schools, and Mr. Ashe, of Cumberland, again called attention to the subject by a resolution3

        3 P. 266.


 instructing the committee on education "to inquire into the expediency of reporting a bill creating a fund for, and a plan by which common schools may be established." The committee appointed in 1824 sent in their report through the governor. This recommended the division of the State into school districts, the election of twelve to fourteen county school commissioners by the county court, the appointment of three committeemen for each district, a county tax for the erection of a schoolhouse and a teacher's house in each district and for the payment of the salaries of teachers. There were also recommendations that the people of the districts be given the selection of teachers, that the chairman of the county commissioners should have some supervisory powers over the schools, and that all teachers must be able to teach reading, English grammar, and the ordinary rules of arithmetic. In its essential features this plan did not differ materially from some of
Page xxxiv

those previously submitted. Its essence was that the schools were to be supported by taxation, hence no attention was paid to its recommendations.1

        1 P. 267.


 Two days after this report was presented, Wm. M. Sneed, of Granville, introduced a bill in the Senate to raise a common school fund by lottery, but this bill never passed the Senate2.

        2 P. 277.


 And on December 22, Mr. Hill, of Franklin, again submitted a bill to create a permanent school fund, similar to the bill he introduced the previous year.3

        3 P. 279.


 This bill with slight amendment became the Literary Fund Law of 1825. Its exact title was "An act to create a fund for the establishment of common schools." The fund thus created, in the language of the act, consisted of "dividends arising from the stock now held' and which may hereafter be acquired by the State in the Banks of New Bern and Cape Fear, and which have not heretofore been pledged and set apart for internal improvements; the dividends arising from stock which is owned by the State in the Cape Fear Navigation Company, the Roanoke Navigation Company, and the Clubfoot and Harlow Creek Canal Company; the tax imposed by law on licenses to the retailers of spirituous liquors and auctioneers; the unexpended balance of the Agricultural Fund; all monies paid to the State for the entries of vacant lands (except Cherokee lands); the sum of twenty-one thousand and ninety dollars, which was paid by this State to certain Cherokee Indians, for reservations of lands secured by them by treaty * * * ; and of all the vacant and unappropriated swamp lands in this State, together with such sums of money as the Legislature may hereafter find it convenient to appropriate from time to time."

        Inadequate school fund.

        The literary fund thus set apart for education was placed under the control of a board consisting of the governor, the two speakers of the House and Senate, the State treasurer, and the chief justice of the supreme court,

Page xxxv

whose corporate title was "The President and Directors of the Literary Fund." This fund was wholly inadequate for the purpose in view, and was known to be so at the time. The Raleigh Register said that this provision would enable some future legislature "to commence the operations of the plan."1

        1 P. 291.


 The income of the fund during the first year after the law was enacted was stated to be $12,724.95; from bank stock, $2,840; from license taxes on liquor, $4,109.84; from licenses to auctioneers, $741.04; from land entries, $4,614.07; and from Cape Fear Navigation Company, $420.00.2

        2 P. 346.


 A year later Governor Burton3

        3 P. 294.


 said to the Assembly that "the last Legislature commenced the important work, but if that beginning is not well sustained and pursued, the present generation may pass away, before anything effectual is accomplished." Nor were there lacking others who entertained similar views. Several attempts were made by individual members of the Assembly of 1826 to increase the Literary Fund. Henry Seawell, of Wake, introduced a resolution to raise $630,000 by lottery and turn it over to the sixty-three counties for the purpose of establishing schools;4

        4 P. 298.


 and James J. McKay, of Bladen, introduced a bill to transfer all the bank stock acquired by the State since 1821 to the school fund.5

        5 P. 341.


 Both of these measures failed. The net result was a law to raise $50,000 by lottery and permit Judge Murphey to use half of it to publish a history of the State, the remainder to go to the literary fund.6

        6 P. 298.


 But this lottery was a failure, and the history was not published nor the school fund increased.7

        7 P. 384.


 Such was the fate of every proposed measure to increase the literary fund for the next ten years.

        Death of other educational bills.

        Still the friends of improving the educational condition of the State were not discouraged. The same legislature of 1826, which refused to increase the literary fund, although

Page xxxvi

the State at that time owned more than $548,000 in bank stock alone,1

        1 P. 350.


 only about $100,000 of which was a part of the school fund, was given the pleasure of entombing several other educational measures. Robert Potter thought the State ought to issue $200,000 worth of bonds to erect and endow a "political college," one of whose objects was to train teachers and "elevate the character of the State." But the legislature would not heed his appeals.2

        2 Pp. 300, 308.


 Another measure, introduced by Samuel King, of Iredell, had for its object the appropriation of a small amount to aid Sunday Schools to teach poor and destitute children to read. But this measure also failed.3

        3 P. 339.


 John Scott, of the town of Hillsborough, wished to appoint a commissioner to collect statistical information, but John Boon, of Orange County, moved to kill the measure and the majority agreed with the country man against the borough man.4

        4 P. 343.

        The morality of lotteries discussed.

        The Legislature of 1826, after passing several lottery bills, refused to grant the lottery privilege to a number of academies and indulged in a hot debate over their morality.5

        5 P. 330.


 The opponents of lotteries were led by Charles A. Hill, of Franklin, who very properly contended that they were merely gambling devices. The advocates of lotteries argued that they aided good causes, kept money at home which would be spent in patronizing foreign lotteries, if the domestic article were outlawed; also that gambling could not be prohibited by law, that a lottery was like an insurance risk, and that a game of chance was not immoral. This discussion and its results indicated that the moral sense of the State was awakening. It was only five years later that a lottery to promote the publication of a North Carolina history was definitely refused on moral grounds.6

        6 P. 529.

        Organization of Literary Board; its recommendations.

        The first Literary Board organized on January 16, 1827, and appointed Bartlett Yancey to write its report

Page xxxvii

to the legislature.1

        1 P. 345.


 This report2

        2 P. 346.


 recommended the establishment of public schools as a moral duty, the increase of the literary fund, and the drainage of the swamp lands. In urging the increase of the literary fund, this report took pains to say that its recommendation of the transfer of the bank stock acquired since 1821 had not been made "without due regard to the revenue of the State, and its ordinary disbursements, and no doubt is entertained but the stock may be appropriated as recommended without injury to either." But when Mr. McKay's bill3

        3 P. 342.


 to do this very thing was before the Senate, it could muster only seven votes. Evidently the anti-taxation members of the legislature had grave doubts about the ultimate effect of adopting such a recommendation.

        Ten unfruitful years.

        Deaf and Dumb Institution.

        McFarland's bill to educate poor children.

        The ten years between 1827 and 1837 resulted in no educational legislation, except those measures of doubtful value, prohibiting the teaching of slaves to read and to write and forbidding negroes to preach the Gospel. But measure after measure was proposed, looking to educational progress. In 1827, a society was incorporated4

        4 P. 379.


 to promote the education of deaf and dumb children. A land grant was asked from the national government to endow the proposed school, but no grant was made and failure marked the end of the whole matter. In 1828, "S," through the medium of the Register, addressed the members of the legislature and proposed to issue bonds and use the interest to educate teachers at the University.5

        5 P. 400.


 The teachers educated under the proposed arrangement were to receive the small salary of $200 a year for two or three years, thus making tuition low and thereby "diffusing education." The legislators paid no attention to this scheme, but did consider somewhat the bill6

        6 P. 422.


 of Tryam McFarland, of Richmond, proposing a plan "for the education of the poor children of North Carolina," which consisted in using the income of the literary fund to pay
Page xxxviii

the tuition of destitute children in schools already established. Two commissioners in each captain's district were to select those to be educated free. This bill met its legislative death in the Senate, December 19, 1828.1

        1 P. 425.


 But Mr. McFarland believed in perseverance, so he reintroduced his bill again in 1829,2

        2 P. 446.


 and still again in 1830,3

        3 P. 462.


 only to meet defeat in every effort to obtain some kind of a school law.

        Other educational measures defeated.

        Opposition to denominational schools.

        At this distance, it is almost inconceivable why some of the measures proposed during these ten years were not adopted. For instance, Mr. Thomas Hill, of New Hanover, proposed to the legislature of 1830 to find out how many children there were in the State who had no opportunity to obtain an education, but that august body did not care to know.4

        4 P. 472.


 The same year Archibald Monk, of Sampson, proposed to add 1,063 shares of bank stock to the literary fund, but this too was defeated,5

        5 P. 470.


 as was also McFarland's proposition to apply the license fees paid by attorneys6

        6 P. 468.


 to increasing the fund. The wisest heads of that day, men like Frederick Nash and John M. Morehead, reported to the Assembly in 18287

        7 P. 428.


 and in 18278

        8 P. 376.


 that the literary fund was too small to establish schools. A similar report was made by Samuel T. Sawyer in 1830.9

        9 P. 467.


 In 1833, a report by the legislative committee on education said that the literary fund must be increased before any plan of public education could be attempted.10

        10 P. 655.


 In 1836, the chairman of the committee on education reported11

        11 740.


 that there was nothing, in his opinion, in the condition or the character of the people of the State repugnant to the successful operation of a system of common schools; that difficulties would likely arise upon the commencement of such a plan of education, due to the sparseness of the population and to "the prejudices of the country upon the subject"; but this committee would not recommend
Page xxxix

that schools be established, because they "would require a sum far beyond the present resources of the State." Evidently the dominant sentiment was content to let the fund set aside in 1825 slowly accumulate without any additions, a course of action which Governor Burton said would certainly mean the failure to establish public schools during his generation. But though abundant evidence has already been given to show the difficulty attending the adoption of any constructive policy during this period, a few more evidences may throw additional light on the narrowly contracted, individualistic legislative policy which seemed to be attached to the State with hooks of steel. In 1830, Thomas Hill presented a fruitless memorial from citizens of New Hanover, asking for the establishment of public schools.1

        1 P. 464.


 In 1831, Governor Stokes took occasion to say that he thought the legislature would be too busy with the capitol building and the bank question to give any attention to schools.2

        2 P. 490.


 In 1827, the House of Commons rejected a resolution to place the Canova statue of Washington on rollers, so as to remove it easily from the capitol in case of fire. This statue was ruined by fire in 1831 as a consequence of that penny-wise action. The same year the Commons refused to undergo the expense of placing a clock in their own hall. And so jealous of State sovereignty were they that they also, the same year, rejected a resolution requesting the Secretary of War to have a railroad surveyed from New Bern to Raleigh and westward.3

        3 P. 398.


 After the appearance of the Caldwell letters4

        4 P. 545.


 in 1832, in which the sad condition of education in the State was so clearly pointed out and the degraded condition of the primary teachers and their schools pictured in the most unsparing manner, a resolution looking to the establishment of a teachers' normal school was introduced in the Assembly.5

        5 P. 534.


 This was Dr. Caldwell's cherished plan to better educational conditions. But the bill failed because
Page xl

there was no money with which to undertake the work, the committee on education reporting that the literary fund had been too much used by the State of late years. The annual income of the fund was now said to be only about $8,000. In 1833, there took place a characteristic contest in the legislature over chartering two denominational schools,1

        1 P. 660.


 the Greensboro Academy and Manual Labor School and the "Literary and Manual Labor Institution in the County of Wake." The committee on education amended the Greensboro school bill by making the board of trustees self-perpetuating instead of permitting the Presbytery of Orange to fill vacancies on the board. The committee report on the bills contains this sentence which seems to explain the nature of the opposition to them: "Your committee are aware that apprehensions are entertained that if these bills be passed into laws a class of individuals in their corporate capacity may have conferred upon them privileges, if not incompatible with our Constitution and Bill of Rights, yet inconsistent with the freedom and genius of our institutions."2

        2 P. 661.


 This meant that a great many of the members of that legislature believed these bills violated the spirit of that section of the constitution which forbade the establishment of one religious society in preference to another.

        Plans of Kinney and McQueen.

        One of the most sensible of the early plans for establishing schools was that outlined by Charles R. Kinney in 1829.3

        3 P. 440.


 Briefly, Mr. Kinney proposed to divide the counties into districts and give them corporate powers and the right to levy a tax for a four months' school and the erection of schoolhouses. His plan also contemplated the examination of teachers and the New England custom of employing female teachers during the summer months. Another plan4

        4 P. 695.


 was submitted by Hugh McQueen, of Chatham, in 1834. In brief, McQueen's plan proposed transferring the poor taxes to the support of schools, by providing
Page xli

that after the death of any pauper the tax levied for his support should not be discontinued but continued and the proceeds placed to the credit of the literary fund. This pauper measure failed, but it seemed to strike the legislature with considerable force, and it was printed in the laws of 1834.

        Use of Literary Fund by State.

        Reference has already been made to the use of the literary fund by the State during the years 1827 to 1837. In his report for 1832, the public treasurer said that "the use which is thus made of the cash belonging to this fund, excludes the possibility of carrying into effect the design contemplated by the act of 1825; and the President and Directors instead of investing, or otherwise disposing of it for improvement, as directed by that act, have been obliged virtually to relinquish for a time, their control over it."1

        1 Pp. 541, 724.


 During this year as high as $64,000 was borrowed by the State from this fund during one month.

        Attempt to organize the teachers.

        Another attempt to better educational conditions during these ten years of inaction was the effort to organize a State teachers' association to promote the cause of education. In 1830, a newspaper article suggested that such an association be formed to promote the establishment of common schools.2

        2 P. 452.


 This suggestion was seconded by the Register in May 1831. A meeting of teachers at Chapel Hill during the commencement of the same year was the result. This meeting adopted a constitution and organized the N. C. Institute of Education, whose objects were said to be the "mutual consultation and the discussion of subjects connected with education and the advancement of knowledge." Dr. S. J. Baker, of Martin, was made president; W. M. McPheeters, W. M. Green, and Fred. Nash, vice-presidents; and W. A. Norwood and W. J. Bingham, secretaries. The executive committee was composed of Professors Hooper, Phillips and Mitchell. Meetings were held in 1832 and in 1833, when they ceased.3

        3 P. 510.
Page xlii

        The use made of the surplus revenue.

        The year 1837 began a new era in North Carolina educational history. The immediate cause of the change from the do-nothing policy long in vogue was the distribution of the surplus revenue by an act of Congress in 1836. The total amount received from the national government under this act was $1,433,757.39,1

        1 P. 800.


 which amount was used as follows: "1st to defray the Civil and Contingent expenses of the State Government, $100,000; 2nd for the redemption of the public debt due the U. S. in trust for the Cherokee Indians created for the purpose of paying the State's subscription for the stock in the Bank of the State of N. C., which stock constitutes a part of the fund belonging to the board of Literature, $300,000; 3rd For the payment of Stock in the Bank of Cape Fear subscribed for by the Pres. & Directors of the Literary fund, $300,000; 4th For draining the Swamp Lands of the State under the direction of the Board of Literature, $200,000; 5th Invested in Stock of the Wilmington and Raleigh Rail Road Company by the board of Int. Improvement, $533,757.39." This increase in the active capital of the banks gave immediate impetus to works of internal improvement and inspired broader plans for public education.

        The work of the Legislature of 1836-7.

        When the legislature of 1836-7 met, it refused to fritter away the surplus revenue by distributing it among the counties in proportion to population and taxation,2

        2 A. 743.


 and adopted the plan of distribution outlined above. There were those in this legislature who desired to establish public schools at once, among the number, Alfred Dockery, of Richmond, who insisted on adding all the surplus revenue to the literary fund and the distribution of the interest to the counties for the education of indigent youth.3

        3 P. 743.


 But the legislature of 1836-7 was not ready to enact a school law. It contented itself with an instruction to the literary board to digest a plan for common schools and submit it to the next Assembly,4

        4 P. 744.


 with the passage of a law incorporating
Page xliii

the literary board and giving the governor power to appoint it,1

        1 P. 748.


 and finally with the enactment of a law definitely vesting the swamp lands in this board and appropriating $200,000 for draining them.

        Plans to establish public schools considered.

        Early in the session of the Assembly of 1838-9, Mr. Dockery repeated his resolution relative to the establishment of public schools.2

        2 P. 822.


 H. G. Spruill presented a resolution and a plan which contemplated dividing the counties into school districts and holding an election in each district on the question of school or no school. The district was to be empowered to levy a tax to pay one-half the teacher's salary, the other part to be paid out of the income of the literary fund. A notable feature of this plan was the suggestion that every district refusing to establish schools should be required to