all excited to understand and learn. The responsibility of educating blacks was realized within their own community. "Throughout the South, blacks in 1865 and 1866 raised money to purchase land, build schoolhouses, and pay teachers' salaries. Some communities voluntarily taxed themselves; in others black schools charged tuition, while allowing a number of the poorest families to enroll their children free of charge"(p.43). Not only did blacks raise the money to fund the schoolhouse; they also donated their labor to erect the building. They were extremely committed to advancement and redefining themselves. Southern states as a whole began to encourage literacy and education. The question arose as to where the blacks would fit in. Some proposed that the state provide funds for the education of blacks. "Delaware, Kentucky, and Maryland Democrats initially made no provision at all for black education, then ordered that these schools that these schools be financed by taxes on black parents" (183). Given their racist attitudes not many were supportive of spending white tax dollars on black schools. Proposed next was the integration of blacks into existing white schools. Foner indicates that integration was defended at times so white students could be taught "caste and hate" and black students could be taught "their inferiority" (p.227). Reluctant of integration, some whites avoid an academic institution altogether. If black students were going to be integrated into a white classroom, most whites refused to stay. At the University of South Carolina in 1873, the first black student in the history of the school enrolled in their college of medicine. Soon after, most white students and some white faculty relocated. The governor of North Carolina in 1865 persuaded the state legislature to abolish the state school system. The governor feared that if white children were educated at public expense, it would be required to educate blacks a...
