Diego A. Gutierrez

April 26, 2012

Education in the Time of Slavery

          If one was to ask a ten year old if he or she liked school, or if he or she liked to learn, they would probably look at the person with a confused look and with an “I don’t think so” kind of face. At that age, education is the last thing on their mind, and all they care about is the latest video game that Nintendo is putting out on the market. Personally, I have always been taught that education comes first before games and fun; that is probably why I gained an interest in the education field. Before taking Dr. White’s class I really did not have an idea of how slaves were educated in the Unites States or if they even received an education. I always thought that slaves were simply ignored and were only exploited for labor. After doing some reading in class and learning about the way some slaves learned to read and write, and how important it was for them to learn these skills, I began to wonder how it really was for them. How did the slaves really learn these skills that our children nowadays rate as less important? How were slaves educated?  

          Education of slaves was divided amongst the states. The northern states of the United States had no written laws preventing the slave masters or slave owners from teaching their slaves, but the southern states on the other hand created laws that prohibited the slave owners from teaching slaves to write. Now, notice I only said write; yes, the law created in 1740 in the state of South Carolina, prohibited the masters from teaching the slaves to write Education during the slave period). The law never mentioned prohibition of teaching a slave to read. Little by little other states followed and created laws such as South Carolina’s, due to fear of rebellion from the slaves.

          South Carolina’s law of 1740 was created because of fears of rebellion from the slaves. The law prohibited the teaching of writing because the masters and plantation owners were afraid that the blacks would start “abolitionist materials, forged passes, and other incendiary writings” (Education during the slave period). They believed that if the slaves could write, they would stir up the others, creating chaos in the plantations. Therefore, the masters were prohibited to hire their own slaves as scribes because this would require the slaves to know how to write. If the slave owners taught even one slave to write, they were fined with a sum. One thing the law never mentioned was the prohibition of teaching to read. This was because the idea of learning to read went along with the idea of learning the Holy Scriptures and the conversion of slaves into Christianity.

          During the Great Awakening, ministers would go around preaching to the slaves to “awaken” them and convert them into Christians. During the process the slaves began to become literate, just like Occom did in his narrative, A Short Narrative of My Life,

After I was awakened & converted, I went to all the meetings, I could come at; & continued under Trouble of Mind about 6 months; at which time I began to Learn the English Letters; got me a Primer, and used to go to my English Neighbours frequently for Assistance in Reading (Occom).

It was common for a slave to become literate during this time of Christianity and conversions. The slaves were almost forced to learn to read, because it was important for them to know about the Holy Scripture. At times the slaves, regularly men, would spend time with their teachers, just like Occom did. They would live with them and learn the reading and writing skills. Once they learned the skills they would go back home and teach the others as Jefferson’s slaves did at Monticello.

          Although teaching slaves was not against the law during Jefferson’s time (Monticello), Jefferson did not teach his slaves. Many of the slaves in Monticello were educated, but gained their knowledge from Jefferson’s grandkids; Jefferson allowed the slaves to study with them. Others learned by “inducing the white children to teach [them] the letters,” just like Peter Fossett did. Peter Fossett was a servant at Monticello who was allowed to study with Jefferson’s grandkids and later used his knowledge to teach others what he had learned (Monticello).

 In other words, education became a community task. It was passed on from a generation to another. A slave who already knew how to read and write passed on the skills to his children, and his children passed it on to a friend, who would pass it on to another slave. Others were lucky to be taught by their masters or by private tutors that their masters would hire for “informal plantation schools” (Sambol-Tosco). This was done because the plantation owners needed literate slaves to perform certain tasks that needed to be done, such as record-keeping.

Therefore, education of slaves was important not only for the slaves, but for their masters as well. Although laws were created to prevent the teaching of slaves because of scares of rebellion, the slaves were educated one way or the other. The slaves gained knowledge to read about what was going on in their lives and the slave owners gained literate workers for their plantations. Some learned from teachers, some from their masters, and others from each other, but slaves, although not all, learned to read and or write.

Works Cited

"Education during the slave period." 16 February 2012. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 20 April 2012 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_during_the_Slave_Period>. 

Occom, Samson. "A Short Narrative of My Life." 1768. Online Texts for Craig White's Literature courses. 20 April 2012 <http://coursesite.uhcl.edu/HSH/Whitec/texts/Amerind/occomnarr.htm>.   

Sambol-Tosco, Kimberly. "Slavery and the making of America." 2004. Educational Broadcasting Corporaion. 19 April 2012 <http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/experience/education/history.html>.

 “Slave life at Monticello.” 19 Apr. 2012. The Monticello Classroom. <http://classroom.monticello.org/kids/resources/profile/259/Elementary/Slave-Life-at-Monticello/>.