--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As I started reading about it, I saw that…" description: "\"As I started reading about it, I saw that at the beginning of the 19th century, outside of New England - which was an unusually literate place - practi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f47/robert-hass-3548_19th-century_as-i-started-reading-about-it-i-saw-that_3056240.jpg" --- # As I started reading about it, I saw that at the beginning… ![“As I started reading about it, I saw that at the beginning of the 19th century, outside of New England - which was an unusually literate place - practically no one could read or write. And even in New England, the overall rate was only about 60 percent. That still means four out of 10 people…” quote by Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f47/robert-hass-3548_19th-century_as-i-started-reading-about-it-i-saw-that_3056240.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f47/robert-hass-3548_19th-century_as-i-started-reading-about-it-i-saw-that_3056240.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f47/robert-hass-3548_19th-century_as-i-started-reading-about-it-i-saw-that_3056240.jpg) > “As I started reading about it, I saw that at the beginning of the 19th century, outside of New England - which was an unusually literate place - practically no one could read or write. And even in New England, the overall rate was only about 60 percent. That still means four out of 10 people couldn't put their name to a will.” [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Literacy rates were low historically, even in educated regions, limiting legal autonomy. **In simple terms:** Many were illiterate historically. Key Takeaway Promote education to empower citizens. Themes education literacy history Mood informative reflective Type historical social When to use this quote - schools - legal aid - community programs Key Concepts social inequality policy Questions to Reflect On - How does literacy affect civic participation? - What modern barriers persist? A Different Perspective Historical data may be incomplete. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [19th century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/19th-century/) [Century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century/) [England](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/england/) [Four](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/four/) [Literate Place](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literate-place-5106748/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Names](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/names/) [New england](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-england/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [People Couldn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-couldn/) [Percent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/percent/) [Rate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rate/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Saws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saws/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) [Unusually Literate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unusually-literate-5106747/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Literature, the study of literature in English in the 19th century, did not belong to literary studies, which had to do with Greek, Latin,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/literature-the-study-of-literature-in-english-in-the-19th-century-did/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [A movement got started for common schools, and by the end of the 19th century, 91 percent of Americans could read and write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/a-movement-got-started-for-common-schools-and-by-the-end-of-the-19th/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [In the beginning of the 19th century, maybe forty percent of women and fifty percent of men could produce a signature, which meant that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/in-the-beginning-of-the-19th-century-maybe-forty-percent-of-women-and/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [One thing we do know is that mass literacy is a product of the 19th century, at least in English-speaking cultures - Ireland, England,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/one-thing-we-do-know-is-that-mass-literacy-is-a-product-of-the-19th/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [You only had widespread literacy and books that people could afford in the middle of the 19th century. Did more people read poetry at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/you-only-had-widespread-literacy-and-books-that-people-could-afford/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [“Yamamoto said he thought you had to be able to hear how something did not work as part of a bigger thing to hear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-dewitt/yamamoto-said-he-thought-you-had-to-be-able-to-hear-how-something-did/) [Helen DeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-dewitt/) > [“Emotions like these didn't happen to regular, everyday people. They couldn't or else the entire world would be fornicating all the time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-m-pillow/emotions-like-these-didn-t-happen-to-regular-everyday-people-they/) [Michelle M. Pillow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-m-pillow/) > [I guess if people couldn't profit from war I don't think there would be war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-tomlin/i-guess-if-people-couldn-t-profit-from-war-i-don-t-think-there-would/) [Lily Tomlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-tomlin/) > [“She'd always been good at reading people, but she couldn't read him. And holy fuck, did she want to.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kit-rocha/she-d-always-been-good-at-reading-people-but-she-couldn-t-read-him/) [Kit Rocha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kit-rocha/) > [“And that was true too, that was what the Culverts were like: crucified by their shyness and at the same time contemptuous of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tessa-hadley/and-that-was-true-too-that-was-what-the-culverts-were-like-crucified/) [Tessa Hadley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tessa-hadley/) > [I grew up in a very small town in Massachusetts, and it goes without saying that there weren't many Nigerian families in that town,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/uzo-aduba/i-grew-up-in-a-very-small-town-in-massachusetts-and-it-goes-without/) [Uzo Aduba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/uzo-aduba/) > [“There always seemed to be a better way, except when it came to people. Once broken, people couldn't be repaired.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-j-sullivan/there-always-seemed-to-be-a-better-way-except-when-it-came-to-people/) [Michael J. Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-j-sullivan/) > [Maybe I was just one of those people who couldn't rest easy unless things went catastrophically wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-aguirre/maybe-i-was-just-one-of-those-people-who-couldn-t-rest-easy-unless/) [Ann Aguirre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-aguirre/) > [“thinking how good it was to be free, away from the baby and from Tom, too, the two people who couldn’t help reminding her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-perrotta/thinking-how-good-it-was-to-be-free-away-from-the-baby-and-from-tom/) [Tom Perrotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-perrotta/) > [Overall, we had about 50 meetings where the brothers would say that I couldn't do any solo records, I couldn't write for other people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sammy-hagar/overall-we-had-about-50-meetings-where-the-brothers-would-say-that-i/) [Sammy Hagar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sammy-hagar/) ## More by Robert Hass > [It's the same with this idea of a literate public, and also of a democracy in which people have access to and really read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/it-s-the-same-with-this-idea-of-a-literate-public-and-also-of-a/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [All the new thinking is about loss. In this it resembles all the old thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/all-the-new-thinking-is-about-loss-in-this-it-resembles-all-the-old/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [Poetry, when it takes sides, when it proposes solutions, isn't any smarter than anybody else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/poetry-when-it-takes-sides-when-it-proposes-solutions-isn-t-any/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [When I was in college, I lost my scholarship one year. I had enough money for tuition, but not room and board. So I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/when-i-was-in-college-i-lost-my-scholarship-one-year-i-had-enough/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [As poet laureate, I was asked to be a spokesman for literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/as-poet-laureate-i-was-asked-to-be-a-spokesman-for-literature/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [After Pope, in the beginning of Romanticism, people developed the idea that imagination rather than reason was a special form of knowledge and its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/after-pope-in-the-beginning-of-romanticism-people-developed-the-idea/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [They are the kinds of things that make us a community: attachment to place, attachment to local arts traditions, the ability to read literature,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/they-are-the-kinds-of-things-that-make-us-a-community-attachment-to/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [I think that were I in the middle of an obsession to write about, say, sudden oak death in California or my grandchildren or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/i-think-that-were-i-in-the-middle-of-an-obsession-to-write-about-say/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [I suppose there's something to be said for the sheer reinforcement of our beliefs, but really I think poetry is more useful as disenchantment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/i-suppose-there-s-something-to-be-said-for-the-sheer-reinforcement-of/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [If you were making poetry out of convictions - trying to convince other people - you were in the territory of rhetoric, and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/if-you-were-making-poetry-out-of-convictions-trying-to-convince-other/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [Milton was the first person who really experimented with putting politics into sonnets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/milton-was-the-first-person-who-really-experimented-with-putting/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [When I came into the job, funding for the humanities at the federal level was being drastically cut. This was the high tide of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/when-i-came-into-the-job-funding-for-the-humanities-at-the-federal/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [One may prefer spring and summer to autumn and winter, but preference is hardly to the point. The earth turns, and we live in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/one-may-prefer-spring-and-summer-to-autumn-and-winter-but-preference/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [“ A Faint Music by Robert Hass Maybe you need to write a poem about grace. When everything broken is broken, and everything dead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/a-faint-music-by-robert-hass-maybe-you-need-to-write-a-poem-about/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) > [“When everything broken is broken, and everything dead is dead, and the hero has looked into the mirror with complete contempt, and the heroine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hass/when-everything-broken-is-broken-and-everything-dead-is-dead-and-the/) [Robert Hass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) [Explore all 128 Robert Hass quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hass/) ## More 19th century quotes > [Though my grandmother had picked up modern ideas in America, she still had some conflicting 19th-century Irish notions. She believed that daughters, educated though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosemary-mahoney/though-my-grandmother-had-picked-up-modern-ideas-in-america-she-still/) [Rosemary Mahoney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosemary-mahoney/) > [Nineteenth-century English literature I know; 19th-century sewage systems, not so much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/nineteenth-century-english-literature-i-know-19th-century-sewage/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [“Washington was no politician as we understand the word," replied Ratcliffe abruptly. "He stood outside of politics. The thing couldn't be done today. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/washington-was-no-politician-as-we-understand-the-word-replied/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [Then years back, when I moved to California, I happened to see a book about fashions of 19th-century Victorian England, only four pages of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/then-years-back-when-i-moved-to-california-i-happened-to-see-a-book/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Like the railroads that brought us together in the 19th century, these trails will bring us together in the 20th and 21st centuries. (at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/like-the-railroads-that-brought-us-together-in-the-19th-century-these/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [By tracing the careers of the four members of the Philosophical Breakfast Club, Laura Snyder has found a wonderful way not just to tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-standage/by-tracing-the-careers-of-the-four-members-of-the-philosophical/) [Tom Standage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-standage/) > [If you look back on the history of the 20th century, the 19th century or even to the ancien régime of the 18th, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/if-you-look-back-on-the-history-of-the-20th-century-the-19th-century/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [If you look at that incredible burst of fantastic characters that emerged in the late 19th century/early 20th century, you can see so many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/if-you-look-at-that-incredible-burst-of-fantastic-characters-that/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [ . . . Luddites were those frenzied traditionalists of the early 19th century who toured \[England\] wrecking new weaving machines on the theory that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-michener/luddites-were-those-frenzied-traditionalists-of-the-early-19th/) [James A. Michener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-michener/) > [“The Victorian era was an age of superlatives and larger-than-life characters, and as far as that goes, Dr. Wildman Whitehouse fit right in: what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-stephenson/the-victorian-era-was-an-age-of-superlatives-and-larger-than-life/) [Neal Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-stephenson/) > [Take any writer you want in the 19th century: they wrote with quill pens, dipping a piece of goose feather in ink and writing.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-murch/take-any-writer-you-want-in-the-19th-century-they-wrote-with-quill/) [Walter Murch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-murch/) > [There are real issues that the president Donald Trump and particularly Steve Bannon, his political adviser, are pushing. It's a vision, a rather dark…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-franklin-jeffrey/there-are-real-issues-that-the-president-donald-trump-and/) [James Franklin Jeffrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-franklin-jeffrey/) > [While every historical era has its unique appeal as a setting for tales of crime and detection, the 19th century is exceptional - it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-weinman/while-every-historical-era-has-its-unique-appeal-as-a-setting-for/) [Sarah Weinman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-weinman/) > [Adolescence was invented in the 19th century to enable middle-class families to keep their children out of sweatshops. But it has degenerated into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/newt-gingrich/adolescence-was-invented-in-the-19th-century-to-enable-middle-class/) [Newt Gingrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/newt-gingrich/) > [An ethic of maternalism was central to the utopianism of 19th century feminists. I don't think that today's women see motherhood as a source…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clare-wright/an-ethic-of-maternalism-was-central-to-the-utopianism-of-19th-century/) [Clare Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clare-wright/) [Browse all 383 19th century quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/19th-century/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "As I started reading about it, I saw that at the beginning of the 19th century, outside of New England - which was an unusually literate place - practically no one could read or write. And even in New England, the overall rate was only about 60 percent. 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