The Religious Instruction of the Negroes in the U.S.. Charles Colcock Jones

neglect them. Many Negroes were received into the churches from one end of the Colonies to the other, and the rest and privileges of the Lord's day were secured to them either by custom or law. We see them occasionally noticed in the proceedings of ecclesiastical associations. There were catechetical schools and schools for teaching them to read, in a few places. The Negroes were allowed to read, and books were, upon occasions, distributed to them; but the privileges of education were gradually discouraged and withheld, more particularly in those Colonies and States containing a large population of them, and whose policy it was to perpetuate the system of slavery.

      Were it possible for us to obtain from all the ministers of various denominations throughout the Colonies, who flourished during these 170 years, a report of their regular pastoral labors such as have been furnished by a few, it might possibly appear that the Negroes received a larger share of religious instruction than, upon a consideration of the facts now before us, many would be led to imagine.