Arfwedson
remarked that the slaves seldom learned to read; yet elsewhere
he stated that he sometimes found some who had that ability.[1]
Abolitionists like May, Jay, and Garrison would make it seem that the
conditions in the South were such that it was almost impossible for a
slave to develop intellectual power.[2] Rev. C.C. Jones[3] believed
that only an inconsiderable fraction of the slaves could read.
Witnesses to the contrary, however, are numerous. Abdy, Smedes,
Andrews, Bremer, and Olmsted found during their stay in the South
many slaves who had experienced unusual spiritual and mental
development.[4] Nehemiah Adams, giving the southern view of slavery
in 1854, said that large numbers of the slaves could read and
were furnished with the Scriptures.[5] Amos Dresser, who traveled
extensively in the Southwest, believed that one out of every fifty
could read and write.[6] C.G. Parsons thought that five thousand
out of the four hundred thousand slaves of Georgia had these
attainments.[7] These figures, of course, would run much higher were
the free people of color included in the estimates. Combining the two
it is safe to say that ten per cent.
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