An historical account traces educational efforts for African Americans from emancipation through the late nineteenth century, detailing growth of schools, statistical developments, and institutional obstacles left by slavery. It situates schooling within social forces—customs, heredity, racial characteristics, and state policy—and examines philanthropy, public taxation, and organizational aid in building systems. The narrative highlights tentative, local beginnings, common experimental practices, and argues for broader, philosophically grounded planning to guide future development. It also considers wider geopolitical and colonial contexts bearing on African destinies and the practical limits that shape educational aims.