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Re: PHYS-L Digest - 28 Feb 2000 to 29 Feb 2000 (#2000-68)

Thank you, Jack. I was lurking on this one but didn't have time to join
the argument, and I was very glad you had the time to chip in. Our nation
was anything but illiterate in its early days.

A few facts and memorisms to throw in here:

When the population of the colonies was about 3 million, of which more than
half were slaves or indentured servants, Tom Paine's _Common_Sense_ sold
about 600,000 copies.

European visitors to the country in its early years consistently commented
on how many newspapers there were and how much the population read.

Before the introduction of compulsory schooling in Massachusetts in 1850,
the literacy rate there has been estimated to have been 98%.

For a fascinating look at how Shakespeare was perceived in the old west,
there's a Smithsonian article on the subject from sometime last year
(sorry, don't have the article any more). Particularly apropos is the
story of how Jim Bridger, a rough-and-ready mountain man who had no
apparent need for "book larnin'", rode two or three days to a wagon trail
in hopes of finding a traveler who would sell him a complete Shakespeare.

Digby Willard


Responding to the message of Tue, 29 Feb 2000 19:02:53 -0600
from Jack Uretsky <jlu@HEP.ANL.GOV>:

The part I have kept (below) is an outrageous rewriting of
history. The "frontier", was remarkably literate, supported opera,
theatres, Chautauquas, newspapers, and provided appreciative audiences
for the likes of Mark Twain and Bret Harte. I think that Hugh has let
his imagination run amok here.
Regards,
Jack
Who was fortunate enough to grow up in the shadow of Charlie
Russell.