. Government and politics in Virginia . School ment of systems of public education was so long delayed inthe South. In the second place, there was in Virginia and the rest ofthe South a large population of negro slaves. This factcaused society to be divided into three classes. There was,first, the wealthy class of land owners and slave owners, to-gether A^th the professional men of the state, such as min- 46 GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS IN VIRGINIA isters, lawyers, physicians, and office-holders. Next, therewas a class of poor white people consisting of mechanics,artisans, and laborers. Last, there
. Government and politics in Virginia . School ment of systems of public education was so long delayed inthe South. In the second place, there was in Virginia and the rest ofthe South a large population of negro slaves. This factcaused society to be divided into three classes. There was,first, the wealthy class of land owners and slave owners, to-gether A^th the professional men of the state, such as min- 46 GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS IN VIRGINIA isters, lawyers, physicians, and office-holders. Next, therewas a class of poor white people consisting of mechanics,artisans, and laborers. Last, there was the slave the government of Virginia was almost exclusively in thehands of the wealthy class. The people of this class hadmoney and the opportunity to provide education for theirchildren by other means than at the expense of the did not, therefore, see the necessity for general publiceducation in order that all the people might share in the con-duct of the government. In the northern states, on the other. A CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL IN HENRICO COUNTYShowing school wagons for the transportation of pupils hand, there were few negro slaves, and society was not dividedso strictly into classes. This, then, was another reason whythe people of the South failed to establish systems of educationat an early date. PRIVATE AND PUBLIC EDUCATION. We havelong since ceased to regard the public schools as a charityestablished by the government. It is true that some personscontinue to pay for the education of their children at private THE SCHOOLS OF THE PEOPLE 47 schools. But many persons who can afford to pay for theeducation of their children nevertheless prefer to send themto the schools provided by the government. It is for eachfamily to decide whether the children of the family shall re-ceive their education at a public or at a private school. Thepublic schools are open to the children of the community re-gardless of whether their parents can afford to pay for thei
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