Religious Denominations
Popular education has made great advancement in our country within the present century, and especially within the last forty years, by means of the common school and the printing-press. In 1776, there were seven colleges in this country for the higher education of the young; but the common schools were very inferior. Those colleges are yet flourishing institutions; but the common schools--the seminaries for the people--have now the real substantial work of education under their control. The colleges have increased in numbers, from seven in 1776, to three hundred and forty-nine in 1876. The increase in the school population has been wonderful within twenty-five years. It is now more than 13,000,000. Of these, about 6,000,000 are enrolled on the records of public schools. Within a very few years, higher seminaries of learning for young women have been provided, and are flourishing. The first college proper for women, ever established, was founded by Matthew Vassar, at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and was opened in 1865. The other colleges of the land are now making way for the introduction of feminine students. Sabbath-schools are also doing a great work in the field of popular education. The first one was opened by the Methodists, in Virginia, in 1786; now they number 70,000, with over 753,000 teachers, and 6,000,000 pupils.
The printing-press not only multiplies books at a cheaper rate for popular education, but by newspapers and magazines it scatters knowledge broadcast over the land. A century ago, the number of newspapers in the colonies was only thirty-seven, with an aggregate circulation of not more than 4,000 a week. In 1870, there were published in the United States, 5,871 newspapers, with an aggregate circulation of 20,843,000 daily or weekly, and a yearly issue of more than 1,500,000,000 copies. In 1776, the printing-presses then in use turned out about 250 sheets, printed on one side, in an hour; now the "power-press" like Hoe's, turns out 15,000 perfected newspapers in an hours, all folded for delivery. In 1776, the publishing of books was not an extensive business in our country, for readers were few; now the value of books issued each year from the American press cannot be less than $46,000,000. One firm (Harper & Brothers) use $2,000 worth of white paper a day in their publishing establishment. Our public and private libraries are rapidly increasing. In the space of ten years--1860 to 1870--the aggregate number of volumes in them increased from 13,316,000 to 45,500,000. In 1870, the number of libraries in our country was 164,815, of which 108,800 were private, containing a total of about twenty-six million volumes.
Literature, science, and art have kept pace in our country with material progress. In these pursuits very few were employed in the infancy of the Republic; and from 1776 until the war of 1812 our most eminent writers were the earnest statesmen. After that period belles-lettres literature received more attention, and now no department in the republic of letters remains untouched by American authors. In the domain of science, American men and women now occupy a front rank among the philosophers; and our artists of both sexes rival those of Europe in architecture, sculpture, painting, poetry, and music. The painters have not made much advance in historical composition, but in landscape they are unsurpassed. Our physicians and surgeons hold a high place in the profession; and our benevolent institutions, especially those devoted to the deaf and dumb, the blind, the insane and the idiotic, not only attest the skill and philosophy of the medicinal professors, but the generous philanthropy of our people; for these and the many homes for the orphans, the infirm and the friendless, are largely supported by private gifts.
The institutions above-named have all been established in our country within the century just closed, and their numbers and usefulness have kept pace with the population. In 1870, there were about 4,000 persons in our country who were deaf and dumb, of whom 1,900 were girls; 20,000 who were blind; 38,000 who were insane, and 24,500 who were idiotic. Of the insane, only 16,000 were in asylums; the remainder were at their homes or in alms-houses.
A hundred years ago, society here was largely composed of members of the leading religious societies--Baptists, Congregationalists, Dutch Reformed, Episcopalians, Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Roman Catholics, Moravians, Friends, etc. The denominational line was then more sharply drawn than now, for there was much sectarian zeal and not a little bigotry. Since then, new religious societies have appeared, and there are now twenty-seven distinct ones in our country. In 1870, these bodies had an aggregate of 72,459 organizations; 63,082 edifices; 21,685,082 sittings, or about one sitting for every two of the population, and property valued at $354,483,581. These churches made a rapid increase in membership and wealth in the twenty years ending in 1870. The number of organizations in 1850 was 38,062; sittings, 14,234,825; and their aggregate property was valued at $87,328,801.
With this brief outline sketch of the most important features of our National progress, material, intellectual and moral, during the century just closed, I will leave the subject.