Chapter Seven Summary and Analysis

Chapter Seven concentrates on the education of the freedman. The black slave had been in danger of whipping and possible death if he learned to read. Suddenly he could have the education that he had come to understand he needed. The freedman put education as a priority. Many of the abolitionists who came down South to aid the Freedmen's Bureau saw the need for teachers. The Freedmen's Bureau had missionaries and private charities working with them. The organizations contributed about $5 million for schools. As poor as the black man was, the freedmen contributed $1 million.

An Irish immigrant, Cornelius McBride, traveled to Sparta, Mississippi from Canada. At first the white neighbors seemed nice enough to McBride. A well-to-do planter let McBride board with him. McBride didn't have to worry about where he would eat or sleep. There were so many...