UNITED STATES                                  1976                                  UNITED STATES

(The Roman church numbered 10,879,930). The Methodists were the largest Evangelical body, all their branches together numbering 6,551,891 communicants. The Baptists came next (5,740,770), and Lutherans (1,957,433) and Presbyterians (1,771,877) contested the third place. Protestant churches are 17 times as numerous as Roman Catholic ones; their ministers 11 times as numerous ; and their communicants more than double those of the latter. The Evangelical Sunday-schools (a. v.) numbered 140,519 in 1905; their teachers 1,451,855; and their pupils 11,329,253. The Roman Catholic clergy estimate their Sunday-school scholars as 1,000,000. The Jews (q. v.) have 143,000 communicants; 570 churches; and 301 ministers.

Education is the business of the states, not of the nation, and every state has by law established free, public schools. These are largely supplemented by private and parochial schools. In 1900 only 10.7% of the 58,000,000 Americans ten years old or more were unable to read or write. These illiterates numbered 6,180,069. Only 4.6% of the native white population ten years old and more was illiterate; but 12.9% of the same class of foreign-born whites and 44-5% of that class of the colored population were illiterate. That is, among the 41,236,662 of the first division there were only 1,913,611 illiterates; but among the 10,014,256 of the second class there were 1,287,135 illiterates and among the 6,698,-006 of the third group there were 2,979,323 illiterates. Illiteracy in the United States is almost wholly due to ignorant immigrants and to ignorant negroes. But the percentage of illiteracy is falling with remarkable rapidity, for in 1880 it was 17% and in 1890 it was 13.3%. The United States leads the world in many industries, but in none does it lead more successfully than in the making of citizens in its public schools. Though the national government administers no system of education nor appropriates money directly foi schools, it has ever since 1787 indirectly assisted education more generously than any other government that ever existed. In each new state it has set two square miles of each township six miles square aside as endowments for schools, agricultural colleges or universities. The total has been 75,000,000 acres for schools and universities, including 8,000,000 for colleges of agriculture. It also" maintains a bureau of education (see Department of the Interior), which collects statistics and publishes reports. The state systems of education are so similar that in effect they make a national system of American education. In 1905-6 there were 16,641,970 children in the public schools, which cost $307,765,659. The total number of pupils in all institutions is 18,434,847. Universities and col-

leges numbered 493, of which 335 were coeducational and 158 for men only. There also were 129 colleges for women. The colleges and universities had 130,078 students and 55,000,000 volumes in their libraries. _ The professional schools unconnected with colleges include those of dentistry (56), law (98), medicine (152), pharmacy (166), theology (150) and veterinary science (12), and number 60,000 students. As for schools of music or art, almost every city has at least one. See Colleges, Education (Modern), Education (State-Aid), Schools and Universities; articles on other educational topics; and articles on the states and on single universities or colleges.

Art and Literature See Fine Arts, Literature (American) and Sculpture.

People and Immigration The population in 1910 was 91,972,266,and in 1907 was double that of 1880. In 1907 it was estimated by the government officials as 86,429,000. In 1908 the governors of the states estimated it as 88,912,058 for the continental United States. Incìuding the islands, it is 98,000,000. The original inhabitants were Indians (q. v.) of whom there are 291,581. The negroes (q. v. ) were brought into the country in 1610 as slaves (see Slavery), and number over 10,000,000. Their progress since 1865 has been noteworthy. The native population of the continental United States m 1900 was 65,729,150, and the foreign-born 10,356,644. There were 160 cities of 25,000 or more inhabitants, their combined population being 19,718,312. The total urban population was 28,411,698, almost a third of the total. In 1906 there were 42 cities with populations of 100,000 or more and 48 with 50,000 to 100,000 inhabitants. Among these chief cities are New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Boston, Baltimore, Pittsburg (including Allegheny), Cleveland, Buffalo, San Francisco, Detroit, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Washington, Newark, Minneapolis, Jersey City, Louisville, Indianapolis, St. Paul and Providence — all, except San Francisco, east of the Mississippi and having from 4,11^,043 inhabitants down to 203,243 or a total of over 12,500,000. (See articles on cities of the United States, as Adams or Zanesville). The foreign-born population is 10,460,085, representing almost every known nationality, 26,918,107 immigrants having come between 1787 and July 1st of 1908. (Canadian and Mexican immigrants are not included). Before 1775 the English and Scotch-Irish were the prevailing race, though New York had a considerable Dutch and Pennsylvania a large German population, while South Carolina had many citizens of French descent. (The Louisiana of 1803 and Texas