The very title of Dr. Woodson’s book causes one who is interested in the race history to ask questions and think.  There are comparatively few people who know anything about the efforts made to educate the Negro prior to 1861.  Consequently, from the first page of the book to the last, the reader is continually acquiring facts concerning this most interesting and important phase of the Colored-American’s history of which he has never heard before, and some of which seem too wonderful to be true.  But it is not possible to doubt anything which is found in Dr. Woodson’s book.  One knows that every statement he reads concerning the education of the Negro prior to 1861 is true, for the author has taken pains to substantiate every fact that he presents.

It is difficult to imagine any phase of race history more fascinating and more thrilling than an account of the desperate and prolonged struggle between the forces which made for the mental and spiritual enlightenment of the slave and those which opposed these humane and Christian efforts with all the bitterness and strength at their command.  The reasons assigned by those who favored the education of the slaves and the methods suggested together with the arguments used by those who were opposed to it and the laws enacted to prevent it furnish an illuminating study in human nature.

One is surprised to find that very early in the history of the colonies there were scholars and statesmen who did not hesitate to declare their belief in the intellectual possibilities of the Negro.  These men agreed with George Buchanan that the Negro had talent for the fine arts and under favorable circumstances could achieve something worth while in literature, mathematics and philosophy.  The high estimate placed upon the innate ability of the Negro may be attributed to the fact that early in the history of the country there was a goodly number of slaves who had managed to attain a certain intellectual proficiency in spite of the difficulties which had to be overcome.  By 1791 a colored minister had so distinguished himself that he was called to the pastorate of the First Baptist Church (white) of Portsmouth, Va.  Benjamin Banneker’s proficiency in mathematics enabled him to make the first clock manufactured in the United States.  As the author himself says, “the instances of Negroes struggling to obtain an education read like the beautiful romances of a people in an heroic age.”

Indeed the reaction which developed against allowing the slaves to pick up the few fragments of knowledge which they had been able to secure was due to some extent to the enthusiasm and eagerness with which they availed themselves of the opportunities afforded them and the salutary effect which the enlightenment had on their character.  The account of the establishment of schools and churches for slaves who were transplanted to free soil is one of the most interesting chapters in the book.  The struggle for the higher education