During the era of slavery in the United States, African-American education, enslaved and free, was often blocked, except for religious teaching, and eventually became illegal in many Southern countries. It is believed that literacy poses a threat to the institution of slavery. First, literacy facilitated knowledge of the successful slave revolution in Haiti from 1791-1804, the end of slavery in the British Empire in 1833, and abolitionist writings. Secondly, literacy enables or potentially permits better access to information about the Subway and other routes to freedom.
The United States is unique because it is the only country known to ban the education of slaves. Nevertheless, both free and enslaved African Americans continue to learn to read and write as a result of the sometimes clandestine efforts of African Americans themselves, as well as the informal schools and education that operate during this period. In addition, slaves use stories, music, and crafts to pass on cultural traditions and other information.
In North America, African Americans have more access to formal schools and are more likely to have basic reading and writing skills. The Quakers were instrumental in establishing educational programs in the North in the years before and after the Revolutionary War.
During the US colonial period, two prominent religious groups, the Congregationalists and Anglicans, both saw the conversion of slaves as spiritual obligations, and the ability to read the scriptures seen as part of this process (Monoghan, 2001). The Great Awakening serves as a catalyst to encourage education for all members of society.
While reading is encouraged in religious teaching, writing often does not. Writing is considered a sign of status, and is seen as unnecessary for many members of society, including slaves. This is due to the fact that many must learn how to read to be able to write. The escape of Wallace Turnage "learned" the way of reading and writing "during that time [slavery] and because [he] escaped the hold of the detained who held [him] in bondage." It is believed that he studied with the help of slaves who helped him escape to different places, for example, one might have taught him how to read directions to get to the next town. Memorization, catechism, and scripture form the basis of what education is available.
Apart from the general lack of importance given to writing instructions, there are some notable exceptions; perhaps the most famous is Phillis Wheatley, whose poetry won admiration on both sides of the Atlantic.
The end of slavery and, hence, the prohibition of slave educational law does not mean that education for former slaves or their children becomes widely available. Racial segregation in schools, de jure and then de facto, and inadequate school funding for African-Americans, continued into the 20th century and in many areas still serious problem.
Video Education during the Slave Period
Rules and restrictions
South Carolina passed the first law prohibiting the education of slaves in 1740. Although there were no restrictions on reading or drawing, it became illegal to teach slave-writing. This law follows the Stono Uprising. Because of the mushrooming fear among plantation owners associated with the spread of abolitionist materials, fake baits, and other burning writings, the need to limit the ability of slaves to communicate with each other becomes clearer. For this reason, the State Assembly shall determine the following: "Therefore it is Promulgated by the Authority above, That all and any Persons and Persons, who shall subsequently teach or cause every slave to be taught to write, or shall be used to use slaves as Scribe in any Manner of Writing, after being taught to write, any such offense is losing One Hundred Pounds Currently at this time. "Although the law does not explain any consequences for slaves who may achieve this more valuable form of literacy, the financial consequences for teachers are clear.
In 1759, Georgia exemplified its own prohibition to teach slaves to write after South Carolina's earlier law. Again, reading is not prohibited. Throughout the colonial era, the reading instruction was related to the spread of Christianity, so as not to suffer from strict legislation until some time later.
The most oppressive limits in slave education were the reaction to the Nat Turner Rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia during the summer of 1831. This incident not only caused shockwaves throughout the slaves holding the South but also had a far-reaching impact on three decades of education next. The fear of a slave uprising and the spreading of abolitionist material and ideology led to radical restrictions on meetings, travel, and - of course - literacy. Ignorance of slaves is considered important for the security of slave owners. Owners are not only afraid of the spread of abolitionist special material, they do not want the slaves to question their authority; thus, reading and reflection must be prevented at any cost.
Each country responds differently to insurrection. Although Mississippi already had laws designed to prevent slave literacy, in 1841 the state legislature passed a law requiring all African Americans free to leave the country so they would not be able to educate or incite slave populations. The same rule requires that black preachers should be given permission to speak before appearing in court. Delaware passed the 1831 law that prevented the meeting of a dozen or more blacks late at night; In addition, black preachers should petition the judge or peace judge before speaking before the assembly.
While countries such as South Carolina and Georgia have not developed laws that prohibit education for slaves, others, more moderate countries responded directly to the 1821 rebellion. In 1833, Alabama enacted a law that penalizes anyone who conducts slave education between $ 250 and $ 550; the law also prohibits any African-American encounter - slave or free - unless the five present slave owners or an African-American preacher had previously been licensed by an approved denomination.
Even North Carolina, which previously allowed African-American children to attend school with white people, finally responded to fears of rebellion. In 1836, public education for all African Americans was strictly prohibited.
Maps Education during the Slave Period
Pre-war education and subversion
In examining educational practices during that period, it is difficult to ascertain absolute numbers or numbers. However, Genovese (1986) has explored some of these areas and offers some interesting insights.
W. E. B. Du Bois and other contemporaries estimated that in 1865 to 9% slaves reached at least a marginal level of literacy. Genovese Comment: "This is entirely reasonable and probably too low" (p.Ã, 562). Especially in big cities and towns, many blacks and learned slaves have a greater chance to teach others, and both white and black activists conduct illegal schools in cities like Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Charleston, Richmond, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Diego, and Atlanta. Some prominent educators include John Berry Meachum, a black pastor who created the Floating Freedom School on the Mississippi River to avoid anti-literacy laws, Margaret Crittendon Douglass, a white woman who published a memoir after he was imprisoned in Virginia for teaching his children, free black kids. to read, and Catherine and Jane Deveaux, a black mother and daughter who, along with Catholic Sister Mathilda Beasley, run underground schools in Savannah, Georgia.
Even on plantations, the routine practice of hiring slaves helps spread literacy. As seen in Frederick Douglass's own narrative, it is common for the educated to share their learning. As a result of constant flux, some if any plantations would fail to have at least some literate slaves.
Fredrick Douglass states in his biography that he understands the path of slavery to freedom and that it has the power to read and write. In contrast, Schiller writes: "Moreover, most educated slaves do not find that literary mastery inevitably and inevitably leads to physical freedom and the idea that they need education to attain and experience existential freedom must be problematic."
As early as 1710 slaves receive biblical literature from their masters. The writer enslaved Phillis Wheatley taught at the home of his master. He eventually uses his skills to write poetry and talks to government leaders about his feelings about slavery. Not everyone is lucky enough to have a chance that Wheatley has. Many slaves learn to read Christian instruction but only those whose owners allow them to attend. Some slave owners will only encourage literacy for slaves because they need someone to perform their duties and other small reasons. They do not encourage slaves to learn to write. Slave owners see writing as something known only to an educated white man. African-American preachers often try to teach some slaves to read in secret, but there is little chance for a concentrated instruction period. Through spiritual, stories, and other forms of literary, abolitionist, and other community leaders of literary preachers convey valuable political, cultural and religious information.
There is evidence of slaves practicing the way of reading and writing in secret. There is a blackboard found near the George Washington estate in Mount Vernon with writings carved in it. Bly notes that "237 unidentified plates, 27 pencils, 2 pencilboards, and 18 slates were found in homes once occupied by black bonded slaves Jefferson." It shows that slaves secretly practice reading and writing their skills when they have their own time, most likely at night. They also believe that slaves practice their letters on the ground because it is easier to hide than to write on the board. Slaves then continue their newly learned skills to others.
Although concubines are more likely than employers to disregard the law and teach slaves to read, children are most likely to deride what they perceive to be unfair and unnecessary restrictions. While peer controls are limited in scope, it is common for slave children to bring white children's books to school. Once there, they will sit outside and try to follow the lesson through the window.
Free-black school
In the 1780s a group called "The Pennsylvania Society to Promote the Abolition of Slavery" (PAS) took on the task of anti-slavery. They helped liberate slaves with educational and economic assistance. They also assist with legal obligations, such as ensuring that they are not resold into slavery. Other anti-slavery groups, called the New York Manumission Society (NYMS), do much for the abolition of slavery; one important thing they do is set up a school for free blacks. "NYMS founded the African Free School in 1787 which, during its first two decades of existence, was registered between 100 and 200 students annually, enrolling a total of eight hundred students in 1822." PAS also instituted several schools for the free blacks and also they only ran away by liberated African Americans.
They are taught reading, writing, grammar, mathematics, and geography. Schools will hold an annual exam day to show the public, parents, and donor the knowledge that students have acquired. This is primarily to show the white population that African Americans can function in society. There are some surviving notes about what they will learn in free school. Some work shows that they prepare students for the middle class in the community. Founded in 1787, the African Free School provides education for blacks in New York City for more than six decades.
In 1863, the images of two freed slave sons, Isaac and Rosa, who studied at Louisiana Free School are widely circulated in abolitionist campaigns.
See also
Anti-literacy laws
Link
Harvard Educational Review, SELF-USED African American Education in Slavery and Freedom by HEATHER ANDREA WILLIAMS CHAPEL HILL: UNIVERSITY OF CAROLINA NORTH CAROLINA, 2005
Kimberly Sambol Toscol, The Slave Experience: Education, Art & amp; Culture, PBS.com
http://www.aaihs.org/rethinking-early-slave-literacy/
References
- Albanese, Anthony. (1976.) School of Plantation . New York: Vantage Books.
- William L. Andrews, ed. (1996). Oxford Reader Frederick Douglass . New York: Oxford University Press.
- Bly, Antonio T. "Pretend he can read": Escape and Literacy in Colonial America, 1730-1776. "Early American Studies, Interdisciplinary Journal 6, No. 2 (Autumn 2008): 261-294 America: History & Life, EBSCOhost (accessed October 27, 2014).
- Genovese, Eugene. (1976). Roll, Jordan, Roll . New York: Vintage Books.
- Monaghan, E. J. (2005). Learn to Read and Write in Colonial America . Boston: University of Massachusetts Press.
- Palmer, R. Roderick (1957). "Colonial Statues and Constraints Today Limit Negro Education". The Journal of Negro Education . 26 (4): 525-529. doi: 10.2307/2293515.
- Polgar, Paul J (2011). "" To Increase Them to Equal Participation ": Early Abolitionism, Gradual Emancipation and African American Promise". Early Republic Journal . 31 (2): 229-258. doi: 10.1353/jer.2011.0023.
- Schiller, Ben (2008). "Learning Their Letters: Literacy Critical, Epistol Culture, and Slavery in South Antebellum". Southern Quarterly . 45 (3): 11-29.
- Webber, Thomas. (1978). Deep Like Rivers: Education in the Slave Quarter Community 1831-1865 . New York: W.W. Norton & amp; Company, Inc.
- Woodson, C.G. (1915). Negro Education Before 1861: The History of Color Education of the United States from the Beginning of Slavery to the Civil War . New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments