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diff --git a/11089-0.txt b/11089-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0eada3f --- /dev/null +++ b/11089-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13831 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11089 *** + +The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861 + +A History of the Education of the Colored People of the United States +from the Beginning of Slavery to the Civil War + + +By + +C.G. Woodson. + +1919 + + + + +PREFACE + + +About two years ago the author decided to set forth in a small volume +the leading facts of the development of Negro education, thinking that +he would have to deal largely with the movement since the Civil War. +In looking over documents for material to furnish a background for +recent achievements in this field, he discovered that he would write +a much more interesting book should he confine himself to the +ante-bellum period. In fact, the accounts of the successful strivings +of Negroes for enlightenment under most adverse circumstances read +like beautiful romances of a people in an heroic age. + +Interesting as is this phase of the history of the American Negro, it +has as a field of profitable research attracted only M.B. Goodwin, who +published in the Special Report of the United States Commissioner +of Education of 1871 an exhaustive _History of the Schools for the +Colored Population in the District of Columbia_. In that same document +was included a survey of the _Legal Status of the Colored Population +in Respect to Schools and Education in the Different States_. But +although the author of the latter collected a mass of valuable +material, his report is neither comprehensive nor thorough. Other +publications touching this subject have dealt either with certain +localities or special phases. + +Yet evident as may be the failure of scholars to treat this neglected +aspect of our history, the author of this dissertation is far from +presuming that he has exhausted the subject. With the hope of vitally +interesting some young master mind in this large task, the undersigned +has endeavored to narrate in brief how benevolent teachers of both +races strove to give the ante-bellum Negroes the education through +which many of them gained freedom in its highest and best sense. + +The author desires to acknowledge his indebtedness to Dr. J.E. +Moorland, International Secretary of the Young Men's Christian +Association, for valuable information concerning the Negroes of Ohio. + +C.G. Woodson. + +Washington, D.C. _June 11, 1919._ + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I.--Introduction + + II.--Religion with Letters + + III.--Education as a Right of Man + + IV.--Actual Education + + V.--Better Beginnings + + VI.--Educating the Urban Negro + + VII.--The Reaction + + VIII.--Religion without Letters + + IX.--Learning in Spite of Opposition + + X.--Educating Negroes Transplanted to Free Soil + + XI.--Higher Education + + XII.--Vocational Training + + XIII.--Education at Public Expense + + Appendix: Documents + + Bibliography + + Index + + + + +The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861 + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER I + +INTRODUCTION + + +Brought from the African wilds to constitute the laboring class of +a pioneering society in the new world, the heathen slaves had to be +trained to meet the needs of their environment. It required little +argument to convince intelligent masters that slaves who had some +conception of modern civilization and understood the language of their +owners would be more valuable than rude men with whom one could not +communicate. The questions, however, as to exactly what kind of +training these Negroes should have, and how far it should go, were to +the white race then as much a matter of perplexity as they are now. +Yet, believing that slaves could not be enlightened without developing +in them a longing for liberty, not a few masters maintained that the +more brutish the bondmen the more pliant they become for purposes of +exploitation. It was this class of slaveholders that finally won the +majority of southerners to their way of thinking and determined that +Negroes should not be educated. + +The history of the education of the ante-bellum Negroes, therefore, +falls into two periods. The first extends from the time of the +introduction of slavery to the climax of the insurrectionary movement +about 1835, when the majority of the people in this country answered +in the affirmative the question whether or not it was prudent to +educate their slaves. Then followed the second period, when the +industrial revolution changed slavery from a patriarchal to an +economic institution, and when intelligent Negroes, encouraged by +abolitionists, made so many attempts to organize servile insurrections +that the pendulum began to swing the other way. By this time most +southern white people reached the conclusion that it was impossible +to cultivate the minds of Negroes without arousing overmuch +self-assertion. + +The early advocates of the education of Negroes were of three classes: +first, masters who desired to increase the economic efficiency of +their labor supply; second, sympathetic persons who wished to help the +oppressed; and third, zealous missionaries who, believing that the +message of divine love came equally to all, taught slaves the English +language that they might learn the principles of the Christian +religion. Through the kindness of the first class, slaves had their +best chance for mental improvement. Each slaveholder dealt with the +situation to suit himself, regardless of public opinion. Later, +when measures were passed to prohibit the education of slaves, some +masters, always a law unto themselves, continued to teach their +Negroes in defiance of the hostile legislation. Sympathetic persons +were not able to accomplish much because they were usually reformers, +who not only did not own slaves, but dwelt in practically free +settlements far from the plantations on which the bondmen lived. + +The Spanish and French missionaries, the first to face this problem, +set an example which influenced the education of the Negroes +throughout America. Some of these early heralds of Catholicism +manifested more interest in the Indians than in the Negroes, and +advocated the enslavement of the Africans rather than that of the Red +Men. But being anxious to see the Negroes enlightened and brought into +the Church, they courageously directed their attention to the teaching +of their slaves, provided for the instruction of the numerous +mixed-breed offspring, and granted freedmen the educational privileges +of the highest classes. Put to shame by this noble example of the +Catholics, the English colonists had to find a way to overcome the +objections of those who, granting that the enlightenment of the slaves +might not lead to servile insurrection, nevertheless feared that their +conversion might work manumission. To meet this exigency the +colonists secured, through legislation by their assemblies and formal +declarations of the Bishop of London, the abrogation of the law that +a Christian could not be held as a slave. Then allowed access to the +bondmen, the missionaries of the Church of England, sent out by the +Society for the Propagation of the Gospel among the Heathen in Foreign +Parts, undertook to educate the slaves for the purpose of extensive +proselyting. + +Contemporaneous with these early workers of the Established Church of +England were the liberal Puritans, who directed their attention to the +conversion of the slaves long before this sect advocated abolition. +Many of this connection justified slavery as established by the +precedent of the Hebrews, but they felt that persons held to service +should be instructed as were the servants of the household of Abraham. +The progress of the cause was impeded, however, by the bigoted class +of Puritans, who did not think well of the policy of incorporating +undesirable persons into the Church so closely connected then with the +state. The first settlers of the American colonies to offer Negroes +the same educational and religious privileges they provided for +persons of their own race, were the Quakers. Believing in the +brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God, they taught the colored +people to read their own "instruction in the book of the law that they +might be wise unto salvation." + +Encouraging as was the aspect of things after these early efforts, the +contemporary complaints about the neglect to instruct the slaves show +that the cause lacked something to make the movement general. Then +came the days when the struggle for the rights of man was arousing the +civilized world. After 1760 the nascent social doctrine found response +among the American colonists. They looked with opened eyes at the +Negroes. A new day then dawned for the dark-skinned race. Men like +Patrick Henry and James Otis, who demanded liberty for themselves, +could not but concede that slaves were entitled at least to freedom of +body. The frequent acts of manumission and emancipation which followed +upon this change in attitude toward persons of color, turned loose +upon society a large number of men whose chief needs were education +and training in the duties of citizenship. To enlighten these freedmen +schools, missions, and churches were established by benevolent and +religious workers. These colaborers included at this time the Baptists +and Methodists who, thanks to the spirit of toleration incident to the +Revolution, were allowed access to Negroes bond and free. + +With all of these new opportunities Negroes exhibited a rapid +mental development. Intelligent colored men proved to be useful and +trustworthy servants; they became much better laborers and artisans, +and many of them showed administrative ability adequate to the +management of business establishments and large plantations. Moreover, +better rudimentary education served many ambitious persons of color as +a stepping-stone to higher attainments. Negroes learned to appreciate +and write poetry and contributed something to mathematics, science, +and philosophy. Furthermore, having disproved the theories of +their mental inferiority, some of the race, in conformity with the +suggestion of Cotton Mather, were employed to teach white children. + +Observing these evidences of a general uplift of the Negroes, certain +educators advocated the establishment of special colored schools. The +founding of these institutions, however, must not be understood as a +movement to separate the children of the races on account of caste +prejudice. The dual system resulted from an effort to meet the needs +peculiar to a people just emerging from bondage. It was easily seen +that their education should no longer be dominated by religion. +Keeping the past of the Negroes in mind, their friends tried to unite +the benefits of practical and cultural education. The teachers of +colored schools offered courses in the industries along with advanced +work in literature, mathematics, and science. Girls who specialized in +sewing took lessons in French. + +So startling were the rapid strides made by the colored people in +their mental development after the revolutionary era that certain +southerners who had not seriously objected to the enlightenment of the +Negroes began to favor the half reactionary policy of educating them +only on the condition that they should be colonized. The colonization +movement, however, was supported also by some white men who, seeing +the educational progress of the colored people during the period of +better beginnings, felt that they should be given an opportunity to +be transplanted to a free country where they might develop without +restriction. + +Timorous southerners, however, soon had other reasons for their +uncharitable attitude. During the first quarter of the nineteenth +century two effective forces were rapidly increasing the number of +reactionaries who by public opinion gradually prohibited the education +of the colored people in all places except certain urban communities +where progressive Negroes had been sufficiently enlightened to provide +their own school facilities. The first of these forces was the +worldwide industrial movement. It so revolutionized spinning and +weaving that the resulting increased demand for cotton fiber gave rise +to the plantation system of the South, which required a larger number +of slaves. Becoming too numerous to be considered as included in the +body politic as conceived by Locke, Montesquieu, and Blackstone, +the slaves were generally doomed to live without any enlightenment +whatever. Thereafter rich planters not only thought it unwise to +educate men thus destined to live on a plane with beasts, but +considered it more profitable to work a slave to death during seven +years and buy another in his stead than to teach and humanize him with +a view to increasing his efficiency. + +The other force conducive to reaction was the circulation through +intelligent Negroes of antislavery accounts of the wrongs to colored +people and the well portrayed exploits of Toussaint L'Ouverture. +Furthermore, refugees from Haiti settled in Baltimore, Norfolk, +Charleston, and New Orleans, where they gave Negroes a first-hand +story of how black men of the West Indies had righted their wrongs. At +the same time certain abolitionists and not a few slaveholders were +praising, in the presence of slaves, the bloody methods of the +French Revolution. When this enlightenment became productive of +such disorders that slaveholders lived in eternal dread of servile +insurrection, Southern States adopted the thoroughly reactionary +policy of making the education of Negroes impossible. + +The prohibitive legislation extended over a period of more than a +century, beginning with the act of South Carolina in 1740. But with +the exception of the action of this State and that of Georgia the +important measures which actually proscribed the teaching of Negroes +were enacted during the first four decades of the nineteenth century. +The States attacked the problem in various ways. Colored people beyond +a certain number were not allowed to assemble for social or religious +purposes, unless in the presence of certain "discreet" white men; +slaves were deprived of the helpful contact of free persons of color +by driving them out of some Southern States; masters who had employed +their favorite blacks in positions which required a knowledge of +bookkeeping, printing, and the like, were commanded by law to +discontinue that custom; and private and public teachers were +prohibited from assisting Negroes to acquire knowledge in any manner +whatever. + +The majority of the people of the South had by this time come to the +conclusion that, as intellectual elevation unfits men for servitude +and renders it impossible to retain them in this condition, it should +be interdicted. In other words, the more you cultivate the minds of +slaves, the more unserviceable you make them; you give them a higher +relish for those privileges which they cannot attain and turn what you +intend for a blessing into a curse. If they are to remain in slavery +they should be kept in the lowest state of ignorance and degradation, +and the nearer you bring them to the condition of brutes the better +chance they have to retain their apathy. It had thus been brought to +pass that the measures enacted to prevent the education of Negroes had +not only forbidden association with their fellows for mutual help and +closed up most colored schools in the South, but had in several States +made it a crime for a Negro to teach his own children. + +The contrast of conditions at the close of this period with those +of former days is striking. Most slaves who were once counted as +valuable, on account of their ability to read and write the English +language, were thereafter considered unfit for service in the +South and branded as objects of suspicion. Moreover, when within a +generation or so the Negroes began to retrograde because they had been +deprived of every elevating influence, the white people of the South +resorted to their old habit of answering their critics with the bold +assertion that the effort to enlighten the blacks would prove futile +on account of their mental inferiority. The apathy which these +bondmen, inured to hardships, consequently developed was referred to +as adequate evidence that they were content with their lot, and +that any effort to teach them to know their real condition would be +productive of mischief both to the slaves and their masters. + +The reactionary movement, however, was not confined to the South. The +increased migration of fugitives and free Negroes to the asylum of +Northern States, caused certain communities of that section to feel +that they were about to be overrun by undesirable persons who could +not be easily assimilated. The subsequent anti-abolition riots in the +North made it difficult for friends of the Negroes to raise funds to +educate them. Free persons of color were not allowed to open schools +in some places, teachers of Negroes were driven from their stations, +and colored schoolhouses were burned. + +Ashamed to play the role of a Christian clergy guarding silence on the +indispensable duty of saving the souls of the colored people, certain +of the most influential southern ministers hit upon the scheme of +teaching illiterate Negroes the principles of Christianity by memory +training or the teaching of religion without letters. This the clergy +were wont to call religious instruction. The word instruction, +however, as used in various documents, is rather confusing. Before the +reactionary period all instruction of the colored people included the +teaching of the rudiments of education as a means to convey Christian +thought. But with the exception of a few Christians the southerners +thereafter used the word instruction to signify the mere memorizing of +principles from the most simplified books. The sections of the South +in which the word instruction was not used in this restricted sense +were mainly the settlements of Quakers and Catholics who, in defiance +of the law, persisted in teaching Negroes to read and write. Yet it +was not uncommon to find others who, after having unsuccessfully used +their influence against the enactment of these reactionary laws, +boldly defied them by instructing the Negroes of their communities. +Often opponents to this custom winked at it as an indulgence to the +clerical profession. Many Scotch-Irish of the Appalachian Mountains +and liberal Methodists and Baptists of the Western slave States did +not materially change their attitude toward the enlightenment of the +colored people during the reactionary period. The Negroes among +these people continued to study books and hear religious instruction +conveyed to maturing minds. + +Yet little as seemed this enlightenment by means of verbal +instruction, some slaveholders became sufficiently inhuman to object +to it on the grounds that the teaching of religion would lead to the +teaching of letters. In fact, by 1835 certain parts of the South +reached the third stage in the development of the education of the +Negroes. At first they were taught the common branches to enable them +to understand the principles of Christianity; next the colored people +as an enlightened class became such a menace to southern institutions +that it was deemed unwise to allow them any instruction beyond that +of memory training; and finally, when it was discovered that many +ambitious blacks were still learning to stir up their fellows, it was +decreed that they should not receive any instruction at all. Reduced +thus to the plane of beasts, where they remained for generations, +Negroes developed bad traits which since their emancipation have been +removed only with great difficulty. + +Dark as the future of the Negro students seemed, all hope was not yet +gone. Certain white men in every southern community made it possible +for many of them to learn in spite of opposition. Slaveholders were +not long in discovering that a thorough execution of the law was +impossible when Negroes were following practically all the higher +pursuits of labor in the South. Masters who had children known to be +teaching slaves protected their benevolent sons and daughters from the +rigors of the law. Preachers, on finding out that the effort at verbal +education could not convey Christian truths to an undeveloped mind, +overcame the opposition in their localities and taught the colored +people as before. Negroes themselves, regarding learning as forbidden +fruit, stole away to secret places at night to study under the +direction of friends. Some learned by intuition without having had the +guidance of an instructor. The fact is that these drastic laws were +not passed to restrain "discreet" southerners from doing whatever they +desired for the betterment of their Negroes. The aim was to cut off +their communication with northern teachers and abolitionists, whose +activity had caused the South to believe that if such precaution were +not taken these agents would teach their slaves principles subversive +of southern institutions. Thereafter the documents which mention the +teaching of Negroes to read and write seldom even state that the +southern white teacher was so much as censured for his benevolence. +In the rare cases of arrest of such instructors they were usually +acquitted after receiving a reprimand. + +With this winking at the teaching of Negroes in defiance of the law a +better day for their education brightened certain parts of the +South about the middle of the nineteenth century. Believing that an +enlightened laboring class might stop the decline of that section, +some slaveholders changed their attitude toward the elevation of +the colored people. Certain others came to think that the policy of +keeping Negroes in ignorance to prevent servile insurrections was +unwise. It was observed that the most loyal and subordinate slaves +were those who could read the Bible and learn the truth for +themselves. Private teachers of colored persons, therefore, were often +left undisturbed, little effort was made to break up the Negroes' +secret schools in different parts, and many influential white men took +it upon themselves to instruct the blacks who were anxious to learn. + +Other Negroes who had no such opportunities were then finding a way of +escape through the philanthropy of those abolitionists who colonized +some freedmen and fugitives in the Northwest Territory and promoted +the migration of others to the East. These Negroes were often +fortunate. Many of them settled where they could take up land and had +access to schools and churches conducted by the best white people +of the country. This migration, however, made matters worse for the +Negroes who were left in the South. As only the most enlightened +blacks left the slave States, the bondmen and the indigent free +persons of color were thereby deprived of helpful contact. The +preponderance of intelligent Negroes, therefore, was by 1840 on the +side of the North. Thereafter the actual education of the colored +people was largely confined to eastern cities and northern communities +of transplanted freedmen. The pioneers of these groups organized +churches and established and maintained a number of successful +elementary schools. + +In addition to providing for rudimentary instruction, the free Negroes +of the North helped their friends to make possible what we now call +higher education. During the second quarter of the nineteenth century +the advanced training of the colored people was almost prohibited by +the refusals of academies and colleges to admit persons of African +blood. In consequence of these conditions, the long-put-forth efforts +to found Negro colleges began to be crowned with success before the +Civil War. Institutions of the North admitted Negroes later for +various reasons. Some colleges endeavored to prepare them for service +in Liberia, while others, proclaiming their conversion to the doctrine +of democratic education, opened their doors to all. + +The advocates of higher education, however, met with no little +opposition. The concentration in northern communities of the crude +fugitives driven from the South necessitated a readjustment of things. +The training of Negroes in any manner whatever was then very unpopular +in many parts of the North. When prejudice, however, lost some of its +sting, the friends of the colored people did more than ever for +their education. But in view of the changed conditions most of these +philanthropists concluded that the Negroes were very much in need +of practical education. Educators first attempted to provide such +training by offering classical and vocational courses in what they +called the "manual labor schools." When these failed to meet the +emergency they advocated actual vocational training. To make this new +system extensive the Negroes freely coöperated with their benefactors, +sharing no small part of the real burden. They were at the same time +paying taxes to support public schools which they could not attend. + +This very condition was what enabled the abolitionists to see that +they had erred in advocating the establishment of separate schools for +Negroes. At first the segregation of pupils of African blood was, as +stated above, intended as a special provision to bring the colored +youth into contact with sympathetic teachers, who knew the needs of +their students. When the public schools, however, developed at the +expense of the state into a desirable system better equipped than +private institutions, the antislavery organizations in many Northern +States began to demand that the Negroes be admitted to the public +schools. After extensive discussion certain States of New England +finally decided the question in the affirmative, experiencing no great +inconvenience from the change. In most other States of the North, +however, separate schools for Negroes did not cease to exist until +after the Civil War. It was the liberated Negroes themselves who, +during the Reconstruction, gave the Southern States their first +effective system of free public schools. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +RELIGION WITH LETTERS + + +The first real educators to take up the work of enlightening American +Negroes were clergymen interested in the propagation of the gospel +among the heathen of the new world. Addressing themselves to this +task, the missionaries easily discovered that their first duty was to +educate these crude elements to enable them not only to read the truth +for themselves, but to appreciate the supremacy of the Christian +religion. After some opposition slaves were given the opportunity to +take over the Christian civilization largely because of the adverse +criticism[1] which the apostles to the lowly heaped upon the planters +who neglected the improvement of their Negroes. Made then a device for +bringing the blacks into the Church, their education was at first too +much dominated by the teaching of religion. + +[Footnote 1: Bourne, _Spain in America_, p. 241; and _The Penn. Mag. +of History_, xii., 265.] + +Many early advocates of slavery favored the enlightenment of the +Africans. That it was an advantage to the Negroes to be brought within +the light of the gospel was a common argument in favor of the slave +trade.[1] When the German Protestants from Salsburg had scruples about +enslaving men, they were assured by a message from home stating that +if they took slaves in faith and with the intention of conducting +them to Christ, the action would not be a sin, but might prove a +benediction.[2] This was about the attitude of Spain. The missionary +movement seemed so important to the king of that country that he at +first allowed only Christian slaves to be brought to America, hoping +that such persons might serve as apostles to the Indians.[3] The +Spaniards adopted a different policy, however, when they ceased their +wild search for an "El Dorado" and became permanently attached to the +community. They soon made settlements and opened mines which +they thought required the introduction of slavery. Thus becoming +commercialized, these colonists experienced a greed which, +disregarding the consequences of the future, urged the importation +of all classes of slaves to meet the demand for cheap labor.[4] This +request was granted by the King of Spain, but the masters of such +bondmen were expressly ordered to have them indoctrinated in the +principles of Christianity. It was the failure of certain Spaniards to +live up to these regulations that caused the liberal-minded Jesuit, +Alphonso Sandoval, to register the first protest against slavery in +America.[5] In later years the change in the attitude of the Spaniards +toward this problem was noted. In Mexico the ayuntamientos were under +the most rigid responsibility to see that free children born of slaves +received the best education that could be given them. They had to +place them "for that purpose at the public schools and other places of +instruction wherein they" might "become useful to society."[6] + +[Footnote 1: Proslavery Argument; and Lecky, _History of England_, +vol. ii., p. 17.] + +[Footnote 2: Faust, _German Element in United States_, vol. i., pp. +242-43.] + +[Footnote 3: Bancroft, _History of United States_, vol. i., p. 124.] + +[Footnote 4: Herrera, _Historia General_, dec. iv., libro ii.; dec. +v., libro ii.; dec. vii., libro iv.] + +[Footnote 5: Bourne, _Spain in America_, p. 241.] + +[Footnote 6: _Special Report U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 389.] + +In the French settlements of America the instruction of the Negroes +did not early become a difficult problem. There were not many Negroes +among the French. Their methods of colonization did not require many +slaves. Nevertheless, whenever the French missionary came into contact +with Negroes he considered it his duty to enlighten the unfortunates +and lead them to God. As early as 1634 Paul Le Jeune, a Jesuit +missionary in Canada, rejoiced that he had again become a real +preceptor in that he was teaching a little Negro the alphabet. Le +Jeune hoped to baptize his pupil as soon as he learned sufficient to +understand the Christian doctrine.[1] Moreover, evidence of a general +interest in the improvement of Negroes appeared in the Code Noir which +made it incumbent upon masters to enlighten their slaves that they +might grasp the principles of the Christian religion.[2] To carry +out this mandate slaves were sometimes called together with white +settlers. The meeting was usually opened with prayer and the reading +of some pious book, after which the French children were turned over +to one catechist, and the slaves and Indians to another. If a large +number of slaves were found in the community their special instruction +was provided for in meetings of their own.[3] + +[Footnote 1: _Jesuit Relations_, vol. v., p. 63.] + +[Footnote 2: Code Noir, p. 107.] + +[Footnote 3: _Jesuit Relations_, vol. v., p. 62.] + + +After 1716, when Jesuits were taking over slaves in larger numbers, +and especially after 1726, when Law's Company was importing many to +meet the demand for laborers in Louisiana, we read of more instances +of the instruction of Negroes by French Catholics.[1] Writing about +this task in 1730, Le Petit spoke of being "settled to the instruction +of the boarders, the girls who live without, and the Negro women."[2] +In 1738 he said, "I instruct in Christian morals the slaves of our +residence, who are Negroes, and as many others as I can get from their +masters."[3] Years later François Philibert Watrum, seeing that some +Jesuits had on their estates one hundred and thirty slaves, inquired +why the instruction of the Indian and Negro serfs of the French did +not give these missionaries sufficient to do.[4] Hoping to enable +the slaves to elevate themselves, certain inhabitants of the French +colonies requested of their king a decree protecting their title to +property in such bondmen as they might send to France to be confirmed +in their instruction and in the exercise of their religion, and to +have them learn some art or trade from which the colonies might +receive some benefit by their return from the mother country. + +[Footnote 1: _Ibid_., vol. lxvii., pp. 259 and 343.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., vol. lxviii., p. 201.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid_., vol. lxix., p. 31.] + +[Footnote 4: _Ibid_., vol. lxx., p. 245.] + +The education of Negroes was facilitated among the French and Spanish +by their liberal attitude toward their slaves. Many of them were +respected for their worth and given some of the privileges of +freemen. Estevanecito, an enlightened slave sent by Niza, the Spanish +adventurer, to explore Arizona, was a favored servant of this +class.[1] The Latin custom of miscegenation proved to be a still more +important factor in the education of Negroes in the colonies. As the +French and Spanish came to America for the purpose of exploitation, +leaving their wives behind, many of them, by cohabiting with and +marrying colored women, gave rise to an element of mixed breeds. This +was especially true of the Spanish settlements. They had more persons +of this class than any other colonies in America. The Latins, in +contradistinction to the English, generally liberated their mulatto +offspring and sometimes recognized them as their equals. Such Negroes +constituted a class of persons who, although they could not aspire to +the best in the colony, had a decided advantage over other inhabitants +of color. They often lived in luxury, and, of course, had a few +social privileges. The Code Noir granted freedmen the same rights, +privileges, and immunities as those enjoyed by persons born free, with +the view that the accomplishment of acquired liberty should have on +the former the same effect that the happiness of natural liberty +caused in other subjects.[2] As these mixed breeds were later lost, so +to speak, among the Latins, it is almost impossible to determine what +their circumstances were, and what advantages of education they had. + +[Footnote 1: Bancroft, _Arizona and New Mexico_, pp. 27-32.] + +[Footnote 2: The Code Noir obliged every planter to have his Negroes +instructed and baptized. It allowed the slave for instruction, +worship, and rest not only every Sunday, but every festival usually +observed by the Roman Catholic Church. It did not permit any market to +be held on Sundays or holidays. It prohibited, under severe penalties, +all masters and managers from corrupting their female slaves. It did +not allow the Negro husband, wife, or infant children to be sold +separately. It forbade them the use of torture, or immoderate and +inhuman punishments. It obliged the owners to maintain their old and +decrepit slaves. If the Negroes were not fed and clothed as the law +prescribed, or if they were in any way cruelly treated, they might +apply to the Procureur, who was obliged by his office to protect them. +See Code Noir, pp. 99-100.] + + +The Spanish and French were doing so much more than the English to +enlighten their slaves that certain teachers and missionaries in the +British colonies endeavored more than ever to arouse their countrymen +to discharge their duty to those they held in bondage. These reformers +hoped to do this by holding up to the members of the Anglican Church +the praiseworthy example of the Catholics whom the British had for +years denounced as enemies of Christ. The criticism had its effect. +But to prosecute this work extensively the English had to overcome +the difficulty found in the observance of the unwritten law that +no Christian could be held a slave. Now, if the teaching of slaves +enabled them to be converted and their Christianization led to +manumission, the colonists had either to let the institution gradually +pass away or close all avenues of information to the minds of their +Negroes. The necessity of choosing either of these alternatives +was obviated by the enactment of provincial statutes and formal +declarations by the Bishop of London to the effect that conversion did +not work manumission.[1] After the solution of this problem English +missionaries urged more vigorously upon the colonies the duty of +instructing the slaves. Among the active churchmen working for this +cause were Rev. Morgan Goodwyn and Bishops Fleetwood, Lowth, and +Sanderson.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 352.] + +[Footnote 2: On observing that laws had been passed in Virginia to +prevent slaves from attending the meetings of Quakers for purposes of +being instructed, Morgan Goodwyn registered a most earnest protest. He +felt that prompt attention should be given to the instruction of the +slaves to prevent the Church from falling into discredit, and to +obviate the causes for blasphemy on the part of the enemies of the +Church who would not fail to point out that ministers sent to the +remotest parts had failed to convert the heathen. Therefore, he +preached in Westminster Abbey in 1685 a sermon "to stir up and +provoke" his "Majesty's subjects abroad, and even at home, to use +endeavors for the propagation of Christianity among their domestic +slaves and vassals." He referred to the spreading of mammonism and +irreligion by which efforts to instruct and Christianize the heathen +were paralyzed. He deplored the fact that the slaves who were the +subjects of such instruction became the victims of still greater +cruelty, while the missionaries who endeavored to enlighten them were +neglected and even persecuted by the masters. They considered the +instruction of the Negroes an impracticable and needless work of +popish superstition, and a policy subversive of the interests of +slaveholders. Bishop Sanderson found it necessary to oppose this +policy of Virginia which had met the denunciation of Goodwyn. In +strongly emphasizing this duty of masters, Bishop Fleetwood moved the +hearts of many planters of North Carolina to allow missionaries access +to their slaves. Many of them were thereafter instructed and baptized. +See Goodwyn, _The Negroes and Indians' Advocate_; Hart, _History Told +by Contemporaries_, vol. i., No. 86; _Special Rep. U.S. Com. of Ed._, +1871, p. 363; _An Account of the Endeavors of the Soc._, etc., p. 14.] + +Complaints from men of this type led to systematic efforts to +enlighten the blacks. The first successful scheme for this purpose +came from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign +Parts. It was organized by the members of the Established Church in +London in 1701[1] to do missionary work among Indians and Negroes. +To convert the heathen they sent out not only ministers but +schoolmasters. They were required to instruct the children, to teach +them to read the Scriptures and other poems and useful books, to +ground them thoroughly in the Church catechism, and to repeat "morning +and evening prayers and graces composed for their use at home."[2] + +[Footnote 1: Pascoe, _Classified Digest of the Records of the Society +for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts_, p. 24.] + +[Footnote 2: Dalcho, _An Historical Account of the Protestant +Episcopal Church in South Carolina_, p. 39; _Special Rep. U.S. Com. of +Ed._, 1871, p. 362.] + +The first active schoolmaster of this class was Rev. Samuel Thomas of +Goose Creek Parish in South Carolina. He took up this work there in +1695, and in 1705 could count among his communicants twenty Negroes, +who with several others "well understanding the English tongue" could +read and write.[1] Rev. Mr. Thomas said: "I have here presumed to give +an account of one thousand slaves so far as they know of it and are +desirous of Christian knowledge and seem willing to prepare themselves +for it, in learning to read, for which they redeem the time from their +labor. Many of them can read the Bible distinctly, and great numbers +of them were learning when I left the province."[2] But not only had +this worker enlightened many Negroes in his parish, but had enlisted +in the work several ladies, among whom was Mrs. Haig Edwards. The Rev. +Mr. Taylor, already interested in the cause, hoped that other masters +and mistresses would follow the example of Mrs. Edwards.[3] + +[Footnote 1: Meriwether, _Education in South Carolina_, p. 123]. + +[Footnote 2: _Special Rep. U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 362.] + +[Footnote 3: _An Account of the Endeavors Used by the Society for the +Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts_, pp. 13-14.] + +Through the efforts of the same society another school was opened in +New York City in 1704 under Elias Neau.[1] This benefactor is commonly +known as the first to begin such an institution for the education of +Negroes; but the school in Goose Creek Parish, South Carolina, was +in operation at least nine years earlier. At first Neau called the +Negroes together after their daily toil was over and taught them at +his house. By 1708 he was instructing thus as many as two hundred. +Neau's school owes its importance to the fact that not long after its +beginning certain Negroes who organized themselves to kill off their +masters were accredited as students of this institution. For this +reason it was immediately closed.[2] When upon investigating the +causes of the insurrection, however, it was discovered that only one +person connected with the institution had taken part in the struggle, +the officials of the colony permitted Neau to continue his work and +extended him their protection. After having been of invaluable service +to the Negroes of New York this school was closed in 1722 by the +death of its founder. The work of Neau, however, was taken up by Mr. +Huddlestone. Rev. Mr. Wetmore entered the field in 1726. Later there +appeared Rev. Mr. Colgan and Noxon, both of whom did much to promote +the cause. In 1732 came Rev. Mr. Charlton who toiled in this field +until 1747 when he was succeeded by Rev. Mr. Auchmutty. He had the +coöperation of Mr. Hildreth, the assistant of his predecessor. Much +help was obtained from Rev. Mr. Barclay who, at the death of Mr. Vesey +in 1764, became the rector of the parish supporting the school.[3] + +[Footnote 1: _An Account of the Endeavors Used by the Society for the +Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts_, pp. 6-12.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., p. 9.] + +[Footnote 3: _Special Report U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 362.] + +The results obtained in the English colonies during the early period +show that the agitation for the enlightenment of the Negroes spread +not only wherever these unfortunates were found, but claimed the +attention of the benevolent far away. Bishop Wilson of Sodor and Man, +active in the cause during the first half of the eighteenth century, +availed himself of the opportunity to aid those missionaries who +were laboring in the colonies for the instruction of the Indians +and Negroes. In 1740 he published a pamphlet written in 1699 on the +_Principles and Duties of Christianity in their Direct Bearing on the +Uplift of the Heathen_. To teach by example he further aided this +movement by giving fifty pounds for the education of colored children +in Talbot County, Maryland.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Ibid._, 1871, p. 364.] + +After some opposition this work began to progress somewhat in +Virginia.[1] The first school established in that colony was for +Indians and Negroes.[2] In the course of time the custom of teaching +the latter had legal sanction there. On binding out a "bastard or +pauper child black or white," churchwardens specifically required +that he should be taught "to read, write, and calculate as well as to +follow some profitable form of labor."[3] Other Negroes also had an +opportunity to learn. Reports of an increase in the number of colored +communicants came from Accomac County where four or five hundred +families were instructing their slaves at home, and had their children +catechized on Sunday. Unusual interest in the cause at Lambeth, in the +same colony, is attested by an interesting document, setting forth +in 1724 a proposition for "_Encouraging the Christian Education of +Indian, Negro, and Mulatto Children_." The author declares it to be +the duty of masters and mistresses of America to endeavor to educate +and instruct their heathen slaves in the Christian faith, and +mentioned the fact that this work had been "earnestly recommended by +his Majesty's instructions." To encourage the movement it was proposed +that "every Indian, Negro and Mulatto child that should be baptized +and afterward brought into the Church and publicly catechized by the +minister, and should before the fourteenth year of his or her age +give a distinct account of the creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten +Commandments," should receive from the minister a certificate which +would entitle such children to exemption from paying all levies until +the age of eighteen.[4] The neighboring colony of North Carolina +also was moved by these efforts despite some difficulties which the +missionaries there encountered.[5] + +[Footnote 1: Meade, _Old Families and Churches in Virginia_, p. 264; +Plumer, _Thoughts on the Religious Instruction of Negroes_, pp. +11-12.] + +[Footnote 2: Monroe, _Cyclopaedia of Education_, vol. iv., p. 406.] + +[Footnote 3: Russell, _The Free Negro in Virginia_, in J.H.U. Studies, +Series xxxi., No. 3, p. 107.] + +[Footnote 4: Meade, _Old Families and Churches in Virginia_, pp. +264-65.] + +[Footnote 5: Ashe, _History of North Carolina_, pp. 389-90.] + +This favorable attitude toward the people of color, and the successful +work among them, caused the opponents of this policy to speak out +boldly against their enlightenment. Some asserted that the Negroes +were such stubborn creatures that there could be no such close dealing +with them, and that even when converted they became saucier than +pious. Others maintained that these bondmen were so ignorant and +indocile, so far gone in their wickedness, so confirmed in their +habit of evil ways, that it was vain to undertake to teach them such +knowledge. Less cruel slaveholders had thought of getting out of the +difficulty by the excuse that the instruction of Negroes required more +time and labor than masters could well spare from their business. Then +there were others who frankly confessed that, being an ignorant and +unlearned people themselves, they could not teach others.[1] + +[Footnote 1: For a summary of this argument see Meade, _Four Sermons +of Reverend Bacon_, pp. 81-97; also, _A Letter to an American Planter +from his Friend in London_, p. 5.] + +Seeing that many leading planters had been influenced by those opposed +to the enlightenment of Negroes, Bishop Gibson of London issued an +appeal in behalf of the bondmen, addressing the clergy and laymen in +two letters[1] published in London in 1727. In one he exhorted masters +and mistresses of families to encourage and promote the instruction of +their Negroes in the Christian faith. In the other epistle he directed +the missionaries of the colonies to give to this work whatever +assistance they could. Writing to the slaveholders, he took the +position that considering the greatness of the profit from the labor +of the slaves it might be hoped that all masters, those especially who +were possessed of considerable numbers, should be at some expense in +providing for the instruction of those poor creatures. He thought +that others who did not own so many should share in the expense of +maintaining for them a common teacher. + +[Footnote 1: _An Account of the Endeavors Used by the Society for the +Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts_, pp. 16, 21, and 32; and +Dalcho, _An Historical Account_, etc., pp. 104 et seq.] + +Equally censorious of these neglectful masters was Reverend Thomas +Bacon, the rector of the Parish Church in Talbot County, Maryland. +In 1749 he set forth his protest in four sermons on "the great and +indispensable duty of all Christian masters to bring up their slaves +in the knowledge and fear of God."[1] Contending that slaves +should enjoy rights like those of servants in the household of the +patriarchs, Bacon insisted that next to one's children and brethren +by blood, one's servants, and especially one's slaves, stood in the +nearest relation to him, and that in return for their drudgery the +master owed it to his bondmen to have them enlightened. He believed +that the reading and explaining of the Holy Scriptures should be made +a stated duty. In the course of time the place of catechist in each +family might be supplied out of the intelligent slaves by choosing +such among them as were best taught to instruct the rest.[2] He was of +the opinion, too, that were some of the slaves taught to read, were +they sent to school for that purpose when young, were they given +the New Testament and other good books to be read at night to their +fellow-servants, such a course would vastly increase their knowledge +of God and direct their minds to a serious thought of futurity.[3] + +[Footnote 1: Meade, _Sermons of Thomas Bacon_, pp. 31 et seq.] + +[Footnote 2: Meade, _Sermons of Thomas Bacon_, pp. 116 _et seq._] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid._, p. 118.] + +With almost equal zeal did Bishops Williams and Butler plead the same +cause.[1] They deplored the fact that because of their dark skins +Negro slaves were treated as a species different from the rest of +mankind. Denouncing the more cruel treatment of slaves as cattle, +unfit for mental and moral improvement, these churchmen asserted that +the highest property possible to be acquired in servants could not +cancel the obligation to take care of the religious instruction of +those who "despicable as they are in the eyes of man are nevertheless +the creatures of God."[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 363.] + +[Footnote 2: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed_., 1871, p. 363.] + +On account of these appeals made during the seventeenth and eighteenth +centuries a larger number of slaves of the English colonies were +thereafter treated as human beings capable of mental, moral, and +spiritual development. Some masters began to provide for the +improvement of these unfortunates, not because they loved them, but +because instruction would make them more useful to the community. A +much more effective policy of Negro education was brought forward in +1741 by Bishop Secker.[1] He suggested the employment of young Negroes +prudently chosen to teach their countrymen. To carry out such a plan +he had already sent a missionary to Africa. Besides instructing +Negroes at his post of duty, this apostle sent three African natives +to England where they were educated for the work.[2] It was doubtless +the sentiment of these leaders that caused Dr. Brearcroft to allude to +this project in a discourse before the Society for the Propagation of +the Gospel in Foreign Parts in 1741.[3] + +[Footnote 1: Secker, _Works_, vol. v., p. 88.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., vol. vi., p. 467.] + +[Footnote 3: _An Account of the Endeavors Used by the Society for the +Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts_, p.6.] + +This organization hit upon the plan of purchasing two Negroes named +Harry and Andrew, and of qualifying them by thorough instruction in +the principles of Christianity and the fundamentals of education, to +serve as schoolmasters to their people. Under the direction of Rev. +Mr. Garden, the missionary who had directed the training of these +young men, a building costing about three hundred and eight pounds was +erected in Charleston, South Carolina. In the school which opened in +this building in 1744 Harry and Andrew served as teachers.[1] In the +beginning the school had about sixty young students, and had a very +good daily attendance for a number of years. The directors of the +institution planned to send out annually between thirty and forty +youths "well instructed in religion and capable of reading their +Bibles to carry home and diffuse the same knowledge to their fellow +slaves."[2] It is highly probable that after 1740 this school was +attended only by free persons of color. Because the progress of Negro +education had been rather rapid, South Carolina enacted that year a +law prohibiting any person from teaching or causing a slave to be +taught, or from employing or using a slave as a scribe in any manner +of writing. + +[Footnote 1: Meriwether, _Education in South Carolina_, p. 123; +McCrady, _South Carolina_, etc., p. 246; Dalcho, _An Historical +Account of the Protestant Episcopal Church in South Carolina_, pp. +156, 157, 164.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., pp. 157 and 164.] + +In 1764 the Charleston school was closed for reasons which it is +difficult to determine. From one source we learn that one of the +teachers died, and the other having turned out profligate, no +instructors could be found to continue the work. It does not seem that +the sentiment against the education of free Negroes had by that time +become sufficiently strong to cause the school to be discontinued.[1] +It is evident, however, that with the assistance of influential +persons of different communities the instruction of slaves continued +in that colony. Writing about the middle of the eighteenth century, +Eliza Lucas, a lady of South Carolina, who afterward married Justice +Pinckney, mentions a parcel of little Negroes whom she had undertaken +to teach to read.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _An Account of the Endeavors Used by the Society for the +Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts_, p. 15.] + +[Footnote 2: Bourne, _Spain in America_, p. 241.] + +The work of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign +Parts was also effective in communities of the North in which the +established Church of England had some standing. In 1751 Reverend Hugh +Neill, once a Presbyterian minister of New Jersey, became a missionary +of this organization to the Negroes of Pennsylvania. He worked among +them fifteen years. Dr. Smith, Provost of the College of Philadelphia, +devoted a part of his time to the work, and at the death of Neill in +1766 enlisted as a regular missionary of the Society.[1] It seems, +however, that prior to the eighteenth century not much had been done +to enlighten the slaves of that colony, although free persons of +color had been instructed. Rev. Mr. Wayman, another missionary to +Pennsylvania about the middle of the eighteenth century, asserted that +"neither" was "there anywhere care taken for the instruction of Negro +slaves," the duty to whom he had "pressed upon masters with little +effect."[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 362.] + +[Footnote 2: Wickersham, _History of Education in Pennsylvania_, p. +248.] + +To meet this need the Society set the example of maintaining +catechetical lectures for Negroes in St. Peter's and Christ Church of +Philadelphia, during the incumbency of Dr. Jennings from 1742 to 1762. +William Sturgeon, a student of Yale, selected to do this work, was +sent to London for ordination and placed in charge in 1747.[1] In this +position Rev. Mr. Sturgeon remained nineteen years, rendering such +satisfactory services in the teaching of Negroes that he deserves to +be recorded as one of the first benefactors of the Negro race. + +[Footnote 1: _Ibid_., p. 241.] + +Antedating this movement in Pennsylvania were the efforts of Reverend +Dr. Thomas Bray. In 1696 he was sent to Maryland by the Bishop of +London on an ecclesiastical mission to do what he could toward the +conversion of adult Negroes and the education of their children.[1] +Bray's most influential supporter was M. D'Alone, the private +secretary of King William. D'Alone gave for the maintenance of the +cause a fund, the proceeds of which were first used for the employment +of colored catechists, and later for the support of the Thomas Bray +Mission after the catechists had failed to give satisfaction. At the +death of this missionary the task was taken up by certain followers +of the good man, known as the "Associates of Doctor Bray."[2] They +extended their work beyond the confines of Maryland. In 1760 two +schools for the education of Negroes were maintained in Philadelphia +by these benefactors. It was the aid obtained from the Dr. Bray fund +that enabled the abolitionists to establish in that city a permanent +school which continued for almost a hundred years.[3] About the close +of the French and Indian War, Rev. Mr. Stewart, a missionary in North +Carolina, found there a school for the education of Indians and free +Negroes, conducted by Dr. Bray's Associates. The example of these men +appealing to him as a wise policy, he directed to it the attention of +the clergy at home.[4] + +[Footnote 1: _Ibid_., p. 252; Smyth, _Works of Franklin_, vol. iv., p. +23; and vol. v., p. 431.] + +[Footnote 2: Smyth, _Works of Franklin_, vol. v., p. 431.] + +[Footnote 3: Wickersham, _History of Education in Pennsylvania_, p. +249.] + +[Footnote 4: Bassett, _Slavery and Servitude in North Carolina_, Johns +Hopkins University Studies, vol. xv., p. 226.] + +Not many slaves were found among the Puritans, but the number sufficed +to bring the question of their instruction before these colonists +almost as prominently as we have observed it was brought in the case +of the members of the Established Church of England. Despite the fact +that the Puritans developed from the Calvinists, believers in the +doctrine of election which swept away all class distinction, this sect +did not, like the Quakers, attack slavery as an institution. Yet if +the Quakers were the first of the Protestants to protest against the +buying and selling of souls, New England divines were among the first +to devote attention to the mental, moral, and spiritual development of +Negroes.[1] In 1675 John Eliot objected to the Indian slave trade, not +because of the social degradation, but for the reason that he desired +that his countrymen "should follow Christ his Designe in this matter +to promote the free passage of Religion" among them. He further +said: "For to sell Souls for Money seemeth to me to be dangerous +Merchandise, to sell away from all Means of Grace whom Christ hath +provided Means of Grace for you is the Way for us to be active in +destroying their Souls when they are highly obliged to seek their +Conversion and Salvation." Eliot bore it grievously that the souls of +the slaves were "exposed by their Masters to a destroying Ignorance +meerly for the Fear of thereby losing the Benefit of their +Vassalage."[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Pennsylvania Magazine of History_, vol. xiii., p. 265.] + +[Footnote 2: Locke, _Anti-slavery Before 1808_, p. 15; Mather, _Life +of John Eliot_, p. 14; _New Plymouth Colony Records_, vol. x., p. +452.] + +Further interest in the work was manifested by Cotton Mather. He +showed his liberality in his professions published in 1693 in a set of +_Rules for the Society of Negroes_, intended to present the claims of +the despised race to the benefits of religious instruction.[1] Mather +believed that servants were in a sense like one's children, and that +their masters should train and furnish them with Bibles and other +religious books for which they should be given time to read. He +maintained that servants should be admitted to the religious exercises +of the family and was willing to employ such of them as were competent +to teach his children lessons of piety. Coming directly to the issue +of the day, Mather deplored the fact that the several plantations +which lived upon the labor of their Negroes were guilty of the +"prodigious Wickedness of deriding, neglecting, and opposing all +due Means of bringing the poor Negroes unto God." He hoped that +the masters, of whom God would one day require the souls of slaves +committed to their care, would see to it that like Abraham they have +catechised servants. They were not to imagine that the "Almighty God +made so many thousands reasonable Creatures for nothing but only to +serve the Lusts of Epicures, or the Gains of Mammonists."[2] + +[Footnote 1: Locke, _Anti-slavery_, etc., p. 15.] + +[Footnote 2: Meade, _Sermons of Thomas Bacon_, p. 137 _et seq_.] + +The sentiment of the clergy of this epoch was more directly expressed +by Richard Baxter, the noted Nonconformist, in his "Directions to +Masters in Foreign Plantations," incorporated as rules into the +_Christian Directory_.[1] Baxter believed in natural liberty and +the equality of man, and justified slavery only on the ground of +"necessitated consent" or captivity in lawful war. For these reasons +he felt that they that buy slaves and "use them as Beasts for their +meer Commodity, and betray, or destroy or neglect their Souls are +fitter to be called incarnate Devils than Christians, though they be +no Christians whom they so abuse."[2] His aim here, however, is not to +abolish the institution of slavery but to enlighten the Africans and +bring them into the Church.[3] Exactly what effect Baxter had on this +movement cannot be accurately figured out. The fact, however, that his +creed was extensively adhered to by the Protestant colonists among +whom his works were widely read, leads us to think that he influenced +some masters to change their attitude toward their slaves. + +[Footnote 1: Baxter, _Practical Works_, vol. i., p. 438.] + +[Footnote 2: Baxter, _Practical Works_, vol. i., p. 438-40.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid_., p. 440.] + +The next Puritan of prominence who enlisted among the helpers of the +African slaves was Chief Justice Sewall, of Massachusetts. In 1701 +he stirred his section by publishing his _Selling of Joseph_, a +distinctly anti-slavery pamphlet, based on the natural and inalienable +right of every man to be free.[1] The appearance of this publication +marked an epoch in the history of the Negroes. It was the first direct +attack on slavery in New England. The Puritan clergy had formerly +winked at the continuation of the institution, provided the masters +were willing to give the slaves religious instruction. In the _Selling +of Joseph_ Sewall had little to say about their mental and moral +improvement, but in the _Athenian Oracle_, which expressed his +sentiments so well that he had it republished in 1705,[2] he met more +directly the problem of elevating the Negro race. Taking up this +question, Sewall said: "There's yet less doubt that those who are of +Age to answer for themselves would soon learn the Principles of our +Faith, and might be taught the Obligation of the Vow they made in +Baptism, and there's little Doubt but Abraham instructed his Heathen +Servants who were of Age to learn, the Nature of Circumcision before +he circumcised them; nor can we conclude much less from God's own +noble Testimony of him, 'I know him that he will command his Children +and his Household, and they shall keep the Way of the Lord.'"[3] +Sewall believed that the emancipation of the slaves should be promoted +to encourage Negroes to become Christians. He could not understand +how any Christian could hinder or discourage them from learning the +principles of the Christian religion and embracing the faith. + +[Footnote 1: Moore, _Notes on Slavery in Massachusetts_, p. 91.] + +[Footnote 2: Moore, _Notes on Slavery in Massachusetts_, p. 92; Locke, +_Anti-slavery_, etc., p. 31.] + +[Footnote 3: Moore, _Notes on Slavery_, etc., p. 91; _The Athenian +Oracle_, vol. ii., pp. 460 _et seq_.] + +This interest shown in the Negro race was in no sense general among +the Puritans of that day. Many of their sect could not favor such +proselyting,[1] which, according to their system of government, +would have meant the extension to the slaves of social and political +privileges. It was not until the French provided that masters should +take their slaves to church and have them indoctrinated in the +Catholic faith, that the proposition was seriously considered by many +of the Puritans. They, like the Anglicans, felt sufficient compunction +of conscience to take steps to Christianize the slaves, lest the +Catholics, whom they had derided as undesirable churchmen, should put +the Protestants to shame.[2] The publication of the Code Noir probably +influenced the instructions sent out from England to his Majesty's +governors requiring them "with the assistance of our council to find +out the best means to facilitate and encourage the conversion of +Negroes and Indians to the Christian Religion." Everly subsequently +mentions in his diary the passing of a resolution by the Council Board +at Windsor or Whitehall, recommending that the blacks in plantations +be baptized, and meting out severe censure to those who opposed this +policy.[3] + +[Footnote 1: Moore, _Notes on Slavery_, etc., p. 79.] + +[Footnote 2: This good example of the Catholics was in later years +often referred to by Bishop Porteus. _Works of Bishop Porteus_, vol. +vi, pp. 168, 173, 177, 178, 401; Moore, _Notes on Slavery_, etc., p. +96.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid_., p. 96.] + +More effective than the efforts of other sects in the enlightenment of +the Negroes was the work of the Quakers, despite the fact that they +were not free to extend their operations throughout the colonies. Just +as the colored people are indebted to the Quakers for registering in +1688 the first protest against slavery in Protestant America, so are +they indebted to this denomination for the earliest permanent and +well-developed schools devoted to the education of their race. As the +Quakers believed in the freedom of the will, human brotherhood, +and equality before God, they did not, like the Puritans, find +difficulties in solving the problem of enlightening the Negroes. +While certain Puritans were afraid that conversion might lead to the +destruction of caste and the incorporation of undesirable persons into +the "Body Politick," the Quakers proceeded on the principle that all +men are brethren and, being equal before God, should be considered +equal before the law. On account of unduly emphasizing the relation of +man to God the Puritans "atrophied their social humanitarian instinct" +and developed into a race of self-conscious saints. Believing in human +nature and laying stress upon the relation between man and man the +Quakers became the friends of all humanity. + +Far from the idea of getting rid of an undesirable element by merely +destroying the institution which supplied it, the Quakers endeavored +to teach the Negro to be a man capable of discharging the duties of +citizenship. As early as 1672 their attention was directed to this +important matter by George Fox.[1] In 1679 he spoke out more boldly, +entreating his sect to instruct and teach their Indians and Negroes +"how that Christ, by the Grace of God, tasted death for every man."[2] +Other Quakers of prominence did not fail to drive home this thought. +In 1693 George Keith, a leading Quaker of his day, came forward as a +promoter of the religious training of the slaves as a preparation for +emancipation.[3] William Penn advocated the emancipation of slaves,[4] +that they might have every opportunity for improvement. In 1696 the +Quakers, while protesting against the slave trade, denounced also the +policy of neglecting their moral and spiritual welfare.[5] The +growing interest of this sect in the Negroes was shown later by the +development in 1713 of a definite scheme for freeing and returning +them to Africa after having been educated and trained to serve as +missionaries on that continent.[6] + +[Footnote 1: Quaker Pamphlet, p. 8; Moore, _Anti-slavery_, etc., p. +79.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, p. 79.] + +[Footnote 3: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, p. 376.] + +[Footnote 4: Rhodes, _History of the United States_, vol. i., p. 6; +Bancroft, _History of the United States_, vol. ii., p. 401.] + +[Footnote 5: Locke, _Anti-slavery_, p. 32.] + +[Footnote 6: _Ibid._, p. 30.] + +The inevitable result of this liberal attitude toward the Negroes +was that the Quakers of those colonies where other settlers were +so neglectful of the enlightenment of the colored race, soon found +themselves at war with the leaders of the time. In slaveholding +communities the Quakers were persecuted, not necessarily because they +adhered to a peculiar faith, not primarily because they had manners +and customs unacceptable to the colonists, but because in answering +the call of duty to help all men they incurred the ill will of the +masters who denounced them as undesirable persons, bringing into +America spurious doctrines subversive of the institutions of the +aristocratic settlements. + +Their experience in the colony of Virginia is a good example of how +this worked out. Seeing the unchristian attitude of the preachers in +most parts of that colony, the Quakers inquired of them, "Who made you +ministers of the Gospel to white people only, and not to the tawny and +blacks also?"[1] To show the nakedness of the neglectful clergy there +some of this faith manifested such zeal in teaching and preaching to +the Negroes that their enemies demanded legislation to prevent them +from gaining ascendancy over the minds of the slaves. Accordingly, to +make the colored people of that colony inaccessible to these workers +it was deemed wise in 1672 to enact a law prohibiting members of that +sect from taking Negroes to their meetings. In 1678 the colony enacted +another measure excluding Quakers from the teaching profession by +providing that no person should be allowed to keep a school in +Virginia unless he had taken the oath of allegiance and supremacy.[2] +Of course, it was inconsistent with the spirit and creed of the +Quakers to take this oath. + +[Footnote 1: Quaker Pamphlet, p. 9.] + +[Footnote 2: Hening, _Statutes at Large_, vol. i., 532; ii., 48, 165, +166, 180, 198, and 204. _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed_., +1871, p. 391.] + +The settlers of North Carolina followed the same procedure to check +the influence of Quakers, who spoke there in behalf of the man of +color as fearlessly as they had in Virginia. The apprehension of the +dominating element was such that Governor Tryon had to be instructed +to prohibit from teaching in that colony any person who had not +a license from the Bishop of London.[1] Although this order was +seemingly intended to protect the faith and doctrine of the Anglican +Church, rather than to prevent the education of Negroes, it operated +to lessen their chances for enlightenment, since missionaries from +the Established Church did not reach all parts of the colony.[2] The +Quakers of North Carolina, however, had local schools and actually +taught slaves. Some of these could read and write as early as 1731. +Thereafter, household servants were generally given the rudiments of +an English education. + +[Footnote 1: Ashe, _History of North Carolina_, vol. i., p. 389. The +same instructions were given to Governor Francis Nicholson.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., pp. 389, 390.] + +It was in the settlements of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York +that the Quakers encountered less opposition in carrying out their +policy of cultivating the minds of colored people. Among these Friends +the education of Negroes became the handmaiden of the emancipation +movement. While John Hepburn, William Burling, Elihu Coleman, and +Ralph Sandiford largely confined their attacks to the injustice of +keeping slaves, Benjamin Lay was working for their improvement as a +prerequisite of emancipation.[1] Lay entreated the Friends to "bring +up the Negroes to some Learning, Reading and Writing and" to "endeavor +to the utmost of their Power in the sweet love of Truth to instruct +and teach 'em the Principles of Truth and Religiousness, and learn +some Honest Trade or Imployment and then set them free. And," says he, +"all the time Friends are teaching of them let them know that they +intend to let them go free in a very reasonable Time; and that our +Religious Principles will not allow of such Severity, as to keep them +in everlasting Bondage and Slavery."[2] + +[Footnote 1: Locke, _Anti-slavery_, etc., p. 31.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., p. 32.] + + +The struggle of the Northern Quakers to enlighten the colored people +had important local results. A strong moral force operated in the +minds of most of this sect to impel them to follow the example of +certain leaders who emancipated their slaves.[1] Efforts in this +direction were redoubled about the middle of the eighteenth century +when Anthony Benezet,[2] addressing himself with unwonted zeal to the +uplift of these unfortunates, obtained the assistance of Clarkson and +others, who solidified the antislavery sentiment of the Quakers and +influenced them to give their time and means to the more effective +education of the blacks. After this period the Quakers were also +concerned with the improvement of the colored people's condition in +other settlements.[3] + +[Footnote 1: Dr. DuBois gives a good account of these efforts in his +_Suppression of the African Slave Trade_.] + +[Footnote 2: Benezet was a French Protestant. Persecuted on account of +their religion, his parents moved from France to England and later to +Philadelphia. He became a teacher in that city in 1742. Thirteen years +later he was teaching a school established for the education of the +daughters of the most distinguished families in Philadelphia. He was +then using his own spelling-book, primer, and grammar, some of the +first text-books published in America. Known to persecution himself, +Benezet always sympathized with the oppressed. Accordingly, he +connected himself with the Quakers, who at that time had before +them the double task of fighting for religious equality and the +amelioration of the condition of the Negroes. Becoming interested in +the welfare of the colored race, Benezet first attacked the slave +trade, so exposing it in his speeches and writings that Clarkson +entered the field as an earnest advocate of the suppression of the +iniquitous traffic. See Benezet, _Observations_, p. 30, and the +_African Repository_, vol. iv., p. 61.] + +[Footnote 3: Quaker Pamphlet, p. 31.] + +What the other sects did for the enlightenment of Negroes during this +period, was not of much importance. As the Presbyterians, Methodists, +and Baptists did not proselyte extensively in this country prior to +the middle of the eighteenth century, these denominations had little +to do with Negro education before the liberalism and spirit of +toleration, developed during the revolutionary era, made it possible +for these sects to reach the people. The Methodists, however, confined +at first largely to the South, where most of the slaves were found, +had to take up this problem earlier. Something looking like an attempt +to elevate the Negroes came from Wesley's contemporary, George +Whitefield,[1] who, strange to say, was regarded by the Negro race +as its enemy for having favored the introduction of slavery. He was +primarily interested in the conversion of the colored people. Without +denying that "liberty is sweet to those who are born free," he +advocated the importation of slaves into Georgia "to bring them within +the reach of those means of grace which would make them partake of a +liberty far more precious than the freedom of body."[2] While on a +visit to this country in 1740 he purchased a large tract of land at +Nazareth, Pennsylvania, for the purpose of founding a school for the +education of Negroes.[3] Deciding later to go south, he sold the site +to the Moravian brethren who had undertaken to establish a mission +for Negroes at Bethlehem in 1738.[4] Some writers have accepted the +statement that Whitefield commenced the erection of a schoolhouse at +Nazareth; others maintain that he failed to accomplish anything.[5] Be +that as it may, accessible facts are sufficient to show that, unwise +as was his policy of importing slaves, his intention was to improve +their condition. It was because of this sentiment in Georgia in 1747, +when slavery was finally introduced there, that the people through +their representatives in convention recommended that masters should +educate their young slaves, and do whatever they could to make +religious impressions upon the minds of the aged. This favorable +attitude of early Methodists toward Negroes caused them to consider +the new churchmen their friends and made it easy for this sect to +proselyte the race. + +[Footnote 1: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed_., 1871, p. 374.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., p. 374.] + +[Footnote 3: Turner, _The Negro in Pennsylvania_, p. 128.] + +[Footnote 4: Equally interested in the Negroes were the Moravians who +settled in the uplands of Pennsylvania and roamed over the hills of +the Appalachian region as far south as Carolina. A painting of a +group of their converts prior to 1747 shows among others two Negroes, +Johannes of South Carolina and Jupiter of New York. See Hamilton, +_History of the Church known as the Moravian_, p. 80; Plumer, +_Thoughts on the Religious Instruction of Negroes_, p. 3; Reichel, +_The Moravians in North Carolina_, p. 139.] + +[Footnote 5: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed_., 1869, p. 374.] + + + + +CHAPTER III + +EDUCATION AS A RIGHT OF MAN + + +In addition to the mere diffusion of knowledge as a means to teach +religion there was a need of another factor to make the education of +the Negroes thorough. This required force was supplied by the response +of the colonists to the nascent social doctrine of the eighteenth +century. During the French and Indian War there were set to work +certain forces which hastened the social and political upheaval called +the American Revolution. "Bigoted saints" of the more highly favored +sects condescended to grant the rising denominations toleration, +the aristocratic elements of colonial society deigned to look more +favorably upon those of lower estate, and a large number of leaders +began to think that the Negro should be educated and freed. To +acquaint themselves with the claims of the underman Americans +thereafter prosecuted more seriously the study of Coke, Milton, Locke, +and Blackstone. The last of these was then read more extensively in +the colonies than in Great Britain. Getting from these writers strange +ideas of individual liberty and the social compact theory of man's +making in a state of nature government deriving its power from the +consent of the governed, the colonists contended more boldly than ever +for religious freedom, industrial liberty, and political equality. +Given impetus by the diffusion of these ideas, the revolutionary +movement became productive of the spirit of universal benevolence. +Hearing the contention for natural and inalienable rights, Nathaniel +Appleton[1] and John Woolman,[2] were emboldened to carry these +theories to their logical conclusion. They attacked not only the +oppressors of the colonists but censured also those who denied the +Negro race freedom of body and freedom of mind. When John Adams heard +James Otis basing his argument against the writs of assistance on the +British constitution "founded in the laws of nature," he "shuddered at +the doctrine taught and the consequences that might be derived from +such premises."[3] + +[Footnote 1: Locke, _Anti-slavery_, etc., p. 19, 20, 23.] + +[Footnote 2: _Works of John Woolman_ in two parts, pp. 58 and 73; +Moore, _Notes on Slavery in Mass._, p. 71.] + +[Footnote 3: Adams, _Works of John Adams_, vol. x., p. 315; Moore, +_Notes on Slavery in Mass._, p. 71.] + +So effective was the attack on the institution of slavery and its +attendant evils that interest in the question leaped the boundaries +of religious organizations and became the concern of fair-minded men +throughout the country. Not only did Northern men of the type of John +Adams and James Otis express their opposition to this tyranny of men's +bodies and minds, but Laurens, Henry, Wythe, Mason, and Washington +pointed out the injustice of such a policy. Accordingly we find +arrayed against the aristocratic masters almost all the leaders of the +American Revolution.[1] They favored the policy, first, of suppressing +the slave trade, next of emancipating the Negroes in bondage, and +finally of educating them for a life of freedom.[2] While students of +government were exposing the inconsistency of slaveholding among a +people contending for political liberty, and men like Samuel Webster, +James Swan, and Samuel Hopkins attacked the institution on economic +grounds;[3] Jonathan Boucher,[4] Dr. Rush,[5] and Benjamin Franklin[6] +were devising plans to educate slaves for freedom; and Isaac Tatem[7] +and Anthony Benezet[8] were actually in the schoolroom endeavoring to +enlighten their black brethren. + +[Footnote 1: Cobb, _Slavery_, etc., p. 82.] + +[Footnote 2: Madison, _Works of_, vol. iii., p. 496; Smyth, _Works of +Franklin_, vol. v., p. 431; Washington, _Works of Jefferson_, vol. +ix., p. 163; Brissot de Warville, _New Travels_, vol. i., p. 227; +Proceedings of the American Convention of Abolition Societies, 1794, +1795, 1797.] + +[Footnote 3: Webster, _A Sermon Preached before the Honorable +Council_, etc.; Webster, _Earnest Address to My Country on Slavery_; +Swan, _A Dissuasion to Great Britain and the Colonies_; Hopkins, +_Dialogue Concerning Slavery_.] + +[Footnote 4: Boucher, _A View of the Causes and Consequences of the +American Revolution_, p. 39.] + +[Footnote 5: Rush, _An Address to the Inhabitants of_, etc., p. 16.] + +[Footnote 6: Smyth, _Works of Franklin_, vol. iv., p. 23; vol. v., p. +431.] + +[Footnote 7: Wickersham, _History of Ed. in Pa_., p. 249.] + +[Footnote 8: _Ibid_., p. 250; _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of +Ed_., 1869, p. 375; _African Repository_, vol. iv., p. 61; Benezet, +_Observations_; Benezet, _A Serious Address to the Rulers of +America_.] + +The aim of these workers was not merely to enable the Negroes to take +over sufficient of Western civilization to become nominal Christians, +not primarily to increase their economic efficiency, but to enlighten +them because they are men. To strengthen their position these +defendants of the education of the blacks cited the customs of the +Greeks and Romans, who enslaved not the minds and wills, but only the +bodies of men. Nor did these benefactors fail to mention the cases of +ancient slaves, who, having the advantages of education, became poets, +teachers, and philosophers, instrumental in the diffusion of knowledge +among the higher classes. There was still the idea of Cotton Mather, +who was willing to treat his servants as part of the family, and to +employ such of them as were competent to teach his children lessons of +piety.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Meade, _Sermons of Thomas Bacon_, appendix.] + +The chief objection of these reformers to slavery was that its victims +had no opportunity for mental improvement. "Othello," a free person +of color, contributing to the _American Museum_ in 1788, made the +institution responsible for the intellectual rudeness of the Negroes +who, though "naturally possessed of strong sagacity and lively parts," +were by law and custom prohibited from being instructed in any kind +of learning.[1] He styled this policy an effort to bolster up an +institution that extinguished the "divine spark of the slave, crushed +the bud of his genius, and kept him unacquainted with the world." Dr. +McLeod denounced slavery because it "debases a part of the human race" +and tends "to destroy their intellectual powers."[2] "The slave from +his infancy," continued he, "is obliged implicitly to obey the will of +another. There is no circumstance which can stimulate him to exercise +his intellectual powers." In his arraignment of this system Rev. David +Rice complained that it was in the power of the master to deprive +the slaves of all education, that they had not the opportunity for +instructing conversation, that it was put out of their power to +learn to read, and that their masters kept them from other means of +information.[3] Slavery, therefore, must be abolished because it +infringes upon the natural right of men to be enlightened. + +[Footnote 1: _The American Museum_, vol. iv., pp. 415 and 511.] + + +[Footnote 2: McLeod, _Negro Slavery_, p. 16.] + +[Footnote 3: Rice, Speech in the Constitutional Convention of +Kentucky, p. 5.] + +During this period religion as a factor in the educational progress of +the Negroes was not eliminated. In fact, representative churchmen of +the various sects still took the lead in advocating the enlightenment +of the colored people. These protagonists, however, ceased to claim +this boon merely as a divine right and demanded it as a social +privilege. Some of the clergy then interested had not at first +seriously objected to the enslavement of the African race, believing +that the lot of these people would not be worse in this country where +they might have an opportunity for enlightenment. But when this result +failed to follow, and when the slavery of the Africans' bodies turned +out to be the slavery of their minds, the philanthropic and religious +proclaimed also the doctrine of enlightenment as a right of man. +Desiring to see Negroes enjoy this privilege, Jonathan Boucher,[1] one +of the most influential of the colonial clergymen, urged his hearers +at the celebration of the Peace of 1763 to improve and emancipate +their slaves that they might "participate in the general joy." +With the hope of inducing men to discharge the same duty, Bishop +Warburton[2] boldly asserted a few years later that slaves are +"rational creatures endowed with all our qualities except that of +color, and our brethren both by nature and grace." John Woolman,[3] a +Quaker minister, influenced by the philosophy of John Locke, began to +preach that liberty is the right of all men, and that slaves, being +the fellow-creatures of their masters, had a natural right to be +elevated. + +[Footnote 1: Jonathan Boucher was a rector of the Established Church +in Maryland. Though not a promoter of the movement for the political +rights of the colonists, Boucher was, however, so moved by the spirit +of uplift of the downtrodden that he takes front rank among those who, +in emphasizing the rights of servants, caused a decided change in the +attitude of white men toward the improvement of Negroes. Boucher was +not an immediate abolitionist. He abhorred slavery, however, to the +extent that he asserted that if ever the colonies would be improved to +their utmost capacity, an essential part of that amelioration had +to be the abolition of slavery. His chief concern then was the +cultivation of the minds in order to make amends for the drudgery to +their bodies. See Boucher, _Causes_, etc., p. 39.] + +[Footnote 2: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed_., 1871, p. 363.] + +[Footnote 3: An influential minister of the Society of Friends and an +extensive traveler through the colonies, Woolman had an opportunity to +do much good in attacking the policy of those who kept their Negroes +in deplorable ignorance, and in commending the good example of those +who instructed their slaves in reading. In his _Considerations on the +Keeping of Slaves_ he took occasion to praise the Friends of North +Carolina for the unusual interest they manifested in the cause at +their meetings during his travels in that colony about the year 1760. +With such workers as Woolman in the field it is little wonder that +Quakers thereafter treated slaves as brethren, alleviated their +burdens, enlightened their minds, emancipated and cared for them until +they could provide for themselves. See _Works of John Woolman_ in two +parts, pp. 58 and 73.] + +Thus following the theories of the revolutionary leaders these +liberal-minded men promulgated along with the doctrine of individual +liberty that of the freedom of the mind. The best expression of this +advanced idea came from the Methodist Episcopal Church, which reached +the acme of antislavery sentiment in 1784. This sect then boldly +declared: "We view it as contrary to the golden law of God and the +prophets, and the inalienable rights of mankind as well as every +principle of the Revolution to hold in deepest abasement, in a more +abject slavery than is perhaps to be found in any part of the world, +except America, so many souls that are capable of the image of +God."[1] + +[Footnote 1: Matlack, _History of American Slavery and Methodism_, pp. +29 _et seq_.; McTyeire, _History of Methodism_, p. 28.] + +Frequently in contact with men who were advocating the right of the +Negroes to be educated, statesmen as well as churchmen could not +easily evade the question. Washington did not have much to say about +it and did little more than to provide for the ultimate liberation of +his slaves and the teaching of their children to read.[1] Less aid to +this movement came from John Adams, although he detested slavery to +the extent that he never owned a bondman, preferring to hire freemen +at extra cost to do his work.[2] Adams made it clear that he favored +gradual emancipation. But he neither delivered any inflammatory +speeches against slaveholders neglectful of the instruction of their +slaves, nor devised any scheme for their enjoyment of freedom. So was +it with Hamilton who, as an advocate of the natural rights of man, +opposed the institution of slavery, but, with the exception of what +assistance he gave the New York African Free Schools[3] said and did +little to promote the actual education of the colored people. + +[Footnote 1: Lossing, _Life of George Washington_, vol. iii., p. 537.] + +[Footnote 2: Adams, _Works of John Adams_, vol. viii., p. 379; vol. +ix., p. 92; vol. x., p. 380.] + +[Footnote 3: Andrews, _History of the New York African Free Schools_, +p. 57.] + +Madison in stating his position on this question was a little more +definite than some of his contemporaries. Speaking of the necessary +preparation of the colored people for emancipation he thought it was +possible to determine the proper course of instruction. He believed, +however, that, since the Negroes were to continue in a state +of bondage during the preparatory period and to be within the +jurisdiction of commonwealths recognizing ample authority over them, +"a competent discipline" could not be impracticable. He said further +that the "degree in which this discipline" would "enforce the needed +labor and in which a voluntary industry" would "supply the defect of +compulsory labor, were vital points on which it" might "not be safe +to be very positive without some light from actual experiment."[1] +Evidently he was of the opinion that the training of slaves to +discharge later the duties of freemen was a difficult task but, if +well planned and directed, could be made a success. + +[Footnote 1: Madison, _Works of_, vol. iii., p. 496.] + +No one of the great statesmen of this time was more interested in the +enlightenment of the Negro than Benjamin Franklin.[1] He was for a +long time associated with the friends of the colored people and turned +out from his press such fiery anti-slavery pamphlets as those of Lay +and Sandiford. Franklin also became one of the "Associates of Dr. +Bray." Always interested in the colored schools of Philadelphia, +the philosopher was, while in London, connected with the English +"gentlemen concerned with the pious design,"[2] serving as chairman of +the organization for the year 1760. He was a firm supporter of Anthony +Benezet,[3] and was made president of the Abolition Society of +Philadelphia which in 1774 founded a successful colored school.[4] +This school was so well planned and maintained that it continued about +a hundred years. + +[Footnote 1: Smyth, _Works of Benjamin Franklin_, vol. v., p. 431.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., vol. iv., p. 23.] + +[Footnote 3: Smyth, _Works of Benjamin Franklin_, vol. v., p. 431.] + +[Footnote 4: _Ibid_., vol. x., p. 127; and Wickersham, _History of +Education in Pennsylvania_, p. 253.] + +John Jay kept up his interest in the Negro race.[1] In the Convention +of 1787 he coöperated with Gouverneur Morris, advocating the abolition +of the slave trade and the rejection of the Federal ratio. His efforts +in behalf of the colored people were actuated by his early conviction +that the national character of this country could be retrieved only +by abolishing the iniquitous traffic in human souls and improving +the Negroes.[2] Showing his pity for the downtrodden people of color +around him, Jay helped to promote the cause of the abolitionists of +New York who established and supported several colored schools in +that city. Such care was exercised in providing for the attendance, +maintenance, and supervision of these schools that they soon took rank +among the best in the United States. + +[Footnote 1: Jay, _Works of John Jay_, vol. i., p. 136; vol. iii, p. +331.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., vol. iii., p. 343.] + +More interesting than the views of any other man of this epoch on the +subject of Negro education were those of Thomas Jefferson. Born of +pioneer parentage in the mountains of Virginia, Jefferson never +lost his frontier democratic ideals which made him an advocate of +simplicity, equality, and universal freedom. Having in mind when he +wrote the Declaration of Independence the rights of the blacks as well +as those of whites, this disciple of John Locke, could not but feel +that the slaves of his day had a natural right to education and +freedom. Jefferson said so much more on these important questions than +his contemporaries that he would have been considered an abolitionist, +had he lived in 1840. + +Giving his views on the enlightenment of the Negroes he asserted +that the minds of the masters should be "apprized by reflection and +strengthened by the energies of conscience against the obstacles of +self-interest to an acquiescence in the rights of others." The owners +would then permit their slaves to be "prepared by instruction and +habit" for self-government, the honest pursuit of industry, and social +duty.[1] In his scheme for a modern system of public schools Jefferson +included the training of the slaves in industrial and agricultural +branches to equip them for a higher station in life, else he thought +they should be removed from the country when liberated.[2] Capable of +mental development, as he had found certain men of color to be, the +Sage of Monticello doubted at times that they could be made the +intellectual equals of white men,[3] and did not actually advocate +their incorporation into the body politic. + +[Footnote 1: Washington, _Works of Jefferson_, vol. vi., p. 456.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., vol. viii., p. 380; and Mayo, _Educational +Movement in the South_, p. 37.] + +[Footnote 3: As to what Jefferson thought of the Negro intellect +we are still in doubt. Writing in 1791 to Banneker, the Negro +mathematician and astronomer, he said that nobody wished to see more +than he such proofs as Banneker exhibited that nature has given to our +black brethren talents equal to those of men of other colors, and that +the appearance of a lack of such native ability was owing only to +their degraded condition in Africa and America. Jefferson expressed +himself as being ardently desirous of seeing a good system commenced +for raising the condition both of the body and the mind of the slaves +to what it ought to be as fast as the "imbecility" of their then +existence and other circumstances, which could not be neglected, would +admit. Replying to Grégoire of Paris, who wrote an interesting essay +on the _Literature of Negroes_, showing the power of their intellect, +Jefferson assured him that no person living wished more sincerely +than he to see a complete refutation of the doubts he himself had +entertained and expressed on the grade of understanding allotted to +them by nature and to find that in this respect they are on a par +with white men. These doubts, he said, were the result of personal +observations in the limited sphere of his own State where "the +opportunities for the development of their genius were not favorable, +and those of exercising it still less so." He said that he had +expressed them with great hesitation; but "whatever be the degree of +their talent, it is no measure of their rights. Because Sir Isaac +Newton was superior to others in understanding, he was not therefore +lord of the person or property of others." In this respect he believed +they were gaining daily in the opinions of nations, and hopeful +advances were being made toward their reëstablishment on an equal +footing with other colors of the human family. He prayed, therefore, +that God might accept his thanks for enabling him to observe the "many +instances of respectable intelligence in that race of men, which could +not fail to have effect in hastening the day of their relief." Yet +a few days later when writing to Joel Barlow, Jefferson referred to +Bishop Grégoire's essay and expressed his doubt that this pamphlet was +weighty evidence of the intellect of the Negro. He said that the whole +did not amount in point of evidence to what they themselves knew of +Banneker. He conceded that Banneker had spherical knowledge enough to +make almanacs, but not without the suspicion of aid from Ellicott +who was his neighbor and friend, and never missed an opportunity of +puffing him. Referring to the letter he received from Banneker, he +said it showed the writer to have a mind of very common stature +indeed. See Washington, _Works of Jefferson_, vol. v., pp. 429 and +503.] + +So much progress in the improvement of slaves was effected with all of +these workers in the field that conservative southerners in the midst +of the antislavery agitation contented themselves with the thought +that radical action was not necessary, as the institution would +of itself soon pass away. Legislatures passed laws facilitating +manumission,[1] many southerners emancipated their slaves to give them +a better chance to improve their condition, regulations unfavorable to +the assembly of Negroes for the dissemination of information almost +fell into desuetude, a larger number of masters began to instruct +their bondmen, and persons especially interested in these unfortunates +found the objects of their piety more accessible.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Locke, Anti-slavery_, etc., p. 14.] + +[Footnote 2: Brissot de Warville, _New Travels_, vol. i., p. 220; +Johann Schoepf, _Travels in the Confederation_, p. 149.] + +Not all slaveholders, however, were thus induced to respect this new +right claimed for the colored people. Georgia and South Carolina +were exceptional in that they were not sufficiently stirred by the +revolutionary movement to have much compassion for this degraded +class. The attitude of the people of Georgia, however, was then more +favorable than that of the South Carolinians.[1] Nevertheless, the +Georgia planters near the frontier were not long in learning that the +general enlightenment of the Negroes would endanger the institution of +slavery. Accordingly, in 1770, at the very time when radical reformers +were clamoring for the rights of man, Georgia, following in the wake +of South Carolina, reënacted its act of 1740 which imposed a penalty +on any one who should teach or cause slaves to be taught or employ +them "in any manner of writing whatever."[2] The penalty, however, +was less than that imposed in South Carolina.[3] The same measure +terminated the helpful mingling of slaves by providing for their +dispersion when assembled for the old-time "love feast" emphasized so +much among the rising Methodists of the South. + +[Footnote 1: The laws of Georgia were not so harsh as those of South +Carolina. A larger number of intelligent persons of color were +found in the rural districts of Georgia. Charleston, however, was +exceptional in that its Negroes had unusual educational advantages.] + +[Footnote 2: Marbury and Crawford, _Digest of the Laws of the State of +Georgia_, p. 438.] + +[Footnote 3: Brevard, _Digest of the Public Statutes of South +Carolina_, vol. ii., p. 243.] + +Those advocating the imposition of restraints upon Negroes acquiring +knowledge were not, however, confined to South Carolina and Georgia +where the malevolent happened to be in the majority. The other States +had not seen the last of the generation of those who doubted that +education would fit the slaves for the exalted position of citizens. +The retrogressives made much of the assertion that adult slaves lately +imported, were, on account of their attachment to heathen practices +and idolatrous rites, loath to take over the Teutonic civilization, +and would at best learn to speak the English language imperfectly +only.[1] The reformers, who at times admitted this, maintained that +the alleged difficulties encountered in teaching the crudest element +of the slaves could not be adduced as an argument against the +religious instruction of free Negroes and the education of the +American born colored children.[2] This problem, however, was not a +serious one in most Northern States, for the reason that the small +number of slaves in that section obviated the necessity for much +apprehension as to what kind of education the blacks should have, +and whether they should be enlightened before or after emancipation. +Although the Northern people believed that the education of the race +should be definitely planned, and had much to say about industrial +education, most of them were of the opinion that ordinary training +in the fundamentals of useful knowledge and in the principles of +Christian religion, was sufficient to meet the needs of those +designated for freedom. + +[Footnote 1: Meade, _Sermons of Thomas Bacon_, pp. 81-87.] + +[Footnote 2: Porteus, _Works of_, vol. vi., p. 177; Warburton, _A +Sermon_, etc., pp. 25 and 27.] + +On the other hand, most southerners who conceded the right of the +Negro to be educated did not openly aid the movement except with the +understanding that the enlightened ones should be taken from their +fellows and colonized in some remote part of the United States or +in their native land.[1] The idea of colonization, however, was not +confined to the southern slaveholders, for Thornton, Fothergill, and +Granville Sharp had long looked to Africa as the proper place for +enlightened people of color.[2] Feeling that it would be wrong to +expatriate them, Benezet and Branagan[3] advocated the colonization of +such Negroes on the public lands west of the Alleghanies. There was +some talk of giving slaves training in the elements of agriculture +and then dividing plantations among them to develop a small class of +tenants. Jefferson, a member of a committee appointed in 1779 by the +General Assembly of that commonwealth to revise its laws, reported a +plan providing for the instruction of its slaves in agriculture and +the handicrafts to prepare them for liberation and colonization under +the supervision of the home government until they could take care of +themselves.[4] + +[Footnote 1: _Writings of James Monroe_, vol. iii., pp. 261, 266, 292, +295, 321, 322, 336, 338, 349, 351, 352, 353, 378.] + +[Footnote 2: Brissot de Warville, _Travels_, vol. i., p. 262.] + +[Footnote 3: _Tyrannical Libertymen_, pp. 10-11; Locke, +_Anti-slavery_, etc., pp. 31-32; Branagan, _Serious Remonstrance_, p. +18.] + +[Footnote 4: Washington, _Works of Jefferson_, vol. iii., p. 296; vol. +iv., p. 291 and vol. viii., p. 380.] + +Without resorting to the subterfuge of colonization, not a few +slaveholders were still wise enough to show why the improvement of the +Negroes should be neglected altogether. Vanquished by the logic of +Daniel Davis[1] and Benjamin Rush,[2] those who had theretofore +justified slavery on the ground that it gave the bondmen a chance to +be enlightened, fell back on the theory of African racial inferiority. +This they said was so well exhibited by the Negroes' lack of +wisdom and of goodness that continued heathenism of the race was +justifiable.[3] Answering these inconsistent persons, John Wesley +inquired: "Allowing them to be as stupid as you say, to whom is that +stupidity owing? Without doubt it lies altogether at the door of the +inhuman masters who give them no opportunity for improving their +understanding and indeed leave them no motive, either from hope or +fear to attempt any such thing." Wesley asserted, too, that the +Africans were in no way remarkable for their stupidity while they +remained in their own country, and that where they had equal motives +and equal means of improvement, the Negroes were not only not inferior +to the better inhabitants of Europe, but superior to some of them.[4] + +[Footnote 1: Davis was a logical antislavery agitator. He believed +that if the slaves had had the means of education, if they had been +treated with humanity, making slaves of them had been no more than +doing evil that good might come. He thought that Christianity and +humanity would have rather dictated the sending of books and teachers +into Africa and endeavors for their salvation.] + +[Footnote 2: Benjamin Rush was a Philadelphia physician of Quaker +parentage. He was educated at the College of New Jersey and at the +Medical School of Edinburgh, where he came into contact with some of +the most enlightened men of his time. Holding to the ideals of his +youth, Dr. Rush was soon associated with the friends of the Negroes on +his return to Philadelphia. He not only worked for the abolition of +the slave trade but fearlessly advocated the right of the Negroes +to be educated. He pointed out that an inquiry into the methods of +converting Negroes to Christianity would show that the means were +ill suited to the end proposed. "In many cases," said he, "Sunday +is appropriated to work for themselves. Reading and writing are +discouraged among them. A belief is inculcated among some that they +have no souls. In a word, every attempt to instruct or convert them +has been constantly opposed by their masters." See Rush, _An Address +to the Inhabitants_, etc., p. 16.] + +[Footnote 3: Meade, _Sermons of Rev. Thomas Bacon_, pp. 81-97.] + +[Footnote 4: Wesley, _Thoughts upon Slavery_, p. 92.] + +William Pinkney, the antislavery leader of Maryland, believed also +that Negroes are no worse than white people under similar conditions, +and that all the colored people needed to disprove their so-called +inferiority was an equal chance with the more favored race.[1] Others +like George Buchanan referred to the Negroes' talent for the fine arts +and to their achievements in literature, mathematics, and philosophy. +Buchanan informed these merciless aristocrats "that the Africans +whom you despise, whom you inhumanly treat as brutes and whom you +unlawfully subject to slavery with tyrannizing hands of despots are +equally capable of improvement with yourselves."[2] + +[Footnote 1: Pinkney, _Speech in Maryland House of Delegates_, p. 6.] + +[Footnote 2: Buchanan, _An Oration on the Moral and Political Evil of +Slavery_, p. 10.] + +Franklin considered the idea of the natural inferiority of the +Negro as a silly excuse. He conceded that most of the blacks were +improvident and poor, but believed that their condition was not due to +deficient understanding but to their lack of education. He was very +much impressed with their achievements in music.[1] So disgusting was +this notion of inferiority to Abbé Grégoire of Paris that he wrote an +interesting essay on "Negro Literature" to prove that people of color +have unusual intellectual power.[2] He sent copies of this pamphlet +to leading men where slavery existed. Another writer discussing +Jefferson's equivocal position on this question said that one would +have thought that "modern philosophy himself" would not have the face +to expect that the wretch, who is driven out to labor at the dawn of +day, and who toils until evening with a whip over his head, ought to +be a poet. Benezet, who had actually taught Negroes, declared "with +truth and sincerity" that he had found among them as great variety of +talents as among a like number of white persons. He boldly asserted +that the notion entertained by some that the blacks were inferior +in their capacities was a vulgar prejudice founded on the pride or +ignorance of their lordly masters who had kept their slaves at such a +distance as to be unable to form a right judgment of them.[3] + +[Footnote 1: Smyth, _Works of Franklin_, vol. vi., p. 222.] + +[Footnote 2: Grégoire, _La Littérature des Nègres_.] + +[Footnote 3: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 375.] + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +ACTUAL EDUCATION + + +Would these professions of interest in the mental development of the +blacks be translated into action? What these reformers would do to +raise the standard of Negro education above the plane of rudimentary +training incidental to religious instruction, was yet to be seen. +Would they secure to Negroes the educational privileges guaranteed +other elements of society? The answer, if not affirmative, was +decidedly encouraging. The idea uppermost in the minds of these +workers was that the people of color could and should be educated as +other races of men. + +In the lead of this movement were the antislavery agitators. +Recognizing the Negroes' need of preparation for citizenship, the +abolitionists proclaimed as a common purpose of their organizations +the education of the colored people with a view to developing in them +self-respect, self-support, and usefulness in the community.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Smyth, _Works of Benjamin Franklin_, vol. x., p. 127; +Torrey, _Portraiture of Slavery_, p. 21. See also constitution of +almost any antislavery society organized during this period.] + +The proposition to cultivate the minds of the slaves came as a happy +solution of what had been a perplexing problem. Many Americans who +considered slavery an evil had found no way out of the difficulty when +the alternative was to turn loose upon society so many uncivilized men +without the ability to discharge the duties of citizenship.[1] Assured +then that the efforts at emancipation would be tested by experience, +a larger number of men advocated abolition. These leaders recommended +gradual emancipation for States having a large slave population, that +those designated for freedom might first be instructed in the value +and meaning of liberty to render them comfortable in the use of it.[2] +The number of slaves in the States adopting the policy of immediate +emancipation was not considered a menace to society, for the schools +already open to colored people could exert a restraining influence +on those lately given the boon of freedom. For these reasons the +antislavery societies had in their constitutions a provision for +a committee of education to influence Negroes to attend school, +superintend their instruction, and emphasize the cultivation of the +mind as the necessary preparation for "that state in society upon +which depends our political happiness."[3] Much stress was laid upon +this point by the American Convention of Abolition Societies in 1794 +and 1795 when the organization expressed the hope that freedmen might +participate in civil rights as fast as they qualified by education.[4] + +[Footnote 1: Washington, _Works of Jefferson_, vol. vi., p. 456; +vol. viii., p. 379; Madison, _Works of_, vol. iii., p. 496; Monroe, +_Writings of_, vol. iii., pp. 321, 336, 349, 378; Adams, _Works of +John Adams_, vol. ix., p. 92 and vol. x., p. 380.] + +[Footnote 2: _Proceedings of the American Convention_, etc., 1797, +address.] + +[Footnote 3: The constitution of almost any antislavery society of +that time provided for this work. See _Proc. of Am. Conv._, etc., +1795, address.] + +[Footnote 4: _Proceedings of the American Convention of Abolition +Societies_, 1794, p. 21; and 1795, p. 17; and _Rise and Progress of +the Testimony of Friends_, etc., p. 27.] + +This work was organized by the abolitionists but was generally +maintained by members of the various sects which did more for +the enlightenment of the people of color through the antislavery +organizations than through their own.[1] The support of the clergy, +however, did not mean that the education of the Negroes would continue +incidental to the teaching of religion. The blacks were to be accepted +as brethren and trained to be useful citizens. For better education +the colored people could then look to the more liberal sects, the +Quakers, Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians, who prior to +the Revolution had been restrained by intolerance from extensive +proselyting. Upon the attainment of religious liberty they were free +to win over the slaveholders who came into the Methodist and Baptist +churches in large numbers, bringing their slaves with them.[2] The +freedom of these "regenerated" churches made possible the rise of +Negro exhorters and preachers, who to exercise their gifts managed in +some way to learn to read and write. Schools for the training of such +leaders were not to be found, but to encourage ambitious blacks to +qualify themselves white ministers often employed such candidates +as attendants, allowing them time to observe, to study, and even to +address their audiences.[3] + +[Footnote 1: The antislavery societies were at first the uniting +influence among all persons interested in the uplift of the Negroes. +The agitation had not then become violent, for men considered the +institution not a sin but merely an evil.] + +[Footnote 2: Coke, _Journal_, etc., p. 114; Lambert, _Travels_, +p. 175; Baird, _A Collection_, etc., pp. 381, 387 and 816; James, +_Documentary_, etc., p. 35; Foote, _Sketches of Virginia_, p. 31; +Matlack, _History of American Slavery and Methodism_, p. 31; Semple, +_History of the Rise and Progress of the Baptists in Virginia_, p. +222.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid._, and Coke, _Journal_, etc., pp. 16-18.] + +It must be observed, however, that the interest of these benevolent +men was no longer manifested in the mere traditional teaching of +individual slaves. The movement ceased to be the concern of separate +philanthropists. Men really interested in the uplift of the colored +people organized to raise funds, open schools, and supervise their +education.[1] In the course of time their efforts became more +systematic and consequently more successful. These educators adopted +the threefold policy of instructing Negroes in the principles of +the Christian religion, giving them the fundamentals of the common +branches, and teaching them the most useful handicrafts.[2] The +indoctrination of the colored people, to be sure, was still an +important concern to their teachers, but the accession to their ranks +of a militant secular element caused the emphasis to shift to other +phases of education. Seeing the Negroes' need of mental development, +the Presbyterian Synod of New York and Pennsylvania urged the members +of that denomination in 1787 to give their slaves "such good education +as to prepare them for a better enjoyment of freedom."[3] In reply to +the inquiry as to what could be done to teach the poor black and white +children to read, the Methodist Conference of 1790 recommended the +establishment of Sunday schools and the appointment of persons to +teach gratis "all that will attend and have a capacity to learn."[4] +The Conference recommended that the Church publish a special text-book +to teach these children learning as well as piety.[5] Men in the +political world were also active. In 1788 the State of New Jersey +passed an act preliminary to emancipation, making the teaching of +slaves to read compulsory under a penalty of five pounds.[6] + +[Footnote 1: _Proceedings of the American Convention of Abolition +Societies_, 1797.] + +[Footnote 2: _Proceedings of the American Convention of Abolition +Societies_, 1797.] + +[Footnote 3: Locke, _Anti-slavery_, etc., p. 44.] + +[Footnote 4: Washington, _Story of the Negro_, vol. ii, p. 121.] + +[Footnote 5: _Ibid._, p. 121.] + +[Footnote 6: Laws of New Jersey, 1788.] + +With such influence brought to bear on persons in the various walks of +life, the movement for the effective education of the colored people +became more extensive. Voicing the sentiment of the different local +organizations, the American Convention of Abolition Societies of 1794 +urged the branches to have the children of free Negroes and slaves +instructed in "common literature."[1] Two years later the Abolition +Society of the State of Maryland proposed to establish an academy to +offer this kind of instruction. To execute this scheme the American +Convention thought that it was expedient to employ regular tutors, +to form private associations of their members or other well-disposed +persons for the purpose of instructing the people of color in the most +simple branches of education.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Proceedings of the American Convention of Abolition +Societies_, 1796, p. 18.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, 1797, p. 41.] + +The regular tutors referred to above were largely indentured servants +who then constituted probably the majority of the teachers of the +colonies.[1] In 1773 Jonathan Boucher said that two thirds of the +teachers of Maryland belonged to this class.[2] The contact of Negroes +with these servants is significant. In the absence of rigid caste +distinctions they associated with the slaves and the barrier between +them was so inconsiderable that laws had to be passed to prevent the +miscegenation of the races. The blacks acquired much useful knowledge +from servant teachers and sometimes assisted them. + +[Footnote 1: See the descriptions of indentured servants in the +advertisements of colonial newspapers referred to on pages 82-84; and +Boucher, _A View of the Causes_, etc., p. 39.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, pp. 39 and 40.] + +Attention was directed also to the fact that neither literary nor +religious education prepared the Negroes for a life of usefulness. +Heeding the advice of Kosciuszko, Madison and Jefferson, the advocates +of the education of the Negroes endeavored to give them such practical +training as their peculiar needs demanded. In the agricultural +sections the first duty of the teacher of the blacks was to show them +how to get their living from the soil. This was the final test of +their preparation for emancipation. Accordingly, on large plantations +where much supervision was necessary, trustworthy Negroes were trained +as managers. Many of those who showed aptitude were liberated and +encouraged to produce for themselves. Slaves designated for freedom +were often given small parcels of land for the cultivation of which +they were allowed some of their time. An important result of this +agricultural training was that many of the slaves thus favored amassed +considerable wealth by using their spare time in cultivating crops of +their own.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 196.] + + +The advocates of useful education for the degraded race had more to +say about training in the mechanic arts. Such instruction, however, +was not then a new thing to the blacks of the South, for they had from +time immemorial been the trustworthy artisans of that section. The aim +then was to give them such education as would make them intelligent +workmen and develop in them the power to plan for themselves. In the +North, where the Negroes had been largely menial servants, adequate +industrial education was deemed necessary for those who were to be +liberated.[1] Almost every Northern colored school of any consequence +then offered courses in the handicrafts. In 1784 the Quakers of +Philadelphia employed Sarah Dwight to teach the colored girls +sewing.[2] Anthony Benezet provided in his will that in the school +to be established by his benefaction the girls should be taught +needlework.[3] The teachers who took upon themselves the improvement +of the free people of color of New York City regarded industrial +training as one of their important tasks.[4] + +[Footnote 1: See the _Address of the Am. Conv. of Abolition +Societies_, 1794; _ibid._, 1795; _ibid._, 1797 _et passim._] + +[Footnote 2: Wickersham, _History of Ed. in Pa._, p. 249.] + +[Footnote 3: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1869, p. 375.] + +[Footnote 4: Andrews, _History of the New York African Free Schools_, +p. 20.] + +None urged this duty upon the directors of these schools more +persistently than the antislavery organizations. In 1794 the American +Convention of Abolition Societies recommended that Negroes be +instructed in "those mechanic arts which will keep them most +constantly employed and, of course, which will less subject them to +idleness and debauchery, and thus prepare them for becoming good +citizens of the United States."[1] Speaking repeatedly on this wise +the Convention requested the colored people to let it be their special +care to have their children not only to work at useful trades but also +to till the soil.[2] The early abolitionists believed that this was +the only way the freedmen could learn to support themselves.[3] +In connection with their schools the antislavery leaders had an +Indenturing Committee to find positions for colored students who had +the advantages of industrial education.[4] In some communities slaves +were prepared for emancipation by binding them out as apprentices to +machinists and artisans until they learned a trade. + +[Footnote 1: _Proceedings of the American Convention_, 1794, p. 14.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, 1795, p. 29; _ibid._, 1797, pp. 12, 13, and 31.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid._, 1797, p. 31.] + +[Footnote 4: _Ibid._, 1818, p. 9.] + +Two early efforts to carry out this policy are worthy of notice here. +These were the endeavors of Anthony Benezet and Thaddeus Kosciuszko. +Benezet was typical of those men, who, having the courage of their +conviction, not only taught colored people, but gladly appropriated +property to their education. Benezet died in 1784, leaving +considerable wealth to be devoted to the purpose of educating Indians +and Negroes. His will provided that as the estate on the death of +his wife would not be sufficient entirely to support a school, the +Overseers of the Public Schools of Philadelphia should join with a +committee appointed by the Society of Friends, and other benevolent +persons, in the care and maintenance of an institution such as he +had planned. Finally in 1787 the efforts of Benezet reached their +culmination in the construction of a schoolhouse, with additional +funds obtained from David Barclay of London and Thomas Sidney, a +colored man of Philadelphia. The pupils of this school were to study +reading, writing, arithmetic, plain accounts, and sewing.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 375.] + +With respect to conceding the Negroes' claim to a better education, +Thaddeus Kosciuszko, the Polish general, was not unlike Benezet. None +of the revolutionary leaders were more moved with compassion for the +colored people than this warrior. He saw in education the powerful +leverage which would place them in position to enjoy the newly won +rights of man. While assisting us in gaining our independence, +Kosciuszko acquired here valuable property which he endeavored to +devote to the enlightenment of the slaves. He authorized Thomas +Jefferson, his executor, to employ the whole thereof in purchasing +Negroes and liberating them in the name of Kosciuszko, "in giving them +an education in trades or otherwise, and in having them instructed for +their new condition in the duties of morality." The instructors were +to provide for them such training as would make them "good neighbors, +good mothers or fathers, good husbands or wives, teaching them the +duties of citizenship, teaching them to be defenders of their liberty +and country, and of the good order of society, and whatsoever might +make them useful and happy."[1] Clearly as this was set forth the +executor failed to discharge this duty enjoined upon him. The heirs of +the donor instituted proceedings to obtain possession of the estate, +which, so far as the author knows, was never used for the purpose for +which it was intended. + +[Footnote 1: _African Repository_, vol. xi., pp. 294-295.] + +In view of these numerous strivings we are compelled to inquire +exactly what these educators accomplished. Although it is impossible +to measure the results of their early efforts, various records of the +eighteenth century prove that there was lessening objection to the +instruction of slaves and practically none to the enlightenment of +freedmen. Negroes in considerable numbers were becoming well grounded +in the rudiments of education. They had reached the point of +constituting the majority of the mechanics in slaveholding +communities; they were qualified to be tradesmen, trustworthy helpers, +and attendants of distinguished men, and a few were serving as clerks, +overseers, and managers.[1] Many who were favorably circumstanced +learned more than mere reading and writing. In exceptional cases, some +were employed not only as teachers and preachers to their people, but +as instructors of the white race.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Georgia and South Carolina had to pass laws to prevent +Negroes from following these occupations for fear that they might +thereby become too well informed. See Brevard, _Digest of Public +Statute Laws of S.C._, vol. ii., p. 243; and Marbury and Crawford, +_Digest of the Laws of the State of Georgia_, p. 438.] + +[Footnote 2: Bassett, _Slavery in North Carolina_, p. 74; manuscripts +relating to the condition of the colored people of North Carolina, +Ohio, and Tennessee now in the hands of Dr. J.E. Moorland.] + +A more accurate estimate of how far the enlightenment of the Negroes +had progressed before the close of the eighteenth century, is better +obtained from the reports of teachers and missionaries who were +working among them. Appealing to the Negroes of Virginia about 1755, +Benjamin Fawcett addressed them as intelligent people, commanding +them to read and study the Bible for themselves and consider "how +the Papists do all they can to hide it from their fellowmen." "Be +particularly thankful," said he, "for the Ministers of Christ around +you, who are faithfully laboring to teach the truth as it is in +Jesus."[1] Rev. Mr. Davies, then a member of the Society for Promoting +the Gospel among the Poor, reported that there were multitudes of +Negroes in different parts of Virginia who were "willingly, eagerly +desirous to be instructed and embraced every opportunity of +acquainting themselves with the Doctrine of the Gospel," and though +they had generally very little help to learn to read, yet to his +surprise many of them by dint of application had made such progress +that they could "intelligently read a plain author and especially +their Bible." Pity it was, he thought, that any of them should be +without necessary books. Negroes were wont to come to him with such +moving accounts of their needs in this respect that he could not help +supplying them.[2] On Saturday evenings and Sundays his home was +crowded with numbers of those "whose very Countenances still carry the +air of importunate Petitioners" for the same favors with those who +came before them. Complaining that his stock was exhausted, and that +he had to turn away many disappointed, he urged his friends to send +him other suitable books, for nothing else, thought he, could be a +greater inducement to their industry to learn to read. + +[Footnote 1: Fawcett, _Compassionate Address_, etc., p. 33.] + +[Footnote 2: Fawcett, _Compassionate Address_, etc., p. 33.] + +Still more reliable testimony may be obtained, not from persons +particularly interested in the uplift of the blacks, but from +slaveholders. Their advertisements in the colonial newspapers furnish +unconscious evidence of the intellectual progress of the Negroes +during the eighteenth century. "He's an 'artful,'"[1] "plausible,"[2] +"smart,"[3] or "sensible fellow,"[4] "delights much in traffic,"[5] +and "plays on the fife extremely well,"[6] are some of the statements +found in the descriptions of fugitive slaves. Other fugitives were +speaking "plainly,"[7] "talking indifferent English,"[8] "remarkably +good English,"[9] and "exceedingly good English."[10] In some +advertisements we observe such expressions as "he speaks a little +French,"[11] "Creole French,"[12] "a few words of High-Dutch,"[13] and +"tolerable German."[14] Writing about a fugitive a master would often +state that "he can read print,"[15] "can read writing,"[16] "can read +and also write a little,"[17] "can read and write,"[18] "can write +a pretty hand and has probably forged a pass."[19] These conditions +obtained especially in Charleston, South Carolina, where were +advertised various fugitives, one of whom spoke French and English +fluently, and passed for a doctor among his people,[20] another who +spoke Spanish and French intelligibly,[21] and a third who could read, +write, and speak both French and Spanish very well.[22] + +[Footnote 1: _Virginia Herald_ (Fredericksburg), Jan. 21, 1800; _The +Maryland Gazette_, Feb. 27, 1755; _Dunlop's Maryland Gazette and +Baltimore Advertiser_, July 23, 1776; _The State Gazette of South +Carolina_, May 18, 1786; _The State Gazette of North Carolina_, July +2, 1789.] + +[Footnote 2: _The City Gazette and Daily Advertiser_ (Charleston, +S.C.), Sept. 26, 1797, and _The Carolina Gazette_, June 3, 1802.] + +[Footnote 3: _The Charleston Courier_, June 1, 1804; _The State +Gazette of South Carolina_, Feb. 20, and 27, 1786; and _The Maryland +Journal and Baltimore Advertiser_, Feb. 19, 1793.] + +[Footnote 4: _South Carolina Weekly Advertiser_, Feb. 19 and April 2, +1783; _State Gazette of South Carolina_, Feb. 20 and May 18, 1786.] + +[Footnote 5: _The Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advocate_, Oct. 17, +1780.] + +[Footnote 6: _The Virginia Herald_ (Fredericksburg), Jan. 21, 1800; +and _The Norfolk and Portsmouth Chronicle_, April 24, 1790.] + +[Footnote 7: _The City Gazette and Daily Advertiser_, Jan. 20 and +March 1, 1800; and _The South Carolina Weekly Gazette_, Oct. 24 to 31, +1759.] + +[Footnote 8: _The City Gaz. and Daily Adv._, Jan. 20 and March 1, +1800; and _S.C. Weekly Gaz._, Oct. 24 to 31, 1759.] + +[Footnote 9: _The Newbern Gazette_, May 23 and Aug. 15, 1800; _The +Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser_, Feb. 19, 1793; _The City +Gazette and Daily Advertiser_ (Charleston, S.C.), Sept. 26, 1797; Oct. +5, 1798; Aug. 23 and Sept. 9, 1799; Aug. 18 and Oct. 3, 1800; and +March 7, 1801; and _Maryland Gazette_, Dec. 30, 1746; and April 4, +1754; _South Carolina Weekly Advertiser_, Oct. 24 to 31, 1759; and +Feb. 19, 1783; _The Gazette of the State of South Carolina_, Sept. 13 +and Nov. 1, 1784; and _The Carolina Gazette_, Aug. 12, 1802.] + +[Footnote 10: _The City Gazette and Daily Advertiser_, Sept. 26, 1797; +May 15, 1799; and Oct. 3, 1800; _The State Gazette of South Carolina_, +Aug. 21, 1786; _The Gazette of the State of South Carolina_, Aug. 26, +1784; _The Maryland Gazette_, Aug. 1, 1754; Oct. 28, 1773; and Aug. +19, 1784; and _The Columbian Herald_, April 30, 1789.] + +[Footnote 11: _The City Gazette and Daily Advertiser_, Oct. 5, 1798; +Aug. 18 and Sept. 18, 1800; _The Gazette of the State of South +Carolina_, Aug. 16, 1784.] + +[Footnote 12: _The City Gazette and Daily Advertiser_, Oct. 5, 1798.] + +[Footnote 13: _The Maryland Gazette_, Aug. 19, 1784.] + +[Footnote 14: _The State Gazette of South Carolina_, Feb. 20 and 27, +1780.] + +[Footnote 15: _The Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser_, Oct. +17, 1780. _Dunlop's Maryland Gazette and Baltimore Advertiser_, July +23, 1776.] + +[Footnote 16: _The Maryland Gazette_, May 21, 1795.] + +[Footnote 17: _The Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser_, Oct. +17, 1780; and Sept. 20, 1785; and _The Maryland Gazette_, May 21, +1795; and January 4, 1798; _The Carolina Gazette_, June 3, 1802; and +_The Charleston Courier_, June 29, 1803. _The Norfolk and Portsmouth +Chronicle_, March 19, 1791.] + +[Footnote 18: _The Maryland Gazette_, Feb. 27, 1755; and Oct. 27, +1768; _The Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser_, Oct. 1, 1793; +_The Virginia Herald_ (Fredericksburg), Jan. 21, 1800.] + +[Footnote 19: _The Maryland Gazette_, Feb. 1, 1755 and Feb. 1, 1798; +_The State Gazette of North Carolina_, April 30, 1789; _The Norfolk +and Portsmouth Chronicle_, April 24, 1790; _The City Gazette and Daily +Advertiser_ (Charleston, South Carolina), Jan. 5, 1799; and March 7, +1801; _The Carolina Gazette_, Feb. 4, 1802; and _The Virginia Herald_ +(Fredericksburg), Jan. 21, 1800.] + +[Footnote 20: _The City Gazette and Daily Advertiser_, Jan. 5, 1799; +and March 5, 1800; _The Gazette of the State of South Carolina_, Aug. +16, 1784; and _The Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser_, Sept. +20, 1793.] + +[Footnote 21: _The City Gazette of South Carolina_, Jan. 5, 1799.] + +[Footnote 22: The City Gazette and Daily Advertiser (Charleston, South +Carolina), June 22 and Aug. 8, 1797; April 1 and May 15, 1799.] + +Equally convincing as to the educational progress of the colored race +were the high attainments of those Negroes who, despite the fact that +they had little opportunity, surpassed in intellect a large number of +white men of their time. Negroes were serving as salesmen, keeping +accounts, managing plantations, teaching and preaching, and had +intellectually advanced to the extent that fifteen or twenty per cent. +of their adults could then at least read. Most of this talented class +became preachers, as this was the only calling even conditionally +open to persons of African blood. Among these clergymen was George +Leile,[1] who won distinction as a preacher in Georgia in 1782, and +then went to Jamaica where he founded the first Baptist church of that +colony. The competent and indefatigable Andrew Bryan[2] proved to be a +worthy successor of George Leile in Georgia. From 1770 to 1790 Negro +preachers were in charge of congregations in Charles City, Petersburg, +and Allen's Creek in Lunenburg County, Virginia.[3] In 1801 Gowan +Pamphlet of that State was the pastor of a progressive Baptist church, +some members of which could read, write, and keep accounts.[4] Lemuel +Haynes was then widely known as a well-educated minister of the +Protestant Episcopal Church. John Gloucester, who had been trained +under Gideon Blackburn of Tennessee, distinguished himself in +Philadelphia where he founded the African Presbyterian Church.[5] One +of the most interesting of these preachers was Josiah Bishop. By 1791 +he had made such a record in his profession that he was called to +the pastorate of the First Baptist Church (white) of Portsmouth, +Virginia.[6] After serving his white brethren a number of years he +preached some time in Baltimore and then went to New York to take +charge of the Abyssinian Baptist Church.[7] This favorable condition +of affairs could not long exist after the aristocratic element in the +country began to recover some of the ground it had lost during the +social upheaval of the revolutionary era. It was the objection to +treating Negroes as members on a plane of equality with all, that led +to the establishment of colored Baptist churches and to the secession +of the Negro Methodists under the leadership of Richard Allen in 1794. +The importance of this movement to the student of education lies in +the fact that a larger number of Negroes had to be educated to carry +on the work of the new churches. + +[Footnote 1: He was sometimes called George Sharp. See Benedict, +_History of the Baptists_, etc., p. 189.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, p. 189.] + +[Footnote 3: Semple, _History of the Baptists_, etc., p. 112.] + +[Footnote 4: _Ibid._, p. 114.] + +[Footnote 5: Baird, _A Collection_, etc., p. 817.] + +[Footnote 6: Semple, _History of the Baptists_, etc., p. 355.] + +[Footnote 7: _Ibid._, p. 356.] + +The intellectual progress of the colored people of that day, however, +was not restricted to their clergymen. Other Negroes were learning to +excel in various walks of life. Two such persons were found in North +Carolina. One of these was known as Caesar, the author of a collection +of poems, which, when published in that State, attained a popularity +equal to that of Bloomfield's.[1] Those who had the pleasure of +reading the poems stated that they were characterized by "simplicity, +purity, and natural grace."[2] The other noted Negro of North Carolina +was mentioned in 1799 by Buchan in his _Domestic Medicine_ as the +discoverer of a remedy for the bite of the rattlesnake. Buchan learned +from Dr. Brooks that, in view of the benefits resulting from the +discovery of this slave, the General Assembly of North Carolina +purchased his freedom and settled upon him a hundred pounds per +annum.[3] + +[Footnote 1: Baldwin, _Observations_, etc., p. 20.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, p. 21.] + +[Footnote 3: Smyth, _A Tour in the U.S._, p. 109; and Baldwin, +_Observations_, p. 20.] + +To this class of bright Negroes belonged Thomas Fuller, a native +African, who resided near Alexandria, Virginia, where he startled +the students of his time by his unusual attainments in mathematics, +despite the fact that he could neither read nor write. Once acquainted +with the power of numbers, he commenced his education by counting the +hairs of the tail of the horse with which he worked the fields. He +soon devised processes for shortening his modes of calculation, +attaining such skill and accuracy as to solve the most difficult +problems. Depending upon his own system of mental arithmetic he +learned to obtain accurate results just as quickly as Mr. Zerah +Colburn, a noted calculator of that day, who tested the Negro +mathematician.[1] The most abstruse questions in relation to time, +distance, and space were no task for his miraculous memory, which, +when the mathematician was interrupted in the midst of a long and +tedious calculation, enabled him to take up some other work and later +resume his calculation where he left off.[2] One of the questions +propounded him, was how many seconds of time had elapsed since the +birth of an individual who had lived seventy years, seven months, and +as many days. Fuller was able to answer the question in a minute and a +half. + +[Footnote 1: Baldwin, _Observations_, p. 21.] + +[Footnote 2: Needles, _An Historical Memoir_, etc., p. 32.] + +Another Negro of this type was James Durham, a native slave of the +city of Philadelphia. Durham was purchased by Dr. Dove, a physician +in New Orleans, who, seeing the divine spark in the slave, gave him +a chance for mental development. It was fortunate that he was thrown +upon his own resources in this environment, where the miscegenation +of the races since the early French settlement, had given rise to a +thrifty and progressive class of mixed breeds, many of whom at that +time had the privileges and immunities of freemen. Durham was not long +in acquiring a rudimentary education, and soon learned several modern +languages, speaking English, French, and Spanish fluently. Beginning +his medical education early in his career, he finished his course, +and by the time he was twenty-one years of age became one of the most +distinguished physicians[1] of New Orleans. Dr. Benjamin Rush, the +noted physician of Philadelphia, who was educated at the Edinburgh +Medical College, once deigned to converse professionally with Dr. +Durham. "I learned more from him than he could expect from me," was +the comment of the Philadelphian upon a conversation in which he had +thought to appear as instructor of the younger physician.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Brissot de Warville, _New Travels_, vol. i., p. 223.] + +[Footnote 2: Baldwin, _Observations_, etc., p. 17.] + +Most prominent among these brainy persons of color were Phyllis +Wheatley and Benjamin Banneker. The former was a slave girl brought +from Africa in 1761 and put to service in the household of John +Wheatley of Boston. There, without any training but that which she +obtained from her master's family, she learned in sixteen months to +speak the English language fluently, and to read the most difficult +parts of sacred writings. She had a great inclination for Latin and +made some progress in the study of that language. Led to writing by +curiosity, she was by 1765 possessed of a style which enabled her to +count among her correspondents some of the most influential men of her +time. Phyllis Wheatley's title to fame, however, rested not on her +general attainments as a scholar but rather on her ability to write +poetry. Her poems seemed to have such rare merit that men marveled +that a slave could possess such a productive imagination, enlightened +mind, and poetical genius. The publishers were so much surprised that +they sought reassurance as to the authenticity of the poems from such +persons as James Bowdoin, Harrison Gray, and John Hancock.[1] Glancing +at her works, the modern critic would readily say that she was not a +poetess, just as the student of political economy would dub Adam Smith +a failure as an economist. A bright college freshman who has studied +introductory economics can write a treatise as scientific as the +_Wealth of Nations_. The student of history, however, must not +"despise the day of small things." Judged according to the standards +of her time, Phyllis Wheatley was an exceptionally intellectual +person. + +[Footnote 1: Baldwin, _Observations_, etc., p. 18; Wright, _Poems of +Phyllis Wheatley_, Introduction.] + +The other distinguished Negro, Benjamin Banneker, was born in +Baltimore County, Maryland, November 9, 1731, near the village of +Ellicott Mills. Banneker was sent to school in the neighborhood, where +he learned reading, writing, and arithmetic. Determined to acquire +knowledge while toiling, he applied his mind to things intellectual, +cultivated the power of observation, and developed a retentive memory. +These acquirements finally made him tower above all other American +scientists of his time with the possible exception of Benjamin +Franklin. In conformity with his desire to do and create, his tendency +was toward mathematics. Although he had never seen a clock, watches +being the only timepieces in the vicinity, he made in 1770 the first +clock manufactured in the United States,[1] thereby attracting the +attention of the scientific world. Learning these things, the owner of +Ellicott Mills became very much interested in this man of inventive +genius, lent him books, and encouraged him in his chosen field. +Among these volumes were treatises on astronomy, which Banneker soon +mastered without any instruction.[2] Soon he could calculate eclipses +of sun and moon and the rising of each star with an accuracy almost +unknown to Americans. Despite his limited means, he secured through +Goddard and Angell of Baltimore the publication of the first almanac +produced in this country. Jefferson received from Banneker a copy, +for which he wrote the author a letter of thanks. It appears that +Jefferson had some doubts about the man's genius, but the fact that +the philosopher invited Banneker to visit him at Monticello in 1803, +indicates that the increasing reputation of the Negro must have +caused Jefferson to change his opinion as to the extent of Banneker's +attainments and the value of his contributions to mathematics and +science.[3] + +[Footnote 1: Washington, _Jefferson's Works_, vol. v., p. 429.] + +[Footnote 2: Baldwin, _Observations_, etc., p. 16.] + +[Footnote 3: Washington, _Jefferson's Works_, vol. v., p. 429.] + +So favorable did the aspect of things become as a result of this +movement to elevate the Negroes, that persons observing the conditions +then obtaining in this country thought that the victory for the +despised race had been won. Traveling in 1783 in the colony of +Virginia, where the slave trade had been abolished and schools for +the education of freedmen established, Johann Schoepf felt that the +institution was doomed.[1] After touring Pennsylvania five years +later, Brissot de Warville reported that there existed then a country +where the blacks were allowed to have souls, and to be endowed with an +understanding capable of being formed to virtue and useful knowledge, +and where they were not regarded as beasts of burden in order that +their masters might have the privilege of treating them as such. He +was pleased that the colored people by their virtue and understanding +belied the calumnies which their tyrants elsewhere lavished against +them, and that in that community one perceived no difference between +"the memory of a black head whose hair is craped by nature, and that +of the white one craped by art."[2] + +[Footnote 1: Schoepf, _Travels in the Confederation_, p. 149.] + +[Footnote 2: Brissot de Warville, _New Travels_, vol. I., p. 220.] + + + + +CHAPTER V + +BETTER BEGINNINGS + + +Sketching the second half of the eighteenth century, we have observed +how the struggle for the rights of man in directing attention to those +of low estate, and sweeping away the impediments to religious +freedom, made the free blacks more accessible to helpful sects and +organizations. We have also learned that this upheaval left the slaves +the objects of piety for the sympathetic, the concern of workers in +behalf of social uplift, a class offered instruction as a prerequisite +to emancipation. The private teaching of Negroes became tolerable, +benevolent persons volunteered to instruct them, and some schools +maintained for the education of white students were thrown open to +those of African blood. It was the day of better beginnings. In fact, +it was the heyday of victory for the ante-bellum Negro. Never had his +position been so advantageous; never was it thus again until the whole +race was emancipated. Now the question which naturally arises here +is, to what extent were such efforts general? Were these beginnings +sufficiently extensive to secure adequate enlightenment to a large +number of colored people? Was interest in the education of this class +so widely manifested thereafter as to cause the movement to endure? A +brief account of these efforts in the various States will answer these +questions. + +In the Northern and Middle States an increasing number of educational +advantages for the white race made germane the question as to what +consideration should be shown to the colored people.[1] A general +admission of Negroes to the schools of these progressive communities +was undesirable, not because of the prejudice against the race, but on +account of the feeling that the past of the colored people having been +different from that of the white race, their training should be in +keeping with their situation. To meet their peculiar needs many +communities thought it best to provide for them "special," +"individual," or "unclassified" schools adapted to their condition.[2] +In most cases, however, the movement for separate schools originated +not with the white race, but with the people of color themselves. + +[Footnote 1: _Niles's Register_, vol. xvi., pp. 241-243 and vol. +xxiii., p. 23.] + +[Footnote 2: See _The Proceedings of the Am. Conv. of Abolition +Societies_.] + +In New England, Negroes had almost from the beginning of their +enslavement some chance for mental, moral, and spiritual improvement, +but the revolutionary movement was followed in that section by a +general effort to elevate the people of color through the influence +of the school and church. In 1770 the Rhode Island Quakers were +endeavoring to give young Negroes such an education as becomes +Christians. In 1773 Newport had a colored school, maintained by a +society of benevolent clergymen of the Church of England, with a +handsome fund for a mistress to teach thirty children reading and +writing. Providence did not exhibit such activity until the nineteenth +century. Having a larger black population than any other city in New +England, Boston was the center of these endeavors. In 1798 a separate +school for colored children, under the charge of Elisha Sylvester, a +white man, was established in that city in the house of Primus Hall, a +Negro of very good standing.[1] Two years later sixty-six free blacks +of that city petitioned the school committee for a separate school, +but the citizens in a special town meeting called to consider the +question refused to grant this request.[2] Undaunted by this refusal, +the patrons of the special school established in the house of Primus +Hall, employed Brown and Hall of Harvard College as instructors, until +1806.[3] The school was then moved to the African Meeting House +in Belknap Street where it remained until 1835 when, with funds +contributed by Abiel Smith, a building was erected. An epoch in the +history of Negro education in New England was marked in 1820, when the +city of Boston opened its first primary school for the education of +colored children.[4] + +[Footnote 1: _Special Report of U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 357.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, p. 357.] + +[Footnote 3: Next to be instructor of this institution was Prince +Saunders, who was brought to Boston by Dr. Channing and Caleb Bingham +in 1809. Brought up in the family of a Vermont lawyer, and experienced +as a diplomatic official of Emperor Christopher of Hayti, Prince +Saunders was able to do much for the advancement of this work. Among +others who taught in this school was John B. Russworm, a graduate of +Bowdoin College, and, later, Governor of the Colony of Cape Palmas in +Southern Liberia. See _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, +p. 357; and _African Repository_, vol. ii., p. 271.] + +[Footnote 4: _Special Rep. of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 357.] + +Generally speaking, we can say that while the movement for special +colored schools met with some opposition in certain portions of New +England, in other parts of the Northeastern States the religious +organizations and abolition societies, which were espousing the cause +of the Negro, yielded to this demand. These schools were sometimes +found in churches of the North, as in the cases of the schools in +the African Church of Boston, and the Sunday-school in the African +Improved Church of New Haven. In 1828 there was in that city another +such school supported by public-school money; three in Boston; one in +Salem; and one in Portland, Maine.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Adams, _Anti-slavery_, p. 142.] + +Outside of the city of New York, not so much interest was shown in +the education of Negroes as in the States which had a larger colored +population.[1] Those who were scattered through the State were allowed +to attend white schools, which did not "meet their special needs."[2] +In the metropolis, where the blacks constituted one-tenth of the +inhabitants in 1800, however, the mental improvement of the dark race +could not be neglected. The liberalism of the revolutionary era led +to the organization in New York of the "Society for Promoting the +Manumission of Slaves and Protecting such of them as have been or may +be liberated." This Society ushered in a new day for the free persons +of color of that city in organizing in 1787 the New York African +Free School.[3] Among those interested in this organization and its +enterprises were Melancthon Smith, John Bleecker, James Cogswell, +Jacob Seaman, White Matlock, Matthew Clarkson, Nathaniel Lawrence, and +John Murray, Jr.[4] The school opened in 1790 with Cornelius Davis as +a teacher of forty pupils. In 1791 a lady was employed to instruct the +girls in needle-work.[5] The expected advantage of this industrial +training was soon realized. + +[Footnote 1: La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, _Travels_, etc., p. 233.] + +[Footnote 2: _Am. Conv._, 1798, p. 7.] + +[Footnote 3: Andrews, _History of the New York African Free Schools_, +p. 14.] + +[Footnote 4: _Ibid._, pp. 14 and 15.] + +[Footnote 5: _Ibid._, p. 16.] + +Despite the support of certain distinguished members of the community, +the larger portion of the population was so prejudiced against the +school that often the means available for its maintenance were +inadequate. The struggle was continued for about fifteen years with an +attendance of from forty to sixty pupils.[1] About 1801 the community +began to take more interest in the institution, and the Negroes +"became more generally impressed with a sense of the advantages and +importance of education, and more disposed to avail themselves of +the privileges offered them."[2] At this time one hundred and thirty +pupils of both sexes attended this school, paying their instructor, +a "discreet man of color," according to their ability and +inclination.[3] Many more colored children were then able to attend +as there had been a considerable increase in the number of colored +freeholders. As a result of the introduction of the Lancastrian and +monitorial systems of instruction the enrollment was further increased +and the general tone of the school was improved. Another impetus was +given the work in 1810.[4] Having in mind the preparation of slaves +for freedom, the legislature of the State of New York, made it +compulsory for masters to teach all minors born of slaves to read the +Scriptures.[5] + +[Footnote 1: _Ibid._, p. 17.] + +[Footnote 2: _Proceedings of the American Convention of Abolition +Societies_, 1801, p. 6.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid._, 1801, Report from New York.] + +[Footnote 4: Andrews, _History of the New York African Free Schools_, +p. 20.] + +[Footnote 5: _Proceedings of the American Convention of Abolition +Societies_, 1812, p. 7.] + +Decided improvement was noted after 1814. The directors then purchased +a lot on which they constructed a building the following year.[1] The +nucleus then took the name of the New York "African Free Schools." +These schools grew so rapidly that it was soon necessary to rent +additional quarters to accommodate the department of sewing. This work +had been made popular by the efforts of Misses Turpen, Eliza J. Cox, +Ann Cox, and Caroline Roe.[2] The subsequent growth of the classes +was such that in 1820 the Manumission Society had to erect a building +large enough to accommodate five hundred pupils.[3] The instructors +were then not only teaching the elementary branches of reading, +writing, arithmetic, and geography, but also astronomy, navigation, +advanced composition, plain sewing, knitting, and marking.[4] Knowing +the importance of industrial training, the Manumission Society then +had an Indenturing Committee find employment in trades for colored +children, and had recommended for some of them the pursuit of +agriculture.[5] The comptrollers desired no better way of measuring +the success of the system in shaping the character of its students +than to be able to boast that no pupils educated there had ever been +convicted of crime.[6] Lafayette, a promoter of the emancipation +and improvement of the colored people, and a member of the New York +Manumission Society, visited these schools in 1824 on his return to +the United States. He was bidden welcome by an eleven-year-old pupil +in well-chosen and significant words. After spending the afternoon +inspecting the schools the General pronounced them the "best +disciplined and the most interesting schools of children" he had ever +seen.[7] + +[Footnote 1: Andrews, _History of the New York African Free Schools_, +p. 18.] + +[Footnote 2: Andrews, _History of the New York African Free Schools_, +p. 17.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid._, p. 18.] + +[Footnote 4: _Ibid._, p. 19.] + +[Footnote 5: _Proceedings of the Am. Convention of Abolition Soc._, +1818, P. 9; Adams, _Anti-slavery_, p. 142.] + +[Footnote 6: _Proceedings of the American Convention_, etc., 1820.] + +[Footnote 7: Andrews, _History of the New York African Free Schools_, +p. 20.] + +The outlook for the education of Negroes in New Jersey was unusually +bright. Carrying out the recommendations of the Haddonfield Quarterly +Meeting in 1777, the Quakers of Salem raised funds for the education +of the blacks, secured books, and placed the colored children of +the community at school. The delegates sent from that State, to the +Convention of the Abolition Societies in 1801, reported that there had +been schools in Burlington, Salem, and Trenton for the education of +the Negro race, but that they had been closed.[1] It seemed that +not much attention had been given to this work there, but that the +interest was increasing. These delegates stated that they did not then +know of any schools among them exclusively for Negroes. In most parts +of the State, and most commonly in the northern division, however, +they were incorporated with the white children in the various small +schools scattered over the State.[2] There was then in the city of +Burlington a free school for the education of poor children supported +by the profits of an estate left for that particular purpose, and made +equally accessible to the children of both races. Conditions were just +as favorable in Gloucester. An account from its antislavery society +shows that the local friends of the indigent had funds of about one +thousand pounds established for schooling poor children, white and +black, without distinction. Many of the black children, who were +placed by their masters under the care of white instructors, received +as good moral and school education as the lower class of whites.[3] +Later reports from this State show the same tendency toward democratic +education. + +[Footnote 1: _Proceedings of the American Convention_, etc., 1801, p. +12.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, p. 12, and Quaker Pamphlet, p. 40.] + +[Footnote 3: _Proceedings of the American Conv._, etc., 1801, p. 12.] + +The efforts made in this direction in Delaware, were encouraging. The +Abolition Society of Wilmington had not greatly promoted the special +education of "the Blacks and the people of color." In 1801, however, a +school was kept the first day of the week by one of the members of +the Society, who instructed them gratis in reading, writing, and +arithmetic. About twenty pupils generally attended and by their +assiduity and progress showed themselves as "capable as white persons +laboring under similar disadvantages."[1] In 1802 plans for the +extension of this system were laid and bore good fruit the following +year.[2] Seven years later, however, after personal and pecuniary aid +had for some time been extended, the workers had still to lament that +beneficial effects had not been more generally experienced, and +that there was little disposition to aid them in their friendly +endeavors.[3] In 1816 more important results had been obtained. +Through a society formed a few years prior to this date for the +express purpose of educating colored children, a school had been +established under a Negro teacher. He had a fair attendance of bright +children, who "by the facility with which they took in instruction +were silently but certainly undermining the prejudice"[4] against +their education. A library of religious and moral publications had +been secured for this institution. In addition to the school in +Wilmington there was a large academy for young colored women, +gratuitously taught by a society of young ladies. The course of +instruction covered reading, writing, and sewing. The work in sewing +proved to be a great advantage to the colored girls, many of whom +through the instrumentality of that society were provided with good +positions.[5] + +[Footnote 1: _Ibid._, p. 20.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, 1802, p. 17.] + +[Footnote 3: _Proceedings of the American Convention_, etc., 1809, p. +20.] + +[Footnote 4: _Ibid_., 1816, p. 20.] + +[Footnote 5: _Ibid_., 1821, p. 18.] + +In Pennsylvania the interest of the large Quaker element caused the +question of educating Negroes to be a matter of more concern to that +colony than it was to the others. Thanks to the arduous labors of +the antislavery movement, emancipation was provided for in 1780. +The Quakers were then especially anxious to see masters give their +"weighty and solid attention" to qualifying slaves for the liberty +intended. By the favorable legislation of the State the poor were +by 1780 allowed the chance to secure the rudiments of education.[1] +Despite this favorable appearance of things, however, friends of the +despised race had to keep up the agitation for such a construction of +the law as would secure to the Negroes of the State the educational +benefits extended to the indigent. The colored youth of Pennsylvania +thereafter had the right to attend the schools provided for white +children, and exercised it when persons interested in the blacks +directed their attention to the importance of mental improvement.[2] +But as neither they nor their defenders were numerous outside of +Philadelphia and Columbia, not many pupils of color in other parts of +the State attended school during this period. Whatever special effort +was made to arouse them to embrace their opportunities came chiefly +from the Quakers. + +[Footnote 1: _A.M.E. Church Review_, vol. xv., p. 625.] + +[Footnote 2: Wickersham, _History of Education in Pa_., p. 253.] + +Not content with the schools which were already opened to Negroes, the +friends of the race continued to agitate and raise funds to extend +their philanthropic operations. With the donation of Anthony Benezet +the Quakers were able to enlarge their building and increase the scope +of the work. They added a female department in which Sarah Dwight[1] +was teaching the girls spelling, reading, and sewing in 1784. The +work done in Philadelphia was so successful that the place became the +rallying center for the Quakers throughout the country,[2] and was of +so much concern to certain members of this sect in London that in +1787 they contributed five hundred pounds toward the support of this +school.[3] In 1789 the Quakers organized "The Society for the Free +Instruction of the Orderly Blacks and People of Color." Taking into +consideration the "many disadvantages which many well-disposed blacks +and people of color labored under from not being able to read, write, +or cast accounts, which would qualify them to act for themselves or +provide for their families," this society in connection with other +organizations established evening schools for the education of adults +of African blood.[4] It is evident then that with the exception of the +school of the Abolition Society organized in 1774, and the efforts +of a few other persons generally coöperating like the anti-slavery +leaders with the Quakers, practically all of the useful education of +the colored people of this State was accomplished in their schools. +Philadelphia had seven colored schools in 1797.[5] + +[Footnote 1: _Ibid_., p. 251.] + +[Footnote 2: Quaker Pamphlet, p. 42.] + +[Footnote 3: Wickersham, _History of Ed. in Pa_., p. 252.] + +[Footnote 4: _Ibid_., p. 251.] + +[Footnote 5: Turner, _The Negro in Pa_., p. 128.] + +The next decade was of larger undertakings.[1] The report of the +Pennsylvania Abolition Society of 1801 shows that there had been an +increasing interest in Negro education. For this purpose the society +had raised funds to the amount of $530.50 per annum for three +years.[2] In 1803 certain other friends of the cause left for this +purpose two liberal benefactions, one amounting to one thousand +dollars, and the other to one thousand pounds.[3] With these +contributions the Quakers and Abolitionists erected in 1809 a handsome +building valued at four thousand dollars. They named it Clarkson Hall +in honor of the great friend of the Negro race.[4] In 1807 the Quakers +met the needs of the increasing population of the city by founding an +additional institution of learning known as the Adelphi School.[5] + +[Footnote 1: Parish, _Remarks on the Slavery_, etc., p. 43.] + +[Footnote 2: _Proceedings of the American Conv_., 1802, p. 18.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid_., 1803, p. 13.] + +[Footnote 4: _Statistical Inquiry into the Condition of the Colored +People of Philadelphia_, p. 19.] + +[Footnote 5: _Ibid_., p. 20.] + +After the first decade of the nineteenth century the movement for the +uplift of the Negroes around Philadelphia was checked a little by the +migration to that city of many freedmen who had been lately liberated. +The majority of them did not "exhibit that industry, economy, and +temperance" which were "expected by many and wished by all."[1] Not +deterred, however, by this seemingly discouraging development, the +friends of the race toiled on as before. In 1810 certain Quaker women +who had attempted to establish a school for colored girls in 1795 +apparently succeeded.[2] The institution, however, did not last many +years. But the Clarkson Hall schools maintained by the Abolition +Society were then making such progress that the management was +satisfied that they furnished a decided refutation of the charge that +the "mental endowments of the descendants of the African race are +inferior to those possessed by their white brethren."[3] They asserted +without fear of contradiction that the pupils of that seminary would +sustain a fair comparison with those of any other institution in which +the same elementary branches were taught. In 1815 these schools were +offering free instruction to three hundred boys and girls, and to a +number of adults attending evening schools. These victories had been +achieved despite the fact that in regard to some of the objects of the +Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade "a tide of prejudice, +popular and legislative, set strongly against them."[4] After 1818, +however, help was obtained from the State to educate the colored +children of Columbia and Philadelphia. + +[Footnote 1: _Proceedings of the American Conv_., 1809, p. 16, and +1812, p. 16.] + +[Footnote 2: Wickersham, _History of Ed. in Pa_., p. 252.] + +[Footnote 3: _Proceedings of the American Convention_, etc., 1812, +Report from Philadelphia.] + +[Footnote 4: _Ibid_., 1815, Report from Phila.] + +The assistance obtained from the State, however, was not taken as a +pretext for the cessation of the labors on the part of those who had +borne the burden for more than a century. The faithful friends of the +colored race remained as active as ever. In 1822 the Quakers in the +Northern Liberties organized the Female Association which maintained +one or more schools.[1] That same year the Union Society founded in +1810 for the support of schools and domestic manufactures for the +benefit of the "African race and people of color" was conducting three +schools for adults.[2] The Infant School Society of Philadelphia was +also doing good work in looking after the education of small colored +children.[3] In the course of time crowded conditions in the colored +schools necessitated the opening of additional evening classes and the +erection of larger buildings. + +[Footnote 1: Wickersham, _History of Education in Pa._, p. 252.] + +[Footnote 2: One of these was at the Sessions House of the Third +Presbyterian Church; one at Clarkston Schoolhouse, Cherry Street; one +in the Academy on Locust Street. See _Statistical Inquiry into +the Condition of the Colored People of Philadelphia_, p. 19; and +Wickersham, _Education in Pa._, p. 253.] + +[Footnote 3: _Statistical Inquiry_, etc., p. 19.] + +At this time Maryland was not raising any serious objection to the +instruction of slaves, and public sentiment there did not seem to +interfere with the education of free persons of color. Maryland was +long noted for her favorable attitude toward her Negroes. We have +already observed how Banneker, though living in a small place, was +permitted to attend school, and how Ellicott became interested in this +man of genius and furnished him with books. Other Negroes of that +State were enjoying the same privilege. The abolition delegates from +Maryland reported in 1797 that several children of the Africans and +other people of color were under a course of instruction, and that an +academy and qualified teachers for them would be provided.[1] These +Negroes were then getting light from another source. Having more +freedom in this State than in some others, the Quakers were allowed to +teach colored people. + +[Footnote 1: _Proceedings of the American Convention_, etc., 1797, p. +16.] + +Most interest in the cause in Maryland was manifested near the cities +of Georgetown and Baltimore.[1] Long active in the cause of elevating +the colored people, the influence of the revolutionary movement was +hardly necessary to arouse the Catholics to discharge their duty of +enlightening the blacks. Wherever they had the opportunity to give +slaves religious instruction, they generally taught the unfortunates +everything that would broaden their horizon and help them to +understand life. The abolitionists and Protestant churches were also +in the field, but the work of the early fathers in these cities was +more effective. These forces at work in Georgetown made it, by the +time of its incorporation into the District of Columbia, a center +sending out teachers to carry on the instruction of Negroes. So +liberal were the white people of this town that colored children were +sent to school there with white boys and girls who seemed to raise +no objection.[2] Later in the nineteenth century the efforts made to +educate the Negroes of the rural districts of Maryland were eclipsed +by the better work accomplished by the free blacks in Baltimore and +the District of Columbia. + +[Footnote 1: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed_., pp. 195 _et +seq_., and pp. 352-353.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., p. 353.] + +Having a number of antislavery men among the various sects buoyant +with religious freedom, Virginia easily continued to look with favor +upon the uplift of the colored people. The records of the Quakers of +that day show special effort in this direction there about 1764, 1773, +and 1785. In 1797 the abolitionists of Alexandria, some of whom were +Quakers, had been doing effective work among the Negroes of that +section. They had established a school with one Benjamin Davis as a +teacher. He reported an attendance of one hundred and eight pupils, +four of whom "could write a very legible hand," "read the Scriptures +with tolerable facility," and had commenced arithmetic. Eight others +had learned to read, but had made very little progress in writing. +Among his less progressive pupils fifteen could spell words of three +or four syllables and read easy lessons, some had begun to write, +while the others were chiefly engaged in learning the alphabet and +spelling monosyllables.[1] It is significant that colored children +of Alexandria, just as in the case of Georgetown, attended schools +established for the whites.[2] Their coeducation extended not only +to Sabbath schools but to other institutions of learning, which some +Negroes attended during the week.[3] Mrs. Maria Hall, one of the early +teachers of the District of Columbia, obtained her education in a +mixed school of Alexandria.[4] Controlled then by aristocratic people +who did not neglect the people of color, Alexandria also became a sort +of center for the uplift of the blacks in Northern Virginia. + +[Footnote 1: _Proceedings of the Am. Conv_., etc., 1797, p. 35.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., 1797, p. 36.] + +[Footnote 3: _Proceedings of the Am. Conv._, p. 17; _ibid._, 1827, p. +53.] + +[Footnote 4: _Special Report of U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 198.] + +Schools for the education of Negroes were established in Richmond, +Petersburg, and Norfolk. An extensive miscegenation of the races in +these cities had given rise to a very intelligent class of slaves and +a considerable number of thrifty free persons of color, in whom the +best people early learned to show much interest.[1] Of the schools +organized for them in the central part of the commonwealth, those +about Richmond seemed to be less prosperous. The abolitionists of +Virginia, reporting for that city in 1798, said that considerable +progress had been made in the education of the blacks, and that they +contemplated the establishment of a school for the instruction of +Negroes and other persons. They were apprehensive, however, that their +funds would be scarcely sufficient for this purpose.[2] In 1801, one +year after Gabriel's Insurrection, the abolitionists of Richmond +reported that the cause had been hindered by the "rapacious +disposition which emboldened many tyrants" among them "to trample upon +the rights of colored people even in the violation of the laws of the +State." For this reason the complainants felt that, although they +could not but unite in the opinion with the American Convention of +Abolition Societies as to the importance of educating the slaves for +living as freedmen, they were compelled on account of a "domineering +spirit of power and usurpation"[3] to direct attention to the Negroes' +bodily comfort. + +[Footnote 1: _Ibid._, p. 393.] + +[Footnote 2: _Proceedings of the Am. Conv._, etc., 1798, p. 16.] + +[Footnote 3: _Proceedings of the Am. Conv_., 1801, p. 15.] + +This situation, however, was not sufficiently alarming to deter all +the promoters of Negro education in Virginia. It is remarkable how +Robert Pleasants, a Quaker of that State who emancipated his slaves +at his death in 1801, had united with other members of his sect to +establish a school for colored people. In 1782 they circulated a +pamphlet entitled "Proposals for Establishing a Free School for the +Instruction of Children of Blacks and People of Color."[1] They +recommended to the humane and benevolent of all denominations +cheerfully to contribute to an institution "calculated to promote +the spiritual and temporal interests of that unfortunate part of our +fellow creatures in forming their minds in the principles of virtue +and religion, and in common or useful literature, writing, ciphering, +and mechanic arts, as the most likely means to render so numerous a +people fit for freedom, and to become useful citizens." Pleasants +proposed to establish a school on a three-hundred-and-fifty-acre +tract of his own land at Gravelly Hills near Four-Mile Creek, Henrico +County. The whole revenue of the land was to go toward the support of +the institution, or, in the event the school should be established +elsewhere, he would give it one hundred pounds. Ebenezer Maule, +another friend, subscribed fifty pounds for the same purpose.[2] +Exactly what the outcome was, no one knows; but the memorial on +the life of Pleasants shows that he appropriated the rent of the +three-hundred-and-fifty-acre tract and ten pounds per annum to the +establishment of a free school for Negroes, and that a few years after +his death such an institution was in operation under a Friend at +Gravelly Run.[3] + +[Footnote 1: Weeks, _Southern Quakers_, p. 215.] + +[Footnote 2: Weeks, _Southern Quakers_, p. 216.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid_., p. 216.] + +Such philanthropy, however, did not become general in Virginia. The +progress of Negro education there was decidedly checked by the rapid +development of discontent among Negroes ambitious to emulate the +example of Toussaint L'Ouverture. During the first quarter of the +nineteenth century that commonwealth tolerated much less enlightenment +of the colored people than the benevolent element allowed them in the +other border States. The custom of teaching colored pauper children +apprenticed by church-wardens was prohibited by statute immediately +after Gabriel's Insurrection in 1800.[1] Negroes eager to learn were +thereafter largely restricted to private tutoring and instruction +offered in Sabbath-schools. Furthermore, as Virginia developed few +urban communities there were not sufficient persons of color in any +one place to coöperate in enlightening themselves even as much as +public sentiment allowed. After 1838 Virginia Negroes had practically +no chance to educate themselves. + +[Footnote 1: Hening, _Statutes at Large_, vol. xvi., p. 124.] + +North Carolina, not unlike the border States in their good treatment +of free persons of color, placed such little restriction on the +improvement of the colored people that they early attained rank among +the most enlightened ante-bellum Negroes. This interest, largely +on account of the zeal of the antislavery leaders and Quakers,[1] +continued unabated from 1780, the time of their greatest activity, +to the period of the intense abolition agitation and the servile +insurrections. In 1815 the Quakers were still exhorting their members +to establish schools for the literary and religious instruction of +Negroes.[2] The following year a school for Negroes was opened for +two days in a week.[3] So successful was the work done by the Quakers +during this period that they could report in 1817 that most colored +minors in the Western Quarter had been "put in a way to get a portion +of school learning."[4] In 1819 some of them could spell and a few +could write. The plan of these workers was to extend the instruction +until males could "read, write, and cipher," and until the females +could "read and write."[5] + +[Footnote 1: Weeks, _Southern Quakers_, p. 231; Levi Coffin, +_Reminiscences_, pp. 69-71; Bassett, _Slavery in North Carolina_, p. +66.] + +[Footnote 2: Weeks, _Southern Quakers_, p. 232.] + +[Footnote 3: Thwaites, _Early Travels_, vol. ii., p. 66.] + +[Footnote 4: Weeks, _Southern Quakers_, p. 232.] + +[Footnote 5: _Ibid_., 232.] + +In the course of time, however, these philanthropists met with some +discouragement. In 1821 certain masters were sending their slaves to +a Sunday-school opened by Levi Coffin and his son Vestal. Before the +slaves had learned more than to spell words of two or three syllables +other masters became unduly alarmed, thinking that such instruction +would make the slaves discontented.[1] The timorous element threatened +the teachers with the terrors of the law, induced the benevolent +slaveholders to prohibit the attendance of their Negroes, and had the +school closed.[2] Moreover, it became more difficult to obtain aid +for this cause. Between 1815 and 1825 the North Carolina Manumission +Societies were redoubling their efforts to raise funds for this +purpose. By 1819 they had collected $47.00 but had not increased this +amount more than $2.62 two years later.[3] + +[Footnote 1: Coffin, _Reminiscences_, p. 69.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., p. 70.] + +[Footnote 3: Weeks, _Southern Quakers_, p. 241.] + +The work done by the various workers in North Carolina did not affect +the general improvement of the slaves, but thanks to the humanitarian +movement, they were not entirely neglected. In 1830 the General +Association of the Manumission Societies of that commonwealth +complained that the laws made no provision for the moral improvement +of the slaves.[1] Though learning was in a very small degree diffused +among the colored people of a few sections, it was almost unknown to +the slaves. They pointed out, too, that the little instruction some of +the slaves had received, and by which a few had been taught to +spell, or perhaps to read in "easy places," was not due to any legal +provision, but solely to the charity "which endureth all things" and +is willing to suffer reproach for the sake of being instrumental in +"delivering the poor that cry" and "directing the wanderer in the +right way."[2] To ameliorate these conditions the association +recommended among other things the enactment of a law providing for +the instruction of slaves in the elementary principles of language at +least so far as to enable them to read the Holy Scriptures.[3] The +reaction culminated, however, before this plan could be properly +presented to the people of that commonwealth. + +[Footnote 1: An Address to the People of North Carolina on the Evils +of Slavery by the Friends of Liberty and Equality, _passim_.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid._] + +During these years an exceptionally bright Negro was serving as a +teacher not of his own race but of the most aristocratic white people +of North Carolina. This educator was a freeman named John Chavis. He +was born probably near Oxford, Granville County, about 1763. Chavis +was a full-blooded Negro of dark brown color. Early attracting the +attention of his white neighbors, he was sent to Princeton "to see +if a Negro would take a collegiate education." His rapid advancement +under Dr. Witherspoon "soon convinced his friends that the experiment +would issue favorable."[1] There he took rank as a good Latin and a +fair Greek scholar. + +[Footnote 1: Bassett, _Slavery in North Carolina_, p. 73.] + +From Princeton he went to Virginia to preach to his own people. In +1801 he served at the Hanover Presbytery as a "riding missionary under +the direction of the General Assembly."[1] He was then reported also +as a regularly commissioned preacher to his people in Lexington. In +1805 he returned to North Carolina where he often preached to various +congregations.[2] His career as a clergyman was brought to a close +in 1831 by the law enacted to prevent Negroes from preaching.[3] +Thereafter he confined himself to teaching, which was by far his +most important work. He opened a classical school for white persons, +"teaching in Granville, Wake, and Chatham Counties."[4] The best +people of the community patronized this school. Chavis counted among +his students W.P. Mangum, afterwards United States Senator, P.H. +Mangum, his brother, Archibald and John Henderson, sons of Chief +Justice Henderson, Charles Manly, afterwards Governor of that +commonwealth, and Dr. James L. Wortham of Oxford, North Carolina.[5] + +[Footnote 1: _Ibid_., p. 74; and Baird, _A Collection_, etc., pp. +816-817.] + +[Footnote 2: Paul C. Cameron, a son of Judge Duncan of North Carolina, +said: "In my boyhood life at my father's home I often saw John Chavis, +a venerable old negro man, recognized as a freeman and as a preacher +or clergyman of the Presbyterian Church. As such he was received by my +father and treated with kindness and consideration, and respected as a +man of education, good sense and most estimable character." Mr. George +Wortham, a lawyer of Granville County, said: "I have heard him read +and explain the Scriptures to my father's family repeatedly. His +English was remarkably pure, containing no 'negroisms'; his manner was +impressive, his explanations clear and concise, and his views, as I +then thought and still think, entirely orthodox. He was said to have +been an acceptable preacher, his sermons abounding in strong common +sense views and happy illustrations, without any effort at oratory +or sensational appeals to the passions of his hearers." See Bassett, +_Slavery in N.C_., pp. 74-75.] + +[Footnote 3: See Chapter VII.] + +[Footnote 4: Bassett, _Slavery in North Carolina_, p. 74.] + +[Footnote 5: John S. Bassett, Professor of History at Trinity College, +North Carolina, learned from a source of great respectability that +Chavis not only taught the children of these distinguished families, +but "was received as an equal socially and asked to table by the most +respectable people of the neighborhood." See Bassett, _Slavery in +North Carolina_, p. 75.] + +We have no evidence of any such favorable conditions in South +Carolina. There was not much public education of the Negroes of that +State even during the revolutionary epoch. Regarding education as a +matter of concern to persons immediately interested South Carolinians +had long since learned to depend on private instruction for the +training of their youth. Colored schools were not thought of outside +of Charleston. Yet although South Carolina prohibited the education of +the slaves in 1740[1] and seemingly that of other Negroes in 1800,[2] +these measures were not considered a direct attack on the instruction +of free persons of color. Furthermore, the law in regard to the +teaching of the blacks was ignored by sympathetic masters. Colored +persons serving in families and attending traveling men shared with +white children the advantage of being taught at home. Free persons of +color remaining accessible to teachers and missionaries interested in +the propagation of the gospel among the poor still had the opportunity +to make intellectual advancement.[3] + +[Footnote 1: Brevard, _Digest of the Public Statute Law of South +Carolina_, vol. ii., p. 243.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., p. 243.] + +[Footnote 3: Laws of 1740 and 1800, and Simmons, _Men of Mark_, p. +1078.] + +Although not as reactionary as South Carolina, little could be +expected of Georgia where slavery had such a firm hold. Unfavorable as +conditions in that State were, however, they were not intolerable. It +was still lawful for a slave to learn to read, and free persons of +color had the privilege of acquiring any knowledge whatsoever.[1] The +chief incentive to the education of Negroes in that State came from +the rising Methodists and Baptists who, bringing a simple message to +plain people, instilled into their minds as never before the idea that +the Bible being the revelation of God, all men should be taught to +read that book.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Marbury and Crawford, _Digest of the Laws of the State of +Georgia_, p. 438.] + +[Footnote 2: Orr, _Education in the South_.] + +In the territory known as Louisiana the good treatment of the mixed +breeds and the slaves by the French assured for years the privilege +to attend school. Rev. James Flint, of Salem, Massachusetts, received +letters from a friend in Louisiana, who, in pointing out conditions +around him, said: "In the regions where I live masters allow entire +liberty to the slaves to attend public worship, and as far as my +knowledge extends, it is generally the case in Louisiana. We have," +said he, "regular meetings of the blacks in the building where I +attend public worship. I have in the past years devoted myself +assiduously, every Sabbath morning, to the labor of learning them to +read. I found them quick of apprehension, and capable of grasping the +rudiments of learning more rapidly than the whites."[1] + +[Footnote 1: Flint, _Recollections of the Last Ten Years_, p. 345.] + +Later the problem of educating Negroes in this section became more +difficult. The trouble was that contrary to the stipulation in the +treaty of purchase that the inhabitants of the territory of Louisiana +should be admitted to all the rights and immunities of citizens of the +United States, the State legislation, subsequent to the transfer of +jurisdiction, denied the right of education to a large class of mixed +breeds.[1] Many of these, thanks to the liberality of the French, had +been freed, and constituted an important element of society. Not a few +of them had educated themselves, accumulated wealth, and ranked with +white men of refinement and culture.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Laws of Louisiana.] + +[Footnote 2: Alliot, _Collections Historiques_, p. 85; and Thwaites, +_Early Western Travels_, vol. iv., pp. 320 and 321; vol. xii., p. 69; +and vol. xix., p. 126.] + +Considering the few Negroes found in the West, the interest shown +there in their mental uplift was considerable. Because of the scarcity +of slaves in that section they came into helpful contact with their +masters. Besides, the Kentucky and Tennessee abolitionists, being much +longer active than those in most slave States, continued to emphasize +the education of the blacks as a correlative to emancipation. +Furthermore, the Western Baptists, Methodists, and Scotch-Irish +Presbyterians early took a stand against slavery, and urged the +masters to give their servants all the proper advantages for acquiring +the knowledge of their duty both to man and God. In the large towns +of Tennessee Negroes were permitted to attend private schools, and in +Louisville and Lexington there were several well-regulated colored +schools. + +Two institutions for the education of slaves in the West are mentioned +during these years. In October, 1825, there appeared an advertisement +for eight or ten Negro slaves with their families to form a community +of this kind under the direction of an "Emancipating Labor Society" +of the State of Kentucky. In the same year Frances Wright suggested a +school on a similar basis. She advertised in the "Genius of Universal +Emancipation" an establishment to educate freed blacks and mulattoes +in West Tennessee. This was supported by a goodly number of persons, +including George Fowler and, it was said, Lafayette. A letter from a +Presbyterian clergyman in South Carolina says that the first slave +for this institution went from York District of that State. The +enterprise, however, was not well supported, and little was heard of +it in later years. Some asserted it was a money-making scheme for the +proprietor, and that the Negroes taught there were in reality slaves; +others went to the press to defend it as a benevolent effort. Both +sides so muddled the affair that it is difficult to determine exactly +what the intentions of the founders were.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Adams, _Anti-slavery_, p. 152.] + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +EDUCATING THE URBAN NEGRO + + +Such an impetus was given Negro education during the period of better +beginnings that some of the colored city schools then established have +existed even until to-day. Negroes learned from their white friends to +educate themselves. In the Middle and Southern States, however, much +of the sentiment in favor of developing the intellect of the Negro +passed away during the early part of the nineteenth century. This +reform, like many others of that day, suffered when Americans forgot +the struggle for the rights of man. Recovering from the social +upheaval of the Revolution, caste soon began to claim its own. To +discourage the education of the lowest class was natural to the +aristocrats who on coming to power established governments based on +the representation of interests, restriction of suffrage, and the +ineligibility of the poor to office. After this period the work of +enlightening the blacks in the southern and border States was largely +confined to a few towns and cities where the concentration of the +colored population continued. + +The rise of the American city made possible the contact of the colored +people with the world, affording them a chance to observe what the +white man was doing, and to develop the power to care for themselves. +The Negroes who had this opportunity to take over the western +civilization were servants belonging to the families for which they +worked; slaves hired out by their owners to wait upon persons; and +watermen, embracing fishermen, boatmen, and sailors. Not a few slaves +in cities were mechanics, clerks, and overseers. In most of these +employments the rudiments of an education were necessary, and what the +master did not seem disposed to teach the slaves so situated, they +usually learned by contact with their fellowmen who were better +informed. Such persons were the mulattoes resulting from +miscegenation, and therefore protected from the rigors of the slave +code; house servants, rewarded with unusual privileges for fidelity +and for manifesting considerable interest in things contributing to +the economic good of their masters; and slaves who were purchasing +their freedom.[1] Before the close of the first quarter of the +nineteenth century not much was said about what these classes learned +or taught. It was then the difference in circumstances, employment, +and opportunities for improvement that made the urban Negro more +intelligent than those who had to toil in the fields. Yet, the +proportion did not differ very much from that of the previous +period, as the first Negroes were not chiefly field hands but to a +considerable extent house servants, whom masters often taught to read +and write. + +[Footnote 1: Jones, _Religious Instruction_, p. 117.] + +Urban Negroes had another important advantage in their opportunity to +attend well-regulated Sunday-schools. These were extensively organized +in the towns and cities of this country during the first decades of +the last century. The "Sabbath-school" constituted an important factor +in Negro education. Although cloaked with the purpose of bringing the +blacks to God by giving them religious instruction the institution +permitted its workers to teach them reading and writing when they were +not allowed to study such in other institutions.[1] Even the radical +slaveholder was slow to object to a policy which was intended to +facilitate the conversion of men's souls. All friends especially +interested in the mental and spiritual uplift of the race hailed this +movement as marking an epoch in the elevation of the colored people. + +[Footnote 1: See the reports of almost any abolition society of the +first quarter of the nineteenth century. _Special Report of the U.S. +Com. of Ed_., 1871, p. 200; and Plumer, _Thoughts on the Religious +Instruction of Negroes_.] + +In the course of time racial difficulties caused the development of +the colored "Sabbath-school" to be very much like that of the American +Negro Church. It began as an establishment in the white churches, +then moved to the colored chapels, where white persons assisted as +teachers, and finally became an organization composed entirely of +Negroes. But the separation here, as in the case of the church, +was productive of some good. The "Sabbath-schools," which at first +depended on white teachers to direct their work, were thereafter +carried on by Negroes, who studied and prepared themselves to perform +the task given up by their former friends. This change was easily made +in certain towns and cities where Negroes already had churches of +their own. Before 1815 there was a Methodist church in Charleston, +South Carolina, with a membership of eighteen hundred, more than one +thousand of whom were persons of color. About this time, Williamsburg +and Augusta had one each, and Savannah three colored Baptist churches. +By 1822 the Negroes of Petersburg had in addition to two churches of +this denomination, a flourishing African Missionary Society.[1] In +Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston the free +blacks had experienced such a rapid religious development that colored +churches in these cities were no longer considered unusual. + +[Footnote 1: Adams, _Anti-slavery_, etc., pp. 73 and 74.] + +The increase in the population of cities brought a larger number of +these unfortunates into helpful contact with the urban element of +white people who, having few Negroes, often opposed the institution of +slavery. But thrown among colored people brought in their crude state +into sections of culture, the antislavery men of towns and cities +developed from theorists, discussing a problem of concern to persons +far away, into actual workers striving by means of education to pave +the way for universal freedom.[1] Large as the number of abolitionists +became and bright as the future of their cause seemed, the more the +antislavery men saw of the freedmen in congested districts, the more +inclined the reformers were to think that instant abolition was an +event which they "could not reasonably expect, and perhaps could not +desire." Being in a state of deplorable ignorance, the slaves did not +possess sufficient information "to render their immediate emancipation +a blessing either to themselves or to society."[2] + +[Footnote 1: As some masters regarded the ignorance of the slaves as +an argument against their emancipation, the antislavery men's problem +became the education of the master as well as that of the slave. +Believing that intellectual and moral improvement is a "safe and +permanent basis on which the arch of freedom could be erected," Jesse +Torrey, harking back to Jefferson's proposition, recommended that +it begin by instructing the slaveholders, overseers, their sons and +daughters, hitherto deprived of the blessing of education. Then he +thought that such enlightened masters should see to it that every +slave less than thirty years of age should be taught the art of +reading sufficiently for receiving moral and religious instruction +from books in the English language. In presenting this scheme Torrey +had the idea of most of the antislavery men of that day, who advocated +the education of slaves because they believed that, whenever the +slaves should become qualified by intelligence and moral cultivation +for the rational enjoyment of liberty and the performance of the +various social duties, enlightened legislators would listen to the +voice of reason and justice and the spirit of the social organization, +and permit the release of the slave without banishing him as a traitor +from his native land. See Torrey's _Portraiture of Domestic Slavery_, +p. 21.] + +[Footnote 2: Sidney, _An Oration Commemorative of the Abolition of the +Slave Trade in the United States_, p. 5; and Adams, _Anti-slavery_, +etc., pp. 40, 43, 65, and 66.] + +Yet in the same proportion that antislavery men convinced masters of +the wisdom of the policy of gradual emancipation, they increased their +own burden of providing extra facilities of education, for liberated +Negroes generally made their way from the South to urban communities +of the Northern and Middle States. The friends of the colored people, +however, met this exigency by establishing additional schools and +repeatedly entreating these migrating freedmen to avail themselves +of their opportunities. The address of the American Convention of +Abolition Societies in 1819 is typical of these appeals.[1] They +requested free persons of color to endeavor as much as possible to use +economy in their expenses, to save something from their earnings +for the education of their children ... and "let all those who by +attending to this admonition have acquired means, send their children +to school as soon as they are old enough, where their morals will +be an object of attention as well as their improvement in school +learning." Then followed some advice which would now seem strange. +They said, "Encourage, also, those among you who are qualified as +teachers of schools, and when you are able to pay, never send your +children to free schools; for this may be considered as robbing the +poor of their opportunities which are intended for them alone."[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Proceedings of the American Convention_, etc., 1819, p. +21.] + +[Footnote 2: _Proceedings of the American Convention_, etc., 1819, p. +22.] + +The concentration of the colored population in cities and towns where +they had better educational advantages tended to make colored city +schools self-supporting. There developed a class of self-educating +Negroes who were able to provide for their own enlightenment. This +condition, however, did not obtain throughout the South. Being a +proslavery farming section of few large towns and cities, that part of +the country did not see much development of the self-sufficient class. +What enlightenment most urban blacks of the South experienced resulted +mainly from private teaching and religious instruction. There were +some notable exceptions, however. A colored "Santo Dominican" named +Julian Troumontaine taught openly in Savannah up to 1829 when such +an act was prohibited by law. He taught clandestinely thereafter, +however, until 1844.[1] In New Orleans, where the Creoles and freedmen +counted early in the nineteenth century as a substantial element in +society, persons of color had secured to themselves better facilities +of education. The people of this city did not then regard it as a +crime for Negroes to acquire an education, their white instructors +felt that they were not condescending in teaching them, and children +of Caucasian blood raised no objection to attending special and +parochial schools accessible to both races. The educational privileges +which the colored people there enjoyed, however, were largely paid for +by the progressive freedmen themselves.[2] Some of them educated their +children in France. + +[Footnote 1: Wright, _Negro Education in Georgia_, p. 20.] + +[Footnote 2: Many of the mixed breeds of New Orleans were leading +business men.] + +Charleston, South Carolina, furnished a good example of a center of +unusual activity and rapid strides of self-educating urban Negroes. +Driven to the point of doing for themselves, the free people of color +of this city organized in 1810 the "Minor Society" to secure to their +orphan children the benefits of education.[1] Bishop Payne, who +studied later under Thomas Bonneau, attended the school founded by +this organization. Other colored schools were doing successful work. +Enjoying these unusual advantages the Negroes of Charleston were +early in the nineteenth century ranked by some as economically and +intellectually superior to any other such persons in the United +States. A large portion of the leading mechanics, fashionable tailors, +shoe manufacturers, and mantua-makers were free blacks, who enjoyed "a +consideration in the community far more than that enjoyed by any of +the colored population in the Northern cities."[2] As such positions +required considerable skill and intelligence, these laborers had of +necessity acquired a large share of useful knowledge. The favorable +circumstances of the Negroes in certain liberal southern cities like +Charleston were the cause of their return from the North to the South, +where they often had a better opportunity for mental as well +as economic improvement.[3] The return of certain Negroes from +Philadelphia to Petersburg, Virginia, during the first decade of the +nineteenth century, is a case in evidence.[4] + +[Footnote 1: Simmons, _Men of Mark_, p. 1078.] + +[Footnote 2: _Niles Register_, vol. xlix., p. 40.] + +[Footnote 3: _Notions of the Americans_, p. 26.] + +[Footnote 4: Wright, _Views of Society and Manners in America_, p. +73.] + +The successful strivings of the race in the District of Columbia +furnish us with striking examples of Negroes making educational +progress. When two white teachers, Henry Potter and Mrs. Haley, +invited black children to study with their white pupils, the colored +people gladly availed themselves of this opportunity.[1] Mrs. Maria +Billings, the first to establish a real school for Negroes in +Georgetown, soon discovered that she had their hearty support. She had +pupils from all parts of the District of Columbia, and from as far as +Bladensburg, Maryland. The tuition fee in some of these schools was +a little high, but many free blacks of the District of Columbia +were sufficiently well established to meet these demands. The rapid +progress made by the Bell and Browning families during this period +was of much encouragement to the ambitious colored people, who were +laboring to educate their children.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, pp. 195 +_et seq._] + +[Footnote 2: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 195.] + +The city Negroes, however, were learning to do more than merely attend +accessible elementary schools. In 1807 George Bell, Nicholas +Franklin, and Moses Liverpool, former slaves, built the first colored +schoolhouse in the District of Columbia. Just emerging from bondage, +these men could not teach themselves, but employed a white man to +take charge of the school.[1] It was not a success. Pupils of color +thereafter attended the school of Anne Maria Hall, a teacher from +Prince George County, Maryland, and those of teachers who instructed +white children.[2] The ambitious Negroes of the District of Columbia, +however, were not discouraged by the first failure to provide their +own educational facilities. The Bell School which had been closed and +used as a dwelling, opened again in 1818 under the auspices of an +association of free people of color of the city of Washington called +the "Resolute Beneficial Society." The school was declared open then +"for the reception of free people of color and others that ladies +and gentlemen may think proper to send to be instructed in reading, +writing, arithmetic, English grammar, or other branches of education +apposite to their capacities, by steady, active and experienced +teachers, whose attention is wholly devoted to the purpose described." +The founders presumed that free colored families would embrace the +advantages thus presented to them either by subscription to the funds +of the Society or by sending their children to the school. Since the +improvement of the intellect and the morals of the colored youth were +the objects of the institution, the patronage of benevolent ladies +and gentlemen was solicited. They declared, too, that "to avoid +disagreeable occurrences no writing was to be done by the teacher for +a slave, neither directly nor indirectly to serve the purpose of a +slave on any account whatever."[3] This school was continued until +1822 under Mr. Pierpont, of Massachusetts, a relative of the poet. +He was succeeded two years later by John Adams, a shoemaker, who was +known as the first Negro to teach in the District of Columbia.[4] + +[Footnote 1: _Ibid._, 196.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, 197.] + +[Footnote 3: _Daily National Intelligencer_, August 29, 1818.] + +[Footnote 4: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 198.] + +Of equal importance was the colored seminary established by Henry +Smothers, a pupil of Mrs. Billings. Like her, he taught first in +Georgetown. He began his advanced work near the Treasury building, +having an attendance of probably one hundred and fifty pupils, +generally paying tuition. The fee, however, was not compulsory. +Smothers taught for about two years, and then was succeeded by John +Prout, a colored man of rare talents, who later did much in opposition +to the scheme of transporting Negroes to Africa before they had the +benefits of education.[1] The school was then called the "Columbian +Institute." Prout was later assisted by Mrs. Anne Maria Hall.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Ibid._, 1871, p. 199.] + +[Footnote 2: Other schools of importance were springing up from year +to year. As early as 1824 Mrs. Mary Wall, a member of the Society +of Friends, had opened a school for Negroes and received so many +applications that many had to be refused. From this school came many +well-prepared colored men, among whom were James Wormley and John +Thomas Johnson. Another school was established by Thomas Tabbs, who +received "a polished education from the distinguished Maryland family +to which he belonged." Mr. Tabbs came to Washington before the War +of 1812 and began teaching those who came to him when he had a +schoolhouse, and when he had none he went from house to house, +stopping even under the trees to teach wherever he found pupils who +were interested. See _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, +pp. 212, 213, and 214.] + +Of this self-educative work of Negroes some of the best was +accomplished by colored women. With the assistance of Father Vanlomen, +the benevolent priest then in charge of the Holy Trinity Church, Maria +Becraft, the most capable colored woman in the District of Columbia at +that time, established there the first seminary for the education of +colored girls. She had begun to teach in a less desirable section, but +impressed with the unusual beauty and strong character of this girl, +Father Vanlomen had her school transferred to a larger building on +Fayette Street where she taught until 1831. She then turned over her +seminary to girls she had trained, and became a teacher in a convent +at Baltimore as a Sister of Providence.[1] Other good results were +obtained by Louisa Parke Costin, a member of one of the oldest +colored families in the District of Columbia. Desiring to diffuse the +knowledge she acquired from white teachers in the early mixed schools +of the District, she decided to teach. She opened her school just +about the time that Henry Smothers was making his reputation as an +educator. She died in 1831, after years of successful work had crowned +her efforts. Her task was then taken up by her sister, Martha, who had +been trained in the Convent Seminary of Baltimore.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Ibid._, p. 204.] + +[Footnote 2: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 203.] + +Equally helpful was the work of Arabella Jones. Educated at the St. +Frances Academy at Baltimore, she was well grounded in the English +branches and fluent in French. She taught on the "Island," calling her +school "The St. Agnes Academy."[1] Another worker of this class +was Mary Wormley, once a student in the Colored Female Seminary of +Philadelphia under Sarah Douglass. This lady began teaching about +1830, getting some assistance from Mr. Calvert, an Englishman.[2] The +institution passed later into the hands of Thomas Lee, during the +incumbency of whom the school was closed by the "Snow Riot." This +was an attempt on the part of the white people to get rid of the +progressive Negroes of the District of Columbia. Their excuse for +such drastic action was that Benjamin Snow, a colored man running a +restaurant in the city, had made unbecoming remarks about the wives +of the white mechanics.[3] John F. Cook, one of the most influential +educators produced in the District of Columbia, was driven out of the +city by this mob. He then taught at Lancaster, Pa. + +[Footnote 1: _Ibid._, p. 211.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, p. 211.] + +[Footnote 3: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, p. 201.] + +While the colored schools of the District of Columbia suffered as a +result of this disturbance, the Negroes then in charge of them were +too ambitious, too well-educated to discontinue their work. The +situation, however, was in no sense encouraging. With the exception of +the churches of the Catholics and Quakers who vied with each other in +maintaining a benevolent attitude toward the education of the colored +people,[1] the churches of the District of Columbia, in the Sabbath +schools of which Negroes once sat in the same seats with white +persons, were on account of this riot closed to the darker race.[2] +This expulsion however, was not an unmixed evil, for the colored +people themselves thereafter established and directed a larger number +of institutions of learning.[3] + +[Footnote 1: The Catholics admitted the colored people to their +churches on equal footing with others when they were driven to the +galleries of the Protestant churches. Furthermore, they continued +to admit them to their parochial schools. The Sisters of Georgetown +trained colored girls, and the parochial school of the Aloysius Church +at one time had as many as two hundred and fifty pupils of color. Many +of the first colored teachers of the District of Columbia obtained +their education in these schools. See _Special Report of U.S. Com. of +Ed._, 1871, p. 218 _et. seq._] + +[Footnote 2: _Sp. Report_, etc. 187, pp. 217, 218, 219, 220, 221.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid._, pp. 220-222.] + +The colored schools of the District of Columbia soon resumed their +growth recovering most of the ground they had lost and exhibiting +evidences of more systematic work. These schools ceased to be +elementary classes, offering merely courses in reading and writing, +but developed into institutions of higher grade supplied with +competent teachers. Among other useful schools then flourishing in +this vicinity were those of Alfred H. Parry, Nancy Grant, Benjamin +McCoy, John Thomas Johnson, James Enoch Ambush, and Dr. John H. +Fleet.[1] John F. Cook returned from Pennsylvania and reopened his +seminary.[2] About this time there flourished a school established by +Fannie Hampton. After her death the work was carried on by Margaret +Thompson until 1846. She then married Charles Middleton and became +his assistant teacher. He was a free Negro who had been educated in +Savannah, Georgia, while attending school with white and colored +children. He founded a successful school about the time that Fleet and +Johnson[3] retired. Middleton's school, +however, owes its importance to the fact that it was connected with +the movement for free colored public schools started by Jesse E. Dow, +an official of the city, and supported by Rev. Doctor Wayman, then +pastor of the Bethel Church.[4] Other colaborers with these teachers +were Alexander Cornish, Richard Stokes, and Margaret Hill.[5] + +[Footnote 1: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, pp. 212, +213, and 283.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, p. 200.] + +[Footnote 3: Compelled to leave Washington in 1838 because of the +persecution of free persons of color, Johnson stopped in Pittsburg +where he entered a competitive teacher examination with two white +aspirants and won the coveted position. He taught in Pittsburg +several years, worked on the Mississippi a while, returned later to +Washington, and in 1843 constructed a building in which he opened +another school. It was attended by from 150 to 200 students, most of +whom belonged to the most prominent colored families of the District +of Columbia. See _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. +214.] + +[Footnote 4: _Ibid._, p. 215.] + +[Footnote 5: _Ibid._, pp. 214-215.] + +Then came another effort on a large scale. This was the school of +Alexander Hays, an emancipated slave of the Fowler family of Maryland. +Hays succeeded his wife as a teacher. He soon had the support of such +prominent men as Rev. Doctor Sampson, William Winston Seaton and R.S. +Coxe. Joseph T. and Thomas H. Mason and Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher were +Hays's contemporaries. The last two were teachers from England. +On account of the feeling then developing against white persons +instructing Negroes, these philanthropists saw their schoolhouses +burned, themselves expelled from the white churches, and finally +driven from the city in 1858.[1] Other white men and women were +teaching colored children during these years. The most prominent of +these were Thomas Tabbs, an erratic philanthropist, Mr. Nutall, an +Englishman; Mr. Talbot, a successful tutor stationed near the present +site of the Franklin School; and Mrs. George Ford, a Virginian, +conducting a school on New Jersey Avenue between K and L Streets.[2] +The efforts of Miss Myrtilla Miner, their contemporary, will be +mentioned elsewhere.[3] + +[Footnote 1: Besides the classes taught by these workers there was +the Eliza Ann Cook private school; Miss Washington's school; a select +primary school; a free Catholic school maintained by the St. Vincent +de Paul Society, an association of colored Catholics in connection +with St. Matthew's Church. This institution was organized by the +benevolent Father Walter at the Smothers School. Then there were +teachers like Elizabeth Smith, Isabella Briscoe, Charlotte Beams, +James Shorter, Charlotte Gordon, and David Brown. Furthermore, various +churches, parochial, and Sunday-schools were then sharing the burden +of educating the Negro population of the District of Columbia. See +_Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, pp. 214, 215, 216, +217, 218 _et seq._] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, p. 214.] + +[Footnote 3: O'Connor, Myrtilla Miner, p. 80.] + +The Negroes of Baltimore were almost as self-educating as those of the +District of Columbia. The coming of the refugees and French Fathers +from Santo Domingo to Baltimore to escape the revolution[1] marked an +epoch in the intellectual progress of the colored people of that city. +Thereafter their intellectual class had access to an increasing black +population, anxious to be enlightened. Given this better working +basis, they secured from the ranks of the Catholics additional +catechists and teachers to give a larger number of illiterates the +fundamentals of education. Their untiring co-worker in furnishing +these facilities, was the Most Reverend Ambrose Maréchal, Archbishop +of Baltimore from 1817 to 1828.[2] These schools were such an +improvement over those formerly opened to Negroes that colored youths +of other towns and cities thereafter came to Baltimore for higher +training.[3] + +[Footnote 1: Drewery, _Slave Insurrections in Virginia_, p. 121.] + +[Footnote 2: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 205.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid._, p. 205.] + +The coming of these refugees to Baltimore had a direct bearing on the +education of colored girls. Their condition excited the sympathy of +the immigrating colored women. These ladies had been educated both in +the Island of Santo Domingo and in Paris. At once interested in the +uplift of this sex, they soon constituted the nucleus of the society +that finally formed the St. Frances Academy for girls in connection +with the Oblate Sisters of Providence Convent in Baltimore, June 5, +1829.[1] This step was sanctioned by the Reverend James Whitefield, +the successor of Archbishop Maréchal, and was later approved by the +Holy See. The institution was located on Richmond Street in a building +which on account of the rapid growth of the school soon gave way to +larger quarters. The aim of the institution was to train girls, all +of whom "would become mothers or household servants, in such solid +virtues and religious and moral principles as modesty, honesty, and +integrity."[2] To reach this end they endeavored to supply the school +with cultivated and capable teachers. Students were offered courses in +all the branches of "refined and useful education, including all that +is regularly taught in well regulated female seminaries."[3] This +school was so well maintained that it survived all reactionary attacks +and became a center of enlightenment for colored women. + +[Footnote 1: _Ibid._, p. 205.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, p. 206.] + +[Footnote 3: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, p. 206.] + +At the same time there were other persons and organizations in the +field. Prominent among the first of these workers was Daniel Coker, +known to fame as a colored Methodist missionary, who was sent to +Liberia. Prior to 1812 he had in Baltimore an academy which certain +students from Washington attended when they had no good schools of +their own, and when white persons began to object to the co-education +of the races. Because of these conditions two daughters of George +Bell, the builder of the first colored schoolhouse in the District of +Columbia, went to Baltimore to study under Coker.[1] An adult Negro +school in this city had 180 pupils in 1820. There were then in the +Baltimore Sunday-schools about 600 Negroes. They had formed themselves +into a Bible association which had been received into the connection +of the Baltimore Bible Society.[2] In 1825 the Negroes there had a day +and a night school, giving courses in Latin and French. Four years +later there appeared an "African Free School" with an attendance of +from 150 to 175 every Sunday.[3] + +[Footnote 1: _Ibid._, p. 196.] + +[Footnote 2: Adams, _Anti-slavery_, etc., p. 14.] + +[Footnote 3: Adams, _Anti-Slavery_, etc., pp. 14 and 15.] + +By 1830 the Negroes of Baltimore had several special schools of their +own.[1] In 1835 there was behind the African Methodist Church in Sharp +Street a school of seventy pupils in charge of William Watkins.[2] W. +Livingston, an ordained clergyman of the Episcopal Church, had then a +colored school of eighty pupils in the African Church at the corner of +Saratoga and Ninth Streets.[3] A third school of this kind was kept by +John Fortie at the Methodist Bethel Church in Fish Street. Five or six +other schools of some consequence were maintained by free women of +color, who owed their education to the Convent of the Oblate Sisters +of Providence.[4] Observing these conditions, an interested person +thought that much more would have been accomplished in that community, +if the friends of the colored people had been able to find workers +acceptable to the masters and at the same time competent to teach the +slaves.[5] Yet another observer felt that the Negroes of Baltimore had +more opportunities than they embraced.[6] + +[Footnote 1: Buckingham, _America, Historical_, etc., vol. i., p. +438.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, p. 438; Andrews, _Slavery and the Domestic Slave +Trade_, pp. 54, 55, and 56; and Varle, _A Complete View of Baltimore_, +p. 33.] + +[Footnote 3: Varle, _A Complete View of Baltimore_, p. 33; and +Andrews, _Slavery and the Domestic Slave Trade_, pp. 85 and 92.] + +[Footnote 4: _Ibid._, p. 33.] + +[Footnote 5: _Ibid._, p. 54.] + +[Footnote 6: _Ibid._, p. 37.] + +These conditions, however, were so favorable in 1835 that when +Professor E.A. Andrews came to Baltimore to introduce the work of +the American Union for the Relief and Improvement of the Colored +People,[1] he was informed that the education of the Negroes of that +city was fairly well provided for. Evidently the need was that the +"systematic and sustained exertions" of the workers should spring +from a more nearly perfect organization "to give efficiency to their +philanthropic labors."[2] He was informed that as his society was of +New England, it would on account of its origin in the wrong quarter, +be productive of mischief.[3] The leading people of Baltimore +thought that it would be better to accomplish this task through the +Colonization Society, a southern organization carrying out the very +policy which the American Union proposed to pursue.[4] + +[Footnote 1: On January 14, 1835, a convention of more than one +hundred gentlemen from ten different States assembled in Boston and +organized the "American Union for the Relief and Improvement of the +Colored Race." Among these workers were William Reed, Daniel Noyes, +J.W. Chickering, J.W. Putnam, Baron Stow, B.B. Edwards, E.A. Andrews, +Charles Scudder, Joseph Tracy, Samuel Worcester, and Charles Tappan. +The gentlemen were neither antagonistic to the antislavery nor to the +colonization societies. They aimed to do that which had been neglected +in giving the Negroes proper preparation for freedom. Knowing that +the actual emancipation of an oppressed race cannot be effected by +legislation, they hoped to provide religious and literary instruction +for all colored children that they might "ameliorate their economic +condition" and prepare themselves for higher usefulness. See the +_Exposition of the Object and Plans of the American Union_, pp. +11-14.] + +[Footnote 2: Andrews, _Slavery and the Domestic Slave Trade_, p. 57.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid_., p. 188.] + +[Footnote 4: Andrews, _Slavery_, etc., p. 56.] + +The instruction of ambitious blacks in this city was not confined to +mere rudimentary training. The opportunity for advanced study was +offered colored girls in the Convent of the Oblate Sisters of +Providence. These Negroes, however, early learned to help themselves. +In 1835 considerable assistance came from Nelson Wells, one of their +own color. He left to properly appointed trustees the sum of $10,000, +the income of which was to be appropriated to the education of free +colored children.[1] With this benefaction the trustees concerned +established in 1835 what they called the Wells School. It offered +Negroes free instruction long after the Civil War. + +[Footnote 2: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed_., 1871, p. 353.] + +In seeking to show how these good results were obtained by the +Negroes' coöperative power and ability to supply their own needs, we +are not unmindful of the assistance which they received. To say that +the colored people of Baltimore, themselves, provided all these +facilities of education would do injustice to the benevolent element +of that city. Among its white people were found so much toleration +of opinion on slavery and so much sympathy with the efforts for its +removal, that they not only permitted the establishment of Negro +churches, but opened successful colored schools in which white men +and women assisted personally in teaching. Great praise is due +philanthropists of the type of John Breckenridge and Daniel Raymond, +who contributed their time and means to the cause and enlisted the +efforts of others. Still greater credit should be given to William +Crane, who for forty years was known as an "ardent, liberal, and wise +friend of the black man." At the cost of $20,000 he erected in the +central part of the city an edifice exclusively for the benefit of +the colored people. In this building was an auditorium, several +large schoolrooms, and a hall for entertainments and lectures. The +institution employed a pastor and two teachers[1] and it was often +mentioned as a high school. + +[Footnote 1: A contributor to the _Christian Chronicle_ found in this +institution a pastor, a principal of the school, and an assistant, +all of superior qualifications. The classes which this reporter heard +recite grammar and geography convinced him of the thoroughness of the +work and the unusual readiness of the colored people to learn. See +_The African Repository_, vol. xxxii., p. 91.] + +In northern cities like Philadelphia and New York, where benevolent +organizations provided an adequate number of colored schools, the free +blacks did not develop so much of the power to educate themselves. The +Negroes of these cities, however, cannot be considered exceptions to +the rule. Many of those of Philadelphia were of the most ambitious +kind, men who had purchased their freedom or had developed sufficient +intelligence to delude their would-be captors and conquer the +institution of slavery. Settled in this community, the thrifty class +accumulated wealth which they often used, not only to defray the +expenses of educating their own children, but to provide educational +facilities for the poor children of color. + +Gradually developing the power to help themselves, the free people +of color organized a society which in 1804 opened a school with John +Trumbull as teacher.[1] About the same time the African Episcopalians +founded a colored school at their church.[2] A colored man gave three +hundred pounds of the required funds to build the first colored +schoolhouse in Philadelphia.[3] In 1830 one fourth of the twelve +hundred colored children in the schools of that city paid for their +instruction, whereas only two hundred and fifty were attending the +public schools in 1825.[4] The fact that some of the Negroes were able +and willing to share the responsibility of enlightening their people +caused a larger number of philanthropists to come to the rescue +of those who had to depend on charity. Furthermore, of the many +achievements claimed for the colored schools of Philadelphia none were +considered more significant than that they produced teachers qualified +to carry on this work. Eleven of the sixteen colored schools in +Philadelphia in 1822 were taught by teachers of African descent. In +1830 the system was practically in the hands of Negroes.[5] + +[Footnote 1: Turner, _The Negro in Pennsylvania_, p. 129.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, p. 130.] + +[Footnote 3: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 377.] + +[Footnote 4: _Proceedings of the American Convention_, etc., 1825, p. +13.] + +[Footnote 5: _Proceedings of the Am. Convention_, etc., 1830, p.8; and +Wickersham, _History of Education in Pennsylvania_, p. 253.] + +The statistics of later years show how successful these early efforts +had been. By 1849 the colored schools of Philadelphia had developed +to the extent that they seemed like a system. According to the +_Statistical Inquiry into the Condition of Colored People in and about +Philadelphia_, published that year, there were 1643 children of color +attending well-regulated schools. The larger institutions were mainly +supported by State and charitable organizations of which the Society +of Friends and the Pennsylvania Abolition Society were the most +important. Besides supporting these institutions, however, the +intelligent colored men of Philadelphia had maintained smaller schools +and organized a system of lyceums and debating clubs, one of which had +a library of 1400 volumes. Moreover, there were then teaching in the +colored families and industrial schools of Philadelphia many men and +women of both races.[1] Although these instructors restricted their +work to the teaching of the rudiments of education, they did much to +help the more advanced schools to enlighten the Negroes who came to +that city in large numbers when conditions became intolerable for +the free people of color in the slave States. The statistics of the +following decade show unusual progress. In the year 1859 there were +in the colored public schools of Philadelphia, 1031 pupils; in the +charity schools, 748; in the benevolent schools, 211; in private +schools, 331; in all, 2321, whereas in 1849 there were only 1643.[2] + +[Footnote 1: About the middle of the nineteenth century colored +schools of various kinds arose in Philadelphia. With a view to giving +Negroes industrial training their friends opened "The School for the +Destitute" at the House of Industry in 1848. Three years later Sarah +Luciana was teaching a school of seventy youths at this House of +Industry, and the Sheppard School, another industrial institution, +was in operation in 1850 in a building bearing the same name. In 1849 +arose the "Corn Street Unclassified School" of forty-seven children +in charge of Sarah L. Peltz. "The Holmesburg Unclassified School" was +organized in 1854. Other institutions of various purposes were "The +House of Refuge," "The Orphans' Shelter," and "The Home for +Colored Children." See Bacon, _Statistics of the Colored People of +Philadelphia_, 1859. + +Among those then teaching in private schools of Philadelphia were +Solomon Clarkson, Robert George, John Marshall, John Ross, Jonathan +Tudas, and David Ware. Ann Bishop, Virginia Blake, Amelia Bogle, Anne +E. Carey, Sarah Ann Douglass, Rebecca Hailstock, Emma Hall, Emmeline +Higgins, Margaret Johnson, Martha Richards, Dinah Smith, Mary Still, +and one Peterson were teaching in families. See _Statistical Inquiry_, +etc., 1849, p. 19; and Bacon, _Statistics of the Colored People of +Philadelphia_, 1859.] + +[Footnote 2: _Statistical Inquiry into the Condition of the Colored +People of Philadelphia_, in 1859.] + +Situated like those of Philadelphia, the free blacks of New York City +did not have to maintain their own schools. This was especially true +after 1832 when the colored people had qualified themselves to take +over the schools of the New York Manumission Society. They then got +rid of all the white teachers, even Andrews, the principal, who had +for years directed this system. Besides, the economic progress of +certain Negroes there made possible the employment of the increasing +number of colored teachers, who had availed themselves of the +opportunities afforded by the benevolent schools. The stigma then +attached to one receiving seeming charity through free schools +stimulated thrifty Negroes to have their children instructed either in +private institutions kept by friendly white teachers or by teachers of +their own color.[1] In 1812 a society of the free people of color was +organized to raise a fund, the interest of which was to sustain a +free school for orphan children.[2] This society succeeded later in +establishing and maintaining two schools. At this time there were +in New York City three other colored schools, the teachers of which +received their compensation from those who patronized them.[3] + +[Footnote 1: See the Address of the American Convention, 1819.] + +[Footnote 2: _Proceedings of the Am. Convention_, etc., 1812, p. 7. + +Certain colored women were then organized to procure and make for +destitute persons of color. See Andrews, _History of the New York +African Free Schools_, p. 58.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid._, p. 58.] + +Whether from lack of interest in their welfare on the part of the +public, or from the desire of the Negroes to share their own burdens, +the colored people of Rhode Island were endeavoring to provide for +the education of their children during the first decades of the last +century. _The Newport Mercury_ of March 26, 1808, announced that the +African Benevolent Society had opened there a school kept by Newport +Gardner, who was to instruct all colored people "inclined to attend." +The records of the place show that this school was in operation eight +years later.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Stockwell, _History of Ed. in R.I._, p. 30.] + +In Boston, where were found more Negroes than in most New England +communities, the colored people themselves maintained a separate +school after the revolutionary era. In the towns of Salem, Nantucket, +New Bedford, and Lowell the colored schools failed to make much +progress after the first quarter of the nineteenth century on account +of the more liberal construction of the laws which provided for +democratic education. This the free blacks were forced to advocate for +the reason that the seeming onerous task of supporting a dual system +often caused the neglect, and sometimes the extinction of the separate +schools. Furthermore, either the Negroes of some of these towns were +too scarce or the movement to furnish them special facilities of +education started too late to escape the attacks of the abolitionists. +Seeing their mistake of first establishing separate schools, they +began to attack caste in public education. + +In the eastern cities where colored school systems thereafter +continued, the work was not always successful. The influx of fugitives +in the rough sometimes jeopardized their chances for education by +menacing liberal communities with the trouble of caring for an +undesirable class. The friends of the Negroes, however, received more +encouragement during the two decades immediately preceding the Civil +War. There was a change in the attitude of northern cities toward +the uplift of the colored refugees. Catholics, Protestants, and +abolitionists often united their means to make provision for the +education of accessible Negroes, although these friends of the +oppressed could not always agree on other important schemes. Even the +colonizationists, the object of attack from the ardent antislavery +element, considerably aided the cause. They educated for work in +Liberia a number of youths, who, given the opportunity to attend +good schools, demonstrated the capacity of the colored people. More +important factors than the colonizationists were the free people of +color. Brought into the rapidly growing urban communities, these +Negroes began to accumulate sufficient wealth to provide permanent +schools of their own. Many of these were later assimilated by +the systems of northern cities when their separate schools were +disestablished. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE REACTION + + +Encouraging as had been the movement to enlighten the Negroes, there +had always been at work certain reactionary forces which impeded the +intellectual progress of the colored people. The effort to enlighten +them that they might be emancipated to enjoy the political rights +given white men, failed to meet with success in those sections where +slaves were found in large numbers. Feeling that the body politic, as +conceived by Locke and Montesquieu, did not include the slaves, many +citizens opposed their education on the ground that their mental +improvement was inconsistent with their position as persons held to +service. For this reason there was never put forward any systematic +effort to elevate the slaves. Every master believed that he had a +divine right to deal with the situation as he chose. Moreover, even +before the policy of mental and moral improvement of the slaves could +be given a trial, some colonists, anticipating the "evils of the +scheme," sought to obviate them by legislation. Such we have observed +was the case in Virginia,[1] South Carolina,[2] and Georgia.[3] To +control the assemblies of slaves, North Carolina,[4] Delaware,[5] and +Maryland[6] early passed strict regulations for their inspection. + +[Footnote 1: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 391.] + +[Footnote 2: Brevard, _Digest of the Public Statute Law of S.C._, vol. +ii., p.243.] + +[Footnote 3: Marbury and Crawford, _Digest of Laws of the State of +Georgia_, p. 438.] + +[Footnote 4: _Laws of North Carolina_, vol. i., pp. 126, 563, and +741.] + +[Footnote 5: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 335.] + +[Footnote 6: _Ibid._, p. 352.] + +The actual opposition of the masters to the mental improvement of +Negroes, however, did not assume sufficiently large proportions to +prevent the intellectual progress of that race, until two forces then +at work had had time to become effective in arousing southern planters +to the realization of what a danger enlightened colored men would +be to the institution of slavery. These forces were the industrial +revolution and the development of an insurrectionary spirit among +slaves, accelerated by the rapid spreading of the abolition agitation. +The industrial revolution was effected by the multiplication of +mechanical appliances for spinning and weaving which so influenced the +institution of slavery as seemingly to doom the Negroes to heathenism. +These inventions were the spinning jenny, the steam engine, the power +loom, the wool-combing machine, and the cotton gin. They augmented +the output of spinning mills, and in cheapening cloth, increased the +demand by bringing it within the reach of the poor. The result was +that a revolution was brought about not only in Europe, but also in +the United States to which the world looked for this larger supply of +cotton fiber.[1] This demand led to the extension of the plantation +system on a larger scale. It was unfortunate, however, that many of +the planters thus enriched, believed that the slightest amount of +education, merely teaching slaves to read, impaired their value +because it instantly destroyed their contentedness. Since they did not +contemplate changing their condition, it was surely doing them an ill +service to destroy their acquiescence in it. This revolution then had +brought it to pass that slaves who were, during the eighteenth century +advertised as valuable on account of having been enlightened, were in +the nineteenth century considered more dangerous than useful. + +[Footnote 1: Turner, _The Rise of the New West_, pp. 45, 46, 47, 48, +and 49; and Hammond, _Cotton Industry_, chaps. i. and ii.] + +With the rise of this system, and the attendant increased importation +of slaves, came the end of the helpful contact of servants with their +masters. Slavery was thereby changed from a patriarchal to an economic +institution. Thereafter most owners of extensive estates abandoned the +idea that the mental improvement of slaves made them better servants. +Doomed then to be half-fed, poorly clad, and driven to death in this +cotton kingdom, what need had the slaves for education? Some planters +hit upon the seemingly more profitable scheme of working newly +imported slaves to death during seven years and buying another supply +rather than attempt to humanize them.[1] Deprived thus of helpful +advice and instruction, the slaves became the object of pity not only +to abolitionists of the North but also to some southerners. Not a +few of these reformers, therefore, favored the extermination of the +institution. Others advocated the expansion of slavery not to extend +the influence of the South, but to disperse the slaves with a view to +bringing about a closer contact between them and their masters.[2] +This policy was duly emphasized during the debate on the admission of +the State of Missouri. + +[Footnote 1: Rhodes, _History of the United States_, vol. i., p. 32; +Kemble, Journal, p. 28; Martineau, _Society in America_, vol. i., p. +308; Weld, _Slavery_, etc., p. 41.] + +[Footnote 2: Annals of Congress, First Session, vol. i., pp. 996 _et +seq._ and 1296 _et seq._] + +Seeking to direct the attention of the world to the slavery of men's +bodies and minds the abolitionists spread broadcast through the South +newspapers, tracts, and pamphlets which, whether or not they had much +effect in inducing masters to improve the condition of their slaves, +certainly moved Negroes themselves. It hardly required enlightenment +to convince slaves that they would be better off as freemen than as +dependents whose very wills were subject to those of their masters. +Accordingly even in the seventeenth century there developed in the +minds of bondmen the spirit of resistance. The white settlers of the +colonies held out successfully in putting down the early riots of +Negroes. When the increasing intelligent Negroes of the South, +however, observed in the abolition literature how the condition of the +American slaves differed from that of the ancient servants and even +from what it once had been in the United States; when they fully +realized their intolerable condition compared with that of white men, +who were clamoring for liberty and equality, there rankled in the +bosom of slaves that insurrectionary passion productive of the daring +uprisings which made the chances for the enlightenment of colored +people poorer than they had ever been in the history of this country. + +The more alarming insurrections of the first quarter of the nineteenth +century were the immediate cause of the most reactionary measures. +It was easily observed that these movements were due to the mental +improvement of the colored people during the struggle for the rights +of man. Not only had Negroes heard from the lips of their masters +warm words of praise for the leaders of the French Revolution but had +developed sufficient intelligence themselves to read the story of the +heroes of the world, who were then emboldened to refresh the tree +of liberty "with the blood of patriots and tyrants."[1] The +insurrectionary passion among the colored people was kindled, too, +around Baltimore, Norfolk, Charleston, and New Orleans by certain +Negroes who to escape the horrors of the political upheaval in Santo +Domingo,[2] immigrated into this country in 1793. The education of the +colored race had paved the way for the dissemination of their ideas of +liberty and equality. Enlightened bondmen persistently made trouble +for the white people in these vicinities. Negroes who could not read, +learned from others the story of Toussaint L'Ouverture, whose example +colored men were then ambitious to emulate. + +[Footnote 1: Washington, _Works of Jefferson_, vol. iv., p. 467.] + +[Footnote 2: Drewery, _Insurrections in Virginia_, p. 121.] + +The insurrection of Gabriel in Virginia and that of South Carolina in +the year 1800 are cases in evidence. Unwilling to concede that slaves +could have so well planned such a daring attack, the press of the +time insisted that two Frenchmen were the promoters of the affair in +Virginia.[1] James Monroe said there was no evidence that any white +man was connected with it.[2] It was believed that the general +tendency of the Negroes toward an uprising had resulted from French +ideas which had come to the slaves through intelligent colored men.[3] +Observing that many Negroes were sufficiently enlightened to see +things as other men, the editor of the _Aurora_ asserted that in +negotiating with the "Black Republic" the United States and Great +Britain had set the seal of approval upon servile insurrection.[4] +Others referred to inflammatory handbills which Negroes extensively +read.[5] Discussing the Gabriel plot in 1800, Judge St. George Tucker +said: "Our sole security then consists in their ignorance of this +power (doing us mischief) and their means of using it--a security +which we have lately found is not to be relied on, and which, small as +it is, every day diminishes. Every year adds to the number of those +who can read and write; and the increase in knowledge is the principal +agent in evolving the spirit we have to fear."[6] + +[Footnote 1: _The New York Daily Advertiser_, Sept. 22, 1800; and _The +Richmond Enquirer_, Oct. 21, 1831.] + +[Footnote 2: _Writings of James Monroe_, vol. iii., p. 217.] + +[Footnote 3: Educated Negroes then constituted an alarming element in +Massachusetts, Virginia, and South Carolina. See _The New York Daily +Advertiser_, Sept. 22, 1800.] + +[Footnote 4: See _The New York Daily Advertiser_, Sept. 22, 1800.] + +[Footnote 5: _Ibid._, Oct. 7, 1800.] + +[Footnote 6: Letter of St. George Tucker in Joshua Coffin's _Slave +Insurrections._] + +Camden was disturbed by an insurrection in 1816 and Charleston in +1822 by a formidable plot which the officials believed was due to the +"sinister" influences of enlightened Negroes.[1] The moving spirit of +this organization was Denmark Vesey. He had learned to read and write, +had accumulated an estate worth $8000, and had purchased his freedom +in 1800[2] Jack Purcell, an accomplice of Vesey, weakened in the +crisis and confessed. He said that Vesey was in the habit of reading +to him all the passages in the newspapers, that related to Santo +Domingo and apparently every accessible pamphlet that had any +connection with slavery.[3] One day he read to Purcell the speeches of +Mr. King on the subject of slavery and told Purcell how this friend of +the Negro race declared he would continue to speak, write, and publish +pamphlets against slavery "the longest day he lived," until the +Southern States consented to emancipate their slaves.[4] + +[Footnote 1: _The City Gazette and Commercial Daily Advertiser_ +(Charleston, South Carolina), August 21, 1822.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, August 21, 1822.] + +[Footnote 3: _The City Gazette and Commercial Daily Advertiser_, +August 21, 1822.] + +[Footnote 4: _Ibid_., August 21, 1822.] + +The statement of the Governor of South Carolina also shows the +influence of the educated Negro. This official felt that Monday, the +slave of Mr. Gill, was the most daring conspirator. Being able to read +and write he "attained an extraordinary and dangerous influence over +his fellows." "Permitted by his owner to occupy a house in the central +part of this city, he was afforded hourly opportunities for the +exercise of his skill on those who were attracted to his shop by +business or favor." "Materials were abundantly furnished in the +seditious pamphlets brought into the State by equally culpable +incendiaries, while the speeches of the oppositionists in Congress to +the admission of Missouri gave a serious and imposing effect to his +machinations."[1] It was thus brought home to the South that the +enlightened Negro was having his heart fired with the spirit of +liberty by his perusal of the accounts of servile insurrections and +the congressional debate on slavery. + +[Footnote 1: _The Norfolk and Portsmouth Herald_, Aug. 30, 1822.] + +Southerners of all types thereafter attacked the policy of educating +Negroes.[1] Men who had expressed themselves neither one way nor the +other changed their attitude when it became evident that abolition +literature in the hands of slaves would not only make them +dissatisfied, but cause them to take drastic measures to secure +liberty. Those who had emphasized the education of the Negroes to +increase their economic efficiency were largely converted. The +clergy who had insisted that the bondmen were entitled to, at least, +sufficient training to enable them to understand the principles of the +Christian religion, were thereafter willing to forego the benefits +of their salvation rather than see them destroy the institution of +slavery. + +[Footnote 1: Hodgson, _Whitney's Remarks during a Journey through +North America_, p. 184.] + +In consequence of this tendency, State after State enacted more +stringent laws to control the situation. Missouri passed in 1817 an +act so to regulate the traveling and assembly of slaves as to make +them ineffective in making headway against the white people by +insurrection. Of course, in so doing the reactionaries deprived +them of the opportunities of helpful associations and of attending +schools.[1] By 1819 much dissatisfaction had arisen from the seeming +danger of the various colored schools in Virginia. The General +Assembly, therefore, passed a law providing that there should be no +more assemblages of slaves, or free Negroes, or mulattoes, mixing or +associating with such slaves for teaching them reading and writing.[2] +The opposition here seemed to be for the reasons that Negroes were +being generally enlightened in the towns of the State and that white +persons as teachers in these institutions were largely instrumental in +accomplishing this result. Mississippi even as a Territory had tried +to meet the problem of unlawful assemblies. In the year 1823 it was +declared unlawful for Negroes above the number of five to meet for +educational purposes.[3] Only with the permission of their masters +could slaves attend religious worship conducted by a recognized white +minister or attended by "two discreet and reputable persons."[4] + +[Footnote 1: _Laws of Missouri Territory_, etc., p. 498.] + +[Footnote 2: Tate, _Digest of the Laws of Virginia_, pp. 849-850.] + +[Footnote 3: Poindexter, _Revised Code of the Laws of Mississippi_, p. +390.] + +[Footnote 4: _Ibid_., p. 390.] + +The problem in Louisiana was first to keep out intelligent persons who +might so inform the slaves as to cause them to rise. Accordingly in +1814[1] the State passed a law prohibiting the immigration of free +persons of color into that commonwealth. This precaution, however, was +not deemed sufficient after the insurrectionary Negroes of New Berne, +Tarborough, and Hillsborough, North Carolina,[2] had risen, and David +Walker of Massachusetts had published to the slaves his fiery appeal +to arms.[3] In 1830, therefore, Louisiana enacted another measure, +providing that whoever should write, print, publish, or distribute +anything having the tendency to produce discontent among the slaves, +should on conviction thereof be imprisoned at hard labor for life or +suffer death at the discretion of the court. It was provided, too, +that whoever used any language or became instrumental in bringing into +the State any paper, book, or pamphlet inducing this discontent should +suffer practically the same penalty. All persons who should teach, or +permit or cause to be taught, any slave to read or write, should be +imprisoned not less than one month nor more than twelve.[4] + +[Footnote 1: Bullard and Curry, _A New Digest of the Statute Laws of +the State of Louisiana_, p. 161.] + +[Footnote 2: Coffin, _Slave Insurrections_, p. 22.] + +[Footnote 3: Walker mentioned "our wretchedness in consequence +of slavery, our wretchedness in consequence of ignorance, our +wretchedness in consequence of the preachers of the religion of Jesus +Christ, and our wretchedness in consequence of the colonization plan." +See _Walker's Appeal_.] + +[Footnote 4: Acts passed at the Ninth Session of the Legislature of +Louisiana, p. 96.] + +Yielding to the demand of slaveholders, Georgia passed a year later a +law providing that any Negro who should teach another to read or write +should be punished by fine and whipping. If a white person should so +offend, he should be punished with a fine not exceeding $500 and with +imprisonment in the common jail at the discretion of the committing +magistrate.[1] + +[Footnote 1] Dawson, _A Compilation of the Laws of the State of +Georgia_, etc., p. 413. + +In Virginia where the prohibition did not then extend to freedmen, +there was enacted in 1831 a law providing that any meeting of free +Negroes or mulattoes for teaching them reading or writing should be +considered an unlawful assembly. To break up assemblies for this +purpose any judge or justice of the peace could issue a warrant to +apprehend such persons and inflict corporal punishment not exceeding +twenty lashes. White persons convicted of teaching Negroes to read +or write were to be fined fifty dollars and might be imprisoned two +months. For imparting such information to a slave the offender was +subject to a fine of not less than ten nor more than one hundred +dollars.[1] + +[Footnote 1]_Laws of Virginia_, 1830-1831, p. 108, Sections 5 and 6. + +The whole country was again disturbed by the insurrection in +Southampton County, Virginia, in 1831. The slave States then had a +striking example of what the intelligent Negroes of the South might +eventually do. The leader of this uprising was Nat Turner. Precocious +as a youth he had learned to read so easily that he did not remember +when he first had that attainment.[1] Given unusual social and +intellectual advantages, he developed into a man of considerable +"mental ability and wide information." His education was chiefly +acquired in the Sunday-schools in which "the text-books for the small +children were the ordinary speller and reader, and that for the older +Negroes the Bible."[2] He had received instruction also from his +parents and his indulgent young master, J.C. Turner. + +[Footnote 1] Drewery, _Insurrections in Virginia_, p. 27. + +[Footnote 2: Drewery, _Insurrections in Virginia_, p. 28.] + +When Nat Turner appeared, the education of the Negro had made the way +somewhat easier for him than it was for his predecessors. Negroes who +could read and write had before them the revolutionary ideas of the +French, the daring deeds of Toussaint L'Ouverture, the bold attempt of +General Gabriel, and the far-reaching plans of Denmark Vesey. These +were sometimes written up in the abolition literature, the circulation +of which was so extensive among the slaves that it became a national +question.[1] + +[Footnote 1: These organs were _The Albany Evening Journal, The New +York Free Press, The Genius of Universal Emancipation_, and _The +Boston Liberator_. See _The Richmond Enquirer_, Oct. 21, 1831.] + +Trying to account for this insurrection the Governor of the State lays +it to the charge of the Negro preachers who were in position to foment +much disorder on account of having acquired "great ascendancy over the +minds" of discontented slaves. He believed that these ministers were +in direct contact with the agents of abolition, who were using colored +leaders as a means to destroy the institutions of the South. The +Governor was cognizant of the fact that not only was the sentiment of +the incendiary pamphlets read but often the words.[1] To prevent the +"enemies" in other States from communicating with the slaves of that +section he requested that the laws regulating the assembly of Negroes +be more rigidly enforced and that colored preachers be silenced. The +General Assembly complied with this request.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _The Richmond Enquirer_, Oct. 21, 1831.] + +[Footnote 2: _The Laws of Virginia_, 1831-1832, p. 20.] + +The aim of the subsequent reactionary legislation of the South was to +complete the work of preventing the dissemination of information +among Negroes and their reading of abolition literature. This they +endeavored to do by prohibiting the communication of the slaves with +one another, with the better informed free persons of color, and with +the liberal white people; and by closing all the schools theretofore +opened to Negroes. The States passed laws providing for a more +stringent regulation of passes, defining unlawful assemblies, and +fixing penalties for the same. Other statutes prohibited religious +worship, or brought it under direct supervision of the owners of the +slaves concerned, and proscribed the private teaching of slaves in any +manner whatever. + +Mississippi, which already had a law to prevent the mental improvement +of the slaves, enacted in 1831 another measure to remove from them the +more enlightened members of their race. All free colored persons were +to leave the State in ninety days. The same law provided, too, that +no Negro should preach in that State unless to the slaves of his +plantation and with the permission of the owner.[1] Delaware saw fit +to take a bold step in this direction. The act of 1831 provided that +no congregation or meeting of free Negroes or mulattoes of more than +twelve persons should be held later than twelve o'clock at night, +except under the direction of three respectable white persons who were +to attend the meeting. It further provided that no free Negro should +attempt to call a meeting for religious worship, to exhort or preach, +unless he was authorized to do so by a judge or justice of the peace, +upon the recommendation of five "respectable and judicious citizens." +[2] This measure tended only to prevent the dissemination of +information among Negroes by making it impossible for them to +assemble. It was not until 1863 that the State of Delaware finally +passed a positive measure to prevent the assemblages of colored +persons for instruction and all other meetings except for religious +worship and the burial of the dead.[3] Following the example of +Delaware in 1832, Florida passed a law prohibiting all meetings of +Negroes except those for divine worship at a church or place attended +by white persons.[4] Florida made the same regulations more stringent +in 1846 when she enjoyed the freedom of a State.[5] + +[Footnote 1] Hutchinson, _Code of Mississippi_, p. 533. + +[Footnote 2] _Laws of Delaware_, 1832, pp. 181-182. + +[Footnote 3] _Ibid._, 1863, p. 330 _et seq._ + +[Footnote 4: _Acts of the Legislative Council of the Territory of +Florida, 1832_, p. 145.] + +[Footnote 5: _Acts of Florida, 1846_, ch. 87, sec. 9.] + +Alabama had some difficulty in getting a satisfactory law. In 1832 +this commonwealth enacted a law imposing a fine of from $250 to $500 +on persons who should attempt to educate any Negro whatsoever. The act +also prohibited the usual unlawful assemblies and the preaching or +exhorting of Negroes except in the presence of five "respectable +slaveholders" or unless the officiating minister was licensed by some +regular church of which the persons thus exhorted were members.[1] It +soon developed that the State had gone too far. It had infringed upon +the rights and privileges of certain creoles, who, being residents +of the Louisiana Territory when it was purchased in 1803, had been +guaranteed the rights of citizens of the United States. Accordingly in +1833 the Mayor and the Aldermen of Mobile were authorized by law to +grant licenses to such persons as they might deem suitable to instruct +for limited periods, in that city and the counties of Mobile and +Baldwin, the free colored children, who were descendants of colored +creoles residing in the district in 1803.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Clay, _Digest of the Laws of the State of Alabama_, p. +543.] + +[Footnote 2: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed_., 1871, p. 323.] + +Another difficulty of certain commonwealths had to be overcome. +Apparently Georgia had already incorporated into its laws provisions +adequate to the prevention of the mental improvement of Negroes. But +it was discovered that employed as they had been in various positions +either requiring knowledge, or affording its acquirement, Negroes +would pick up the rudiments of education, despite the fact that they +had no access to schools. The State then passed a law imposing a +penalty not exceeding one hundred dollars for the employment of any +slave or free person of color "in setting up type or other labor about +a printing office requiring a knowledge of reading and writing."[1] +In 1834 South Carolina saw the same danger. In addition to enacting a +more stringent law for the prevention of the teaching of Negroes by +white or colored friends, and for the destruction of their schools, +it provided that persons of African blood should not be employed as +clerks or salesmen in or about any shop or store or house used for +trading.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Cobb, _Digest of the Laws of Georgia_, p. 555; and +Prince, _Digest of the Laws of Georgia_, p. 658.] + +[Footnote 2: Laws of South Carolina, 1834.] + +North Carolina was among the last States to take such drastic measures +for the protection of the white race. In this commonwealth the whites +and blacks had lived on liberal terms. Negroes had up to this time +enjoyed the right of suffrage there. Some attended schools open to +both races. A few even taught white children.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Bassett, _Slavery in North Carolina_, p. 74; and +testimonies of various ex-slaves.] + +The intense feeling against Negroes engendered by the frequency +of insurrections, however, sufficed to swing the State into the +reactionary column by 1835. An act passed by the Legislature that year +prohibited the public instruction of Negroes, making it impossible +for youth of African descent to get any more education than what +they could in their own family circle.[1] The public school system +established thereafter specifically provided that its benefits should +not extend to any descendant from Negro ancestors to the fourth +generation inclusive.[2] Bearing so grievously this loss of their +social status after they had toiled up from poverty, many ambitious +free persons of color, left the State for more congenial communities. + +[Footnote 1: _Revised Statutes of North Carolina_, 578.] + +[Footnote 2: _Laws of North Carolina, 1835_, C.6, S.2.] + +The States of the West did not have to deal so severely with their +slaves as was deemed necessary in Southern States. Missouri found it +advisable in 1833 to amend the law of 1817[1] so as to regulate more +rigorously the traveling and the assembling of slaves. It was not +until 1847, however, that this commonwealth specifically provided +that no one should keep or teach any school for the education of +Negroes.[2] Tennessee had as early as 1803 a law governing the +movement of slaves but exhibited a little more reactionary spirit in +1836 in providing that there should be no circulation of seditious +books or pamphlets which might lead to insurrection or rebellion +among Negroes.[3] Tennessee, however, did not positively forbid the +education of colored people. Kentucky had a system of regulating the +egress and regress of slaves but never passed any law prohibiting +their instruction. Yet statistics show that although the education of +Negroes was not penalized, it was in many places made impossible by +public sentiment. So was it in the State of Maryland, which did not +expressly forbid the instruction of anyone. + +[Footnote 1: _Laws of the Territory of Missouri_, p. 498.] + +[Footnote 2: _Laws of the State of Missouri_, 1847, pp. 103 and 104.] + +[Footnote 3: _Public Acts passed at the First Session of the General +Assembly of the State of Tennessee_, p. 145, chap. 44.] + +These reactionary results were not obtained without some opposition. +The governing element of some States divided on the question. The +opinions of this class were well expressed in the discussion between +Chancellor Harper and J.B. O'Neal of the South Carolina bar. The +former said that of the many Negroes whom he had known to be capable +of reading, he had never seen one read anything but the Bible. He +thought that they imposed this task upon themselves as a matter +of duty. Because of the Negroes' "defective comprehension and the +laborious nature of this employment to them"[1] he considered such +reading an inefficient method of religious instruction. He, therefore, +supported the oppressive measures of the South. The other member +of the bar maintained that men could not reflect as Christians and +justify the position that slaves should not be permitted to read the +Bible. "It is in vain," added he, "to say there is danger in it. The +best slaves of the State are those who can and do read the Scriptures. +Again, who is it that teaches your slaves to read? It is generally +done by the children of the owners. Who would tolerate an indictment +against his son or daughter for teaching a slave to read? Such laws +look to me as rather cowardly."[2] This attorney was almost of +the opinion of many others who believed that the argument that to +Christianize and educate the colored people of a slave commonwealth +had a tendency to elevate them above their masters and to destroy the +"legitimate distinctions" of the community, could be admitted only +where the people themselves were degraded. + +[Footnote 1: DeBow, _The Industrial Resources of the Southern and +Western States_, vol. ii., p. 269.] + +[Footnote 2: DeBow, _The Industrial Resources of the Southern and +Western States_, vol. ii., p. 279.] + +After these laws had been passed, American slavery extended not +as that of the ancients, only to the body, but also to the mind. +Education was thereafter regarded as positively inconsistent with the +institution. The precaution taken to prevent the dissemination of +information was declared indispensable to the system. The situation in +many parts of the South was just as Berry portrayed it in the Virginia +House of Delegates in 1832. He said: "We have as far as possible +closed every avenue by which light may enter their [the slaves'] +minds. If we could extinguish the capacity to see the light, our work +would be completed; they would then be on a level with the beasts of +the field and we should be safe! I am not certain that we would not +do it, if we could find out the process, and that on the plea of +necessity."[1] + +[Footnote 1: Coffin, _Slave Insurrections_, p. 23; and Goodell, _Slave +Code_, p. 323.] + +It had then come to pass that in the South, where once were found +a considerable number of intelligent Negroes, they had become +exceedingly scarce or disappeared from certain sections altogether. On +plantations of hundreds of slaves it was common to discover that +not one of them had the mere rudiments of education. In some large +districts it was considered almost a phenomenon to find a Negro who +could read the Bible or sign his name.[1] + +[Footnote 1:_Ibid._, pp. 323-324.] + +The reactionary tendency was in no sense confined to the Southern +States. Laws were passed in the North to prevent the migration of +Negroes to that section. Their education at certain places was +discouraged. In fact, in the proportion that the conditions in the +South made it necessary for free blacks to flee from oppression, the +people of the North grew less tolerant on account of the large number +of those who crowded the towns and cities of the free States near the +border. The antislavery societies at one time found it necessary to +devote their time to the amelioration of the economic condition of the +refugees to make them acceptable to the white people rather than to +direct their attention to mere education.[1] Not a few northerners, +dreading an influx of free Negroes, drove them even from communities +to which they had learned to, repair for education. + +[Footnote 1: _Proceedings of the American Convention_.] + +The best example of this intolerance was the opposition encountered +by Prudence Crandall, a well-educated young Quaker lady, who had +established a boarding-school at Canterbury, Connecticut. Trouble +arose when Sarah Harris, a colored girl, asked admission to this +institution.[1] For many reasons Miss Crandall hesitated to admit her +but finally yielded. Only a few days thereafter the parents of the +white girls called on Miss Crandall to offer their objections to +sending their children to school with a "nigger."[2] Miss Crandall +stood firm, the white girls withdrew, and the teacher advertised for +young women of color. The determination to continue the school on this +basis incited the townsmen to hold an indignation meeting. They passed +resolutions to protest through a committee of local officials against +the establishment of a school of this kind in that community. At this +meeting Andrew T. Judson denounced the policy of Miss Crandall, while +the Rev. Samuel J. May ably defended it. Judson was not only opposed +to the establishment of such a school in Canterbury but in any part of +the State. He believed that colored people, who could never rise +from their menial condition in the United States, should not to +be encouraged to expect to elevate themselves in Connecticut. He +considered them inferior servants who should not be treated as equals +of the Caucasians, but should be sent back to Africa to improve +themselves and Christianize the natives.[3] On the contrary, Mr. May +thought that there would never be fewer colored people in this country +than were found here then and that it would be unjust to exile them. +He asserted that white people should grant Negroes their rights or +lose their own and that since education is the primal, fundamental +right of all men, Connecticut was the last place where this should be +denied.[4] + +[Footnote 1: Jay, _An Inquiry_, etc., p. 30.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., pp. 32 _et seq_.] + +[Footnote 3: Jay, _An Inquiry, etc._, p. 33; and _Special Report of +the U.S. Com. of Ed._, pp. 328 _et seq._] + +[Footnote 4: Jay, _An Inquiry_, etc., p. 33.] + +Miss Crandall and her pupils were threatened with violence. +Accommodation at the local stores was denied her. The pupils were +insulted. The house was besmeared and damaged. An effort was made to +invoke the law by which the selectmen might warn any person not an +inhabitant of the State to depart under penalty of paying $1.67 for +every week he remained after receiving such notice.[1] This failed, +but Judson and his followers were still determined that the "nigger +school" should never be allowed in Canterbury nor any town of the +State. They appealed to the legislature. Setting forth in its preamble +that the evil to be obviated was the increase of the black population +of the commonwealth, that body passed a law providing that no person +should establish a school for the instruction of colored people who +were not inhabitants of the State of Connecticut, nor should any one +harbor or board students brought to the State for this purpose without +first obtaining, in writing, the consent of a majority of the civil +authority and of the selectmen of the town.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed_., 1871, p. 331; +and May, _Letters to A.T. Judson, Esq., and Others_, p. 5.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., p. 5.] + +The enactment of this law caused Canterbury to go wild with joy. Miss +Crandall was arrested on the 27th of June, and committed to await her +trial at the next session of the Supreme Court. She and her friends +refused to give bond that the officials might go the limit in +imprisoning her. Miss Crandall was placed in a murderer's cell. Mr. +May, who had stood by her, said when he saw the door locked and the +key taken out, "The deed is done, completely done. It cannot be +recalled. It has passed into the history of our nation and age." Miss +Crandall was tried the 23d of August, 1833, at Brooklyn, the county +seat of the county of Windham. The jury failed to agree upon a +verdict, doubtless because Joseph Eaton, who presided, had given it as +his opinion that the law was probably unconstitutional. At the second +trial before Judge Dagget of the Supreme Court, who was an advocate of +the law, Miss Crandall was convicted. Her counsel, however, filed a +bill of exceptions and took an appeal to the Court of Errors. The +case came up on the 22d of July, 1834. The nature of the law was ably +discussed by W.W. Ellsworth and Calvin Goddard, who maintained that +it was unconstitutional, and by A.T. Judson and C.F. Cleveland, who +undertook to prove its constitutionality. The court reserved its +decision, which was never given. Finding that there were defects in +the information prepared by the attorney for the State, the indictment +was quashed. Because of subsequent attempts to destroy the building, +Mr. May and Miss Crandall decided to abandon the school.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Jay, _An Inquiry, etc._, p. 26.] + + +It resulted then that even in those States to which free blacks had +long looked for sympathy, the fear excited by fugitives from the more +reactionary commonwealths had caused northerners so to yield to the +prejudices of the South that they opposed insuperable obstacles to the +education of Negroes for service in the United States. The colored +people, as we shall see elsewhere, were not allowed to locate their +manual labor college at New Haven[1] and the principal of the Noyes +Academy at Canaan, New Hampshire, saw his institution destroyed +because he decided to admit colored students.[2] These fastidious +persons, however, raised no objection to the establishment of schools +to prepare Negroes to expatriate themselves under the direction of the +American Colonization Society.[3] + +[Footnote 1: _Proceedings of the Third Annual Convention for the +Improvement of the Free People of Color_, p. 14.] + +[Footnote 2: _Fourth Annual Report of the American Antislavery +Society_, p. 34.] + +[Footnote 3: Alexander, _A History of Colonization on the Western +Continent_, p. 348.] + +Observing these conditions the friends of the colored people could +not be silent. The abolitionists led by Caruthers, May, and Garrison +hurled their weapons at the reactionaries, branding them as +inconsistent schemers. After having advanced the argument of the +mental inferiority of the colored race they had adopted the policy +of educating Negroes on the condition that they be removed from the +country.[1] Considering education one of the rights of man, the +abolitionists persistently rebuked the North and South for their +inhuman policy. On every opportune occasion they appealed to the world +in behalf of the oppressed race, which the hostile laws had removed +from humanizing influences, reduced to the plane of beasts, and made +to die in heathenism. + +[Footnote 1: Jay,_An Inquiry_, etc., p. 26; Johns Hopkins University +Studies, Series xvi., p. 319; and _Proceedings of the New York State +Colonization Society_, 1831, p. 6.] + +In reply to the abolitionists the protagonists of the reactionaries +said that but for the "intrusive and intriguing interference of +pragmatical fanatics"[1] such precautionary enactments would never +have been necessary. There was some truth in this statement; for +in certain districts these measures operated not to prevent the +aristocratic people of the South from enlightening the Negroes, but to +keep away from them what they considered undesirable instructors. +The southerners regarded the abolitionists as foes in the field, +industriously scattering the seeds of insurrection which could then +be prevented only by blocking every avenue through which they could +operate upon the minds of the slaves. A writer of this period +expressed it thus: "It became necessary to check or turn aside the +stream which instead of flowing healthfully upon the Negro is +polluted and poisoned by the abolitionists and rendered the source +of discontent and excitement."[2] He believed that education thus +perverted would become equally dangerous to the master and the slave, +and that while fanaticism continued its war upon the South the +measures of necessary precaution and defense had to be continued. He +asserted, however, that education would not only unfit the Negro for +his station in life and prepare him for insurrection, but would prove +wholly impracticable in the performance of the duties of a laborer.[3] +The South has not yet learned that an educated man is a better laborer +than an ignorant one. + +[Footnote 1: Hodgkin, _An Inquiry into the Merits of the Am. Col. +Soc_., p. 31; and _The South Vindicated from the Treason and +Fanaticism of the Abolitionists_, p. 68.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., p. 69.] + +[Footnote 3: _The South Vindicated from the Treason and Fanaticism of +the Abolitionists_, p. 69.] + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +RELIGION WITHOUT LETTERS + + +Stung by the effective charge of the abolitionists that the +reactionary legislation of the South consigned the Negroes to +heathenism, slaveholders considering themselves Christians, felt that +some semblance of the religious instruction of these degraded people +should be devised. It was difficult, however, to figure out exactly +how the teaching of religion to slaves could be made successful and at +the same time square with the prohibitory measures of the South. For +this reason many masters made no effort to find a way out of the +predicament. Others with a higher sense of duty brought forward a +scheme of oral instruction in Christian truth or of religion without +letters. The word instruction thereafter signified among the +southerners a procedure quite different from what the term meant in +the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when Negroes were taught to +read and write that they might learn the truth for themselves. + +Being aristocratic in its bearing, the Episcopal Church in the South +early receded from the position of cultivating the minds of the +colored people. As the richest slaveholders were Episcopalians, the +clergy of that denomination could hardly carry out a policy which +might prove prejudicial to the interests of their parishioners. +Moreover, in their propaganda there was then nothing which required +the training of Negroes to instruct themselves. As the qualifications +of Episcopal ministers were rather high even for the education of the +whites of that time, the blacks could not hope to be active churchmen. +This Church, therefore, soon limited its work among the Negroes of +the South to the mere verbal instruction of those who belonged to the +local parishes. Furthermore, because this Church was not exceedingly +militant, and certainly not missionary, it failed to grow rapidly. In +most parts it suffered from the rise of the more popular Methodists +and Baptists into the folds of which slaves followed their masters +during the eighteenth century. + +The adjustment of the Methodist and Baptist churches in the South to +the new work among the darker people, however, was after the first +quarter of the nineteenth century practically easy. Each of these +denominations had once strenuously opposed slavery, the Methodists +holding out longer than the Baptists. But the particularizing force +of the institution soon became such that southern churches of these +connections withdrew most of their objections to the system and, of +course, did not find it difficult to abandon the idea of teaching +Negroes to read.[1] Moreover, only so far as it was necessary to +prepare men to preach and exhort was there an urgent need for literary +education among these plain and unassuming missionaries. They came, +not emphasizing the observance of forms which required so much +development of the intellect, but laying stress upon the quickening +of man's conscience and the regeneration of his soul. In the States, +however, where the prohibitory laws were not so rigidly enforced, +the instruction received in various ways from workers of these +denominations often turned out to be more than religion without +letters.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Matlack, _History of Methodism_, etc., p. 132; Benedict, +_History of the Baptists_, p. 212.] + +[Footnote 2: Adams, _South-side View_, p. 59.] + +The Presbyterians found it more difficult to yield on this point. For +decades they had been interested in the Negro race and had in 1818 +reached the acme of antislavery sentiment.[1] Synod after synod +denounced the attitude of cruel masters toward their slaves and took +steps to do legally all they could to provide religious instruction +for the colored people.[2] When public sentiment and reactionary +legislation made the instruction of the Negroes of the South +impracticable the Presbyterians of New York and New Jersey were active +in devising schemes for the education of the colored people at points +in the North.[3] Then came the crisis of the prolonged abolition +agitation which kept the Presbyterian Church in an excited state from +1818 to 1830 and resulted in the recession of that denomination from +the position it had formerly taken against slavery.[4] Yielding to the +reactionaries in 1835, this noble sect which had established schools +for Negroes, trained ambitious colored men for usefulness, and +endeavored to fit them for the best civil and religious emoluments, +thereafter became divided. The southern connection lost much of its +interest in the dark race, and fell back on the policy of the verbal +instruction and memory training of the blacks that they might never +become thoroughly enlightened as to their condition. + +[Footnote 1: Baird, _Collections_, etc., pp. 814-817.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, p. 815.] + +[Footnote 3: _Enormity of the Slave Trade_, etc. p. 67.] + +[Footnote 4: Baird, _Collections_, etc., pp. 816, 817.] + +Despite the fact that southern Methodists and Presbyterians generally +ceased to have much anti-slavery ardor, there continued still in +the western slave States and in the mountains of Virginia and North +Carolina, a goodly number of these churchmen, who suffered no +diminution of interest in the enlightenment of Negroes. In the States +of Kentucky and Tennessee friends of the race were often left free to +instruct them as they wished. Many of the people who settled those +States came from the Scotch-Irish stock of the Appalachian Mountains, +where early in the nineteenth century the blacks were in some cases +treated as equals of the whites.[1] + +[Footnote 2: _Fourth Annual Report of the American Antislavery +Society_, New York, 1837, P. 31; _The New England Antislavery +Almanac_, 1841, p. 31; and _The African Repository_, vol. xxxii., p. +16.] + +The Quakers, and many Catholics, however, were as effective as the +mountaineers in elevating Negroes. They had for centuries labored +to promote religion and education among their colored brethren. So +earnest were these sects in working for the uplift of the Negro race +that the reactionary movement failed to swerve them from their course. +When the other churches adopted the policy of mere verbal training, +the Quakers and Catholics adhered to their idea that the Negroes +should be educated to grasp the meaning of the Christian religion just +as they had been during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.[1] +This favorable situation did not mean so much, however, since with the +exception of the Catholics in Maryland and Louisiana and the Quakers +in Pennsylvania, not many members of these sects lived in communities +of a large colored population. Furthermore, they were denied access to +the Negroes in most southern communities, even when they volunteered +to work as missionaries among the colored people.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed_., 1871, pp. +217-221.] + +[Footnote 2: In several Southern States special laws were enacted to +prevent the influx of such Christian workers.] + +How difficult it was for these churchmen to carry out their policy +of religion without letters may be best observed by viewing the +conditions then obtaining. In most Southern States in which Negro +preachers could not be deterred from their mission by public +sentiment, they were prohibited by law from exhorting their fellows. +The ground for such action was usually said to be incompetency and +liability to abuse their office and influence to the injury of the +laws and peace of the country. The elimination of the Christian +teachers of the Negro race, and the prevention of the immigration of +workers from the Northern States rendered the blacks helpless +and dependent upon a few benevolent white ministers of the slave +communities. During this period of unusual proselyting among the +whites, these preachers could not minister to the needs of their own +race.[1] Besides, even when there was found a white clergyman who was +willing to labor among these lowly people, he often knew little about +the inner workings of their minds, and failing to enlighten their +understanding, left them the victims of sinful habits, incident to the +institution of slavery. + +[Footnote 1: Jones, _Religious Instruction_, p. 175.] + +To a civilized man the result was alarming. The Church as an +institution had ceased to be the means by which the Negroes of the +South could be enlightened. The Sabbath-schools in which so many +colored people there had learned to read and write had by 1834 +restricted their work to oral instruction.[1] In places where the +blacks once had the privilege of getting an elementary education, only +an inconceivable fraction of them could rise above illiteracy. Most of +these were freedmen found in towns and cities. With the exception of +a few slaves who were allowed the benefits of religious instruction, +these despised beings were generally neglected and left to die +like heathen. In 1840 there were in the South only fifteen colored +Sabbath-schools, with an attendance of about 1459. + +[Footnote 1: Goodell, _Slave Code_, p. 324.] + +There had never been any regular daily instruction in Christian +truths, but after this period only a few masters allowed field hands +to attend family prayers. Some sections went beyond this point, +prohibiting by public sentiment any and all kinds of religious +instruction.[1] In South Carolina a formal remonstrance signed by over +300 planters and citizens was presented to a Methodist preacher chosen +by a conference of that State as a "cautious and discreet person"[2] +especially qualified to preach to slaves, and pledged to confine +himself to verbal instruction. In Falmouth, Virginia, several white +ladies began to meet on Sunday afternoons to teach Negro children the +principles of the Christian religion. They were unable to continue +their work a month before the local officials stopped them, although +these women openly avowed that they did not intend to teach reading +and writing.[3] Thus the development of the religious education of +the Negroes in certain parts of the South had been from literary +instruction as a means of imparting Christian truth to the policy +of oral indoctrination, and from this purely memory teaching to no +education at all. + +[Footnote 1: The cause of this drastic policy was not so much race +hatred as the fear that any kind of instruction might cause the +Negroes to assert themselves.] + +[Footnote 2: Olmsted, _Back Country_, pp. 105, 108.] + +[Footnote 3: Conway, _Testimonies Concerning Slavery_, p. 5.] + +Thereafter the chief privilege allowed the slaves was to congregate +for evening prayers conducted by themselves under the surveillance +of a number of "discreet persons." The leader chosen to conduct the +services, would in some cases read a passage from the Scriptures and +"line a hymn," which the slaves took up in their turn and sang in a +tune of their own suitable to the meter. In case they had present no +one who could read, or the law forbade such an exercise, some exhorter +among the slaves would be given an opportunity to address the people, +basing his remarks as far as his intelligence allowed him on some +memorized portion of the Bible. The rest of the evening would be +devoted to individual prayers and the singing of favorite hymns, +developed largely from the experience of slaves, who while bearing +their burdens in the heat of the day had learned to sing away their +troubles. + +For this untenable position the slave States were so severely +criticized by southern and northern friends of the colored people that +the ministers of that section had to construct a more progressive +policy. Yet whatever might be the arguments of the critics of the +South to prove that the enlightenment of Negroes was not a danger, it +was clear after the Southampton insurrection in 1831 that two factors +in Negro education would for some time continue generally eliminated. +These were reading matter and colored preachers. + +Prominent among the southerners who endeavored to readjust their +policy of enlightening the black population, were Bishop William +Meade,[1] Bishop William Capers,[2] and Rev. C.C. Jones.[3] Bishop +Meade was a native of Virginia, long noted for its large element of +benevolent slaveholders who never lost interest in their Negroes. He +was fortunate in finishing his education at Princeton, so productive +then of leaders who fought the institution of slavery.[4] Immediately +after his ordination in the Protestant Episcopal Church, Bishop Meade +assumed the role of a reformer. He took up the cause of the colored +people, devoting no little of his time to them when he was in +Alexandria and Frederick in 1813 and 1814.[5] He began by preaching to +the Negroes on fifteen plantations, meeting them twice a day, and in +one year reported the baptism of forty-eight colored children.[6] +Early a champion of the colonization of the Negroes, he was sent on a +successful mission to Georgia in 1818 to secure the release of certain +recaptured Africans who were about to be sold. Going and returning +from the South he was active in establishing auxiliaries of the +American Colonization Society. He helped to extend its sphere also +into the Middle States and New-England.[7] + +[Footnote 1: Goodloe, _Southern Platform_, pp. 64-65.] + +[Footnote 2: Wightman, _Life of Bishop William Capers_, p. 294.] + +[Footnote 3: Jones, _Religious Instruction_, Introductory Chapter.] + +[Footnote 4: Goodloe, _Southern Platform_, p. 64.] + +[Footnote 5: _Ibid_., p. 65.] + +[Footnote 6: _Ibid_., p. 66.] + +[Footnote 7: _Niles Register_, vol. xvi., pp. 165-166.] + +Bishop Meade was a representative of certain of his fellow-churchmen +who were passing through the transitory stage from the position of +advocating the thorough education of Negroes to that of recommending +mere verbal instruction. Agreeing at first with Rev. Thomas Bacon, +Bishop Meade favored the literary training of Negroes, and advocated +the extermination of slavery.[1] Later in life he failed to urge +his followers to emancipate their slaves, and did not entreat his +congregation to teach them to read. He was then committed to the +policy of only lessening their burden as much as possible without +doing anything to destroy the institution. Thereafter he advocated the +education and emancipation of the slaves only in connection with the +scheme of colonization, to which he looked for a solution of these +problems.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Meade,_Sermons of Rev. Thos. Bacon_, p. 2; and Goodell, +_The Southern Platform_, pp. 64, 65.] + +[Footnote 2:_Ibid_., p. 65.] + +Wishing to give his views on the religious instruction of Negroes, the +Bishop found in Rev. Thomas Bacon's sermons that "every argument which +was likely to convince and persuade was so forcibly exerted, and that +every objection that could possibly be made, so fully answered, and +in fine everything that ought to be said so well said, and the same +things so happily confirmed ..." that it was deemed "best to refer +the reader for the true nature and object of the book to the book +itself."[1] Bishop Meade had uppermost in his mind Bacon's logical +arraignment of those who neglected to teach their Negroes the +Christian religion. Looking beyond the narrow circle of his own sect, +the bishop invited the attention of all denominations to this subject +in which they were "equally concerned." He especially besought "the +ministers of the gospel to take it into serious consideration as a +matter for which they also will have to give an account. Did not +Christ," said he, "die for these poor creatures as well as for any +other, and is it not given in charge of the minister to gather his +sheep into the fold?"[2] + +[Footnote 1: Meade, _Sermons of Rev. Thos. Bacon_, pp. 31,32, 81, 90, +93, 95, 104, and 105.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., p. 104.] + +Another worker in this field was Bishop William Capers of the +Methodist Episcopal Church of South Carolina. A southerner to the +manner born, he did not share the zeal of the antislavery men who +would educate Negroes as a preparation for manumission.[1] Regarding +the subject of abolition as one belonging to the State and entirely +inappropriate to the Church, he denounced the principles of the +religious abolitionists as originating in false philosophy. Capers +endeavored to prove that the relation of slave and master is +authorized by the Holy Scriptures. He was of the opinion, however, +that certain abuses which might ensue, were immoralities to be +prevented or punished by all proper means, both by the Church +discipline and the civil law.[2] Believing that the neglect of the +spiritual needs of the slaves was a reflection on the slaveholders, he +set out early in the thirties to stir up South Carolina to the duty of +removing this stigma. + +[Footnote 1: Wightman, _Life of William Capers_, p. 295.] + +[Footnote 2: Wightman, _Life of William Capers_, p. 296.] + +His plan of enlightening the blacks did not include literary +instruction. His aim was to adapt the teaching of Christian truth to +the condition of persons having a "humble intellect and a limited +range of knowledge by means of constant and patient reiteration."[1] +The old Negroes were to look to preachers for the exposition of these +principles while the children were to be turned over to catechists +who would avail themselves of the opportunity of imparting these +fundamentals to the young at the time their minds were in the plastic +state. Yet all instructors and preachers to Negroes had to be careful +to inculcate the performance of the duty of obedience to their masters +as southerners found them stated in the Holy Scriptures. Any one who +would hesitate to teach these principles of southern religion should +not be employed to instruct slaves. The bishop was certain that such +a one could not then be found among the preachers of the Methodist +Episcopal Church of South Carolina.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Ibid._, p. 298.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid._, p. 296.] + +Bishop Capers was the leading spirit in the movement instituted in +that commonwealth about 1829 to establish missions to the slaves. So +generally did he arouse the people to the performance of this duty +that they not only allowed preachers access to their Negroes but +requested that missionaries be sent to their plantations. Such +petitions came from C.C. Pinckney, Charles Boring, and Lewis +Morris.[1] Two stations were established in 1829 and two additional +ones in 1833. Thereafter the Church founded one or two others every +year until 1847 when there were seventeen missions conducted by +twenty-five preachers. At the death of Bishop Capers in 1855 the +Methodists of South Carolina had twenty-six such establishments, which +employed thirty-two preachers, ministering to 11,546 communicants +of color. The missionary revenue raised by the local conference had +increased from $300 to $25,000 a year.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Wightman, _Life of William Capers_, p. 296.] + +[Footnote 2; _African Repository_, vol. xxiv., p. 157.] + +The most striking example of this class of workers was the Rev. C.C. +Jones, a minister of the Presbyterian Church. Educated at Princeton +with men actually interested in the cause of the Negroes, and located +in Georgia where he could study the situation as it was, Jones became +not a theorist but a worker. He did not share the discussion of the +question as to how to get rid of slavery. Accepting the institution as +a fact, he endeavored to alleviate the sufferings of the unfortunates +by the spiritual cultivation of their minds. He aimed, too, not to +take into his scheme the solution of the whole problem but to appeal +to a special class of slaves, those of the plantations who were left +in the depths of ignorance as to the benefits of right living. In this +respect he was like two of his contemporaries, Rev. Josiah Law[1] of +Georgia and Bishop Polk of Louisiana.[2] Denouncing the policy of +getting all one could out of the slaves and of giving back as little +as possible, Jones undertook to show how their spiritual improvement +would exterminate their ignorance, vulgarity, idleness, improvidence, +and irreligion; Jones thought that if the circumstances of the Negroes +were changed, they would equal, if not excel, the rest of the human +family "in majesty of intellect, elegance of manners, purity of +morals, and ardor of piety."[3] He feared that white men might cherish +a contempt for Negroes that would cause them to sink lower in the +scale of intelligence, morality, and religion. Emphasizing the fact +that as one class of society rises so will the other, Jones advocated +the mingling of the classes together in churches, to create kindlier +feelings among them, increase the tendency of the blacks to +subordination, and promote in a higher degree their mental and +religious improvement. He was sure that these benefits could never +result from independent church organization.[4] + +[Footnote 1: Rev. Josiah Law was almost as successful as Jones in +carrying the gospel to the neglected Negroes. His life is a large +chapter in the history of Christianity among the slaves of that +commonwealth. See Wright, _Negro Education in Georgia_, p. 19.] + +[Footnote 2: Rhodes, _History of the U.S_., vol. i., p. 331.] + +[Footnote 3: Jones, _Religious Instruction_, p. 103.] + +[Footnote 4: Jones, _Religious Instruction_, pp. 106, 217.] + +Meeting the argument of those who feared the insubordination of +Negroes, Jones thought that the gospel would do more for the obedience +of slaves and the peace of the community than weapons of war. He +asserted that the very effort of the masters to instruct their slaves +created a strong bond of union between them and their masters.[1] +History, he believed, showed that the direct way of exposing the +slaves to acts of insubordination was to leave them in ignorance and +superstition to the care of their own religion.[2] To disprove the +falsity of the charge that literary instruction given in Neau's school +in New York was the cause of a rising of slaves in 1709, he produced +evidence that it was due to their opposition to becoming Christians. +The rebellions in South Carolina from 1730 to 1739, he maintained, +were fomented by the Spaniards in St. Augustine. The upheaval in New +York in 1741 was not due to any plot resulting from the instruction +of Negroes in religion, but rather to a delusion on the part of the +whites. The rebellions in Camden in 1816 and in Charleston in 1822 +were not exceptions to the rule. He conceded that the Southampton +Insurrection in Virginia in 1831 originated under the color of +religion. It was pointed out, however, that this very act itself was +a proof that Negroes left to work out their own salvation, had fallen +victims to "ignorant and misguided teachers" like Nat Turner. Such +undesirable leaders, thought he, would never have had the opportunity +to do mischief, if the masters had taken it upon themselves to +instruct their slaves.[3] He asserted that no large number of slaves +well instructed in the Christian religion and taken into the churches +directed by white men had ever been found guilty of taking part in +servile insurrections.[4] + +[Footnote 1: _Ibid_., pp. 212, 274.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., p. 215.] + +[Footnote 3: Jones, _Religious Instruction_, etc., p. 212.] + +[Footnote 4: Plumer, _Thoughts_, etc., p. 4.] + +To meet the arguments of these reformers the slaveholders found among +laymen and preachers able champions to defend the reactionary policy. +Southerners who had not gone to the extreme in the prohibition of the +instruction of Negroes felt more inclined to answer the critics of +their radical neighbors. One of these defenders thought that the +slaves should have some enlightenment but believed that the domestic +element of the system of slavery in the Southern States afforded +"adequate means" for the improvement, adapted to their condition and +the circumstances of the country; and furnished "the natural, safe, +and effectual means"[1] of the intellectual and moral elevation of the +Negro race. Another speaking more explicitly, said that the fact +that the Negro is such per se carried with it the "inference or the +necessity that his education--the cultivation of his faculties, or the +development of his intelligence, must be in harmony with itself." In +other words, "his instruction must be an entirely different thing from +the training of the Caucasian," in regard to whom "the term education +had widely different significations." For this reason these defenders +believed that instead of giving the Negro systematic instruction he +should be placed in the best position possible for the development of +his imitative powers--"to call into action that peculiar capacity for +copying the habits, mental and moral, of the superior race."[2] They +referred to the facts that slaves still had plantation prayers and +preaching by numerous members of their own race, some of whom could +read and write, that they were frequently favored by their masters +with services expressly for their instruction, that Sabbath-schools +had been established for the benefit of the young, and finally that +slaves were received into the churches which permitted them to hear +the same gospel and praise the same God.[3] + +[Footnote 1: Smith, _Lectures on the Philosophy and Practice of +Slavery_, pp. 228 _et seq_.] + +[Footnote 2: Van Evrie, _Negroes and Negro Slavery_, p. 215.] + +[Footnote 3: Smith, _Lectures on the Philosophy of Slavery_, p. 228.] + +Seeing even in the policy of religious instruction nothing but danger +to the position of the slave States, certain southerners opposed it +under all circumstances. Some masters feared that verbal instruction +would increase the desire of slaves to learn. Such teaching might +develop into a progressive system of improvement, which, without any +special effort in that direction, would follow in the natural order of +things.[1] Timorous persons believed that slaves thus favored would +neglect their duties and embrace seasons of religious worship for +originating and executing plans for insubordination and villainy. They +thought, too, that missionaries from the free States would thereby +be afforded an opportunity to come South and inculcate doctrines +subversive of the interests and safety of that section.[2] It would +then be only a matter of time before the movement would receive such +an impetus that it would dissolve the relations of society as then +constituted and revolutionize the civil institutions of the South. + +[Footnote 1: Jones, _Religious Instruction_, p. 192; Olmsted, _Back +Country_, pp. 106-108.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., p. 106.] + +The black population of certain sections, however, was not reduced +to heathenism. Although often threatening to execute the reactionary +laws, many of which were never intended to be rigidly enforced, +the southerners did not at once eliminate the Negro as a religious +instructor.[1] It was fortunate that a few Negroes who had learned the +importance of early Christian training, organized among themselves +local associations. These often appointed an old woman of the +plantation to teach children too young to work in the fields, to say +prayers, repeat a little catechism, and memorize a few hymns.[2] But +this looked too much like systematic instruction. In some States it +was regarded as productive of evils destructive to southern +society and was, therefore, discouraged or prohibited.[3] To local +associations organized by kindly slaveholders there was less +opposition because the chief aim always was to restrain strangers and +undesirable persons from coming South to incite the Negroes to servile +insurrection. Two good examples of these local organizations were +the ones found in Liberty and McIntosh counties, Georgia. The +constitutions of these bodies provided that the instruction should be +altogether oral, embracing the general principles of the Christian +religion as understood by orthodox Christians.[4] + +[Footnote 1: This statement is based on the testimonies of ex-slaves.] + +[Footnote 2: Jones, _Religious Instruction_, pp. 114, 117.] + +[Footnote 3: While the laws in certain places were not so drastic as +to prohibit religious assemblies, the same was effected by patrols and +mobs.] + +[Footnote 4: The Constitution of the Liberty County Association for +the Religious Instruction of Negroes, Article IV.] + +Directing their efforts thereafter toward mere verbal teaching, +religious workers depended upon the memory of the slave to retain +sufficient of the truths and principles expounded to effect his +conversion. Pamphlets, hymn books, and catechisms especially adapted +to the work were written by churchmen, and placed in the hands of +discreet missionaries acceptable to the slaveholders. Among other +publications of this kind were Dr. Capers's Short Catechism for the +Use of Colored Members on _Trial in the Methodist Episcopal Church in +South Carolina; A Catechism to be Used by Teachers in the Religious +Instruction of Persons of Color in the Episcopal Church of South +Carolina_; Dr. Palmer's _Cathechism_; Rev. John Mine's _Catechism_; +and C.C. Jones's _Catechism of Scripture, Doctrine and Practice +Designed for the Original Instruction of Colored People._ Bishop Meade +was once engaged in collecting such literature addressed particularly +to slaves in their stations. These extracts were to be read to them +on proper occasions by any member of the family.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Meade, _Sermons of Rev. Thomas Bacon_, p. 2.] + +Yet on the whole it can be safely stated that there were few +societies formed in the South to give the Negroes religious and moral +instruction. Only a few missionaries were exclusively devoted to work +among them. In fact, after the reactionary period no propaganda of +any southern church included anything which could be designated as +systematic instruction of the Negroes.[1] Even owners, who took +care to feed, clothe, and lodge their slaves well and treated +them humanely, often neglected to do anything to enlighten their +understanding as to their responsibility to God. [Footnote 1: +Madison's Works, vol. in., p. 314; Olmsted, _Back Country_, p. 107; +Birney, _The American Churches_, etc., p. 6; and Jones, _Religious +Instruction_, etc., p. 100.] + +Observing closely these conditions one would wonder little that many +Negroes became low and degraded. The very institution of slavery +itself produced shiftless, undependable beings, seeking relief +whenever possible by giving the least and getting the most from their +masters. When the slaves were cut off from the light of the gospel by +the large plantation system, they began to exhibit such undesirable +traits as insensibility of heart, lasciviousness, stealing, and lying. +The cruelty of the "Christian" master to the slaves made the latter +feel that such a practice was not altogether inhuman. Just as the +white slave drivers developed into hopeless brutes by having human +beings to abuse, so it turned out with certain Negroes in their +treatment of animals and their fellow-creatures in bondage. If some +Negroes were commanded not to commit adultery, such a prohibition did +not extend to the slave women forced to have illicit relations with +masters who sold their mulatto offspring as goods and chattels. If the +bondmen were taught not to steal the aim was to protect the supplies +of the local plantation. Few masters raised any serious objection to +the act of their half-starved slaves who at night crossed over to some +neighboring plantation to secure food. Many white men made it their +business to dispose of property stolen by Negroes. + +In the strait in which most slaves were, they had to lie for +protection. Living in an environment where the actions of almost any +colored man were suspected as insurrectionary, Negroes were frequently +called upon to tell what they knew and were sometimes forced to say +what they did not know. Furthermore, to prevent the slaves from +coöperating to rise against their masters, they were often taught to +mistreat and malign each other to keep alive a feeling of hatred. The +bad traits of the American Negroes resulted then not from an instinct +common to the natives of Africa, but from the institutions of the +South and from the actual teaching of the slaves to be low and +depraved that they might never develop sufficient strength to become a +powerful element in society. + +As this system operated to make the Negroes either nominal Christians +or heathen, the anti-slavery men could not be silent.[1] James G. +Birney said that the slaveholding churches like indifferent observers, +had watched the abasement of the Negroes to a plane of beasts without +remonstrating with legislatures against the iniquitous measures.[2] +Moreover, because there was neither literary nor systematic oral +instruction of the colored members of southern congregations, uniting +with the Church made no change in the condition of the slaves. They +were thrown back just as before among their old associates, subjected +to corrupting influences, allowed to forego attendance at public +worship on Sundays, and rarely encouraged to attend family prayers.[3] +In view of this state of affairs Birney was not surprised that it +was only here and there that one could find a few slaves who had an +intelligent view of Christianity or of a future life. + +[Footnote 1: Tower, _Slavery Unmasked_, p. 394.] + +[Footnote 2: Birney, _American Churches_, p. 6.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid_., p. 7.] + +William E. Charming expressed his deep regret that the whole lot of +the slave was fitted to keep his mind in childhood and bondage. To +Channing it seemed shameful that, although the slave lived in a land +of light, few beams found their way to his benighted understanding. He +was given no books to excite his curiosity. His master provided for +him no teacher but the driver who broke him almost in childhood to the +servile tasks which were to fill up his life. Channing complained that +when benevolence would approach the slave with instruction it was +repelled. Not being allowed to be taught, the "voice which would speak +to him as a man was put to silence." For the lack of the privilege +to learn the truth "his immortal spirit was systematically crushed +despite the mandate of God to bring all men unto Him."[1] + +[Footnote 1: Channing, _Slavery_, p. 77.] + +Discussing the report that slaves were taught religion, Channing +rejoiced that any portion of them heard of that truth "which gives +inward freedom."[1] He thought, however, that this number was very +small. Channing was certain that most slaves were still buried in +heathen ignorance. But extensive as was this so-called religious +instruction, he did not see how the teaching of the slave to be +obedient to his master could exert much power in raising one to the +divinity of man. How slavery which tends to debase the mind of +the bondman could prepare it for spiritual truth, or how he could +comprehend the essential principles of love on hearing it from the +lips of his selfish and unjust owner, were questions which no defender +of the system ever answered satisfactorily for Channing. Seeing then +no hope for the elevation of the Negro as a slave, he became a more +determined abolitionist. + +[Footnote 1: _Ibid._, p. 78.] + +William Jay, a son of the first Chief Justice of the United States, +and an abolition preacher of the ardent type, later directed his +attention to these conditions. The keeping of human beings in heathen +ignorance by a people professing to reverence the obligation of +Christianity seemed to him an unpardonable sin. He believed that the +natural result of this "compromise of principle, this suppression +of truth, this sacrifice to unanimity," had been the adoption of +expediency as a standard of right and wrong in the place of the +revealed will of God.[1] "Thus," continued he, "good men and +good Christians have been tempted by their zeal for the American +Colonization Society to countenance opinions and practices +inconsistent with justice and humanity."[2] Jay charged to this +disastrous policy of neglect the result that in 1835 only 245,000 of +the 2,245,144 slaves had a saving knowledge of the religion of +Christ. He deplored the fact that unhappily the evil influence of the +reactionaries had not been confined to their own circles but had to a +lamentable extent "vitiated the moral sense" of other communities. +The proslavery leaders, he said, had reconciled public opinion to the +continuance of slavery, and had aggravated those sinful prejudices +which subjected the free blacks to insult and persecution and denied +them the blessings of education and religious instruction.[3] + +[Footnote 1: Jay, _An Inquiry_, etc., p. 24.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, p. 25.] + +[Footnote 3: Jay, _An Inquiry_, etc., p. 26.] + +Among the most daring of those who censured the South for its +reactionary policy was Rev. John G. Fee, an abolition minister of +the gospel of Kentucky. Seeing the inevitable result in States where +public opinion and positive laws had made the education of Negroes +impossible, Fee asserted that in preventing them from reading God's +Word and at the same time incorporating them into the Church as +nominal Christians, the South had weakened the institution. Without +the means to learn the principles of religion it was impossible for +such an ignorant class to become efficient and useful members.[1] +Excoriating those who had kept their servants in ignorance to secure +the perpetuity of the institution of slavery, Fee maintained that +sealing up the mind of the slave, lest he should see his wrongs, was +tantamount to cutting off the hand or foot in order to prevent his +escape from forced and unwilling servitude.[2] "If by our practice, +our silence, or our sloth," said he, "we perpetuate a system which +paralyzes our hands when we attempt to convey to them the bread of +life, and which inevitably consigns the great mass of them to unending +perdition, can we be guiltless in the sight of Him who hath made us +stewards of His grace? This is sinful. Said the Saviour: 'Woe unto you +lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not +in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered."'[3] + +[Footnote 1: Fee, _Antislavery Manual_, p. 147.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, p. 148.] + +[Footnote 3: Fee, _Antislavery Manual_, p. 149.] + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +LEARNING IN SPITE OF OPPOSITION + + +Discouraging as these conditions seemed, the situation was not +entirely hopeless. The education of the colored people as a public +effort had been prohibited south of the border States, but there was +still some chance for Negroes of that section to acquire knowledge. +Furthermore, the liberal white people of that section considered these +enactments, as we have stated above, not applicable to southerners +interested in the improvement of their slaves but to mischievous +abolitionists. The truth is that thereafter some citizens disregarded +the laws of their States and taught worthy slaves whom they desired to +reward or use in business requiring an elementary education. As these +prohibitions in slave States were not equally stringent, white and +colored teachers of free blacks were not always disturbed. In fact, +just before the middle of the nineteenth century there was so much +winking at the violation of the reactionary laws that it looked as if +some Southern States might recede from their radical position and let +Negroes be educated as they had been in the eighteenth century. + +The ways in which slaves thereafter acquired knowledge are +significant. Many picked it up here and there, some followed +occupations which were in themselves enlightening, and others learned +from slaves whose attainments were unknown to their masters. Often +influential white men taught Negroes not only the rudiments of +education but almost anything they wanted to learn. Not a few slaves +were instructed by the white children whom they accompanied to school. +While attending ministers and officials whose work often lay open to +their servants, many of the race learned by contact and observation. +Shrewd Negroes sometimes slipped stealthily into back streets, where +they studied under a private teacher, or attended a school hidden from +the zealous execution of the law. + +The instances of Negroes struggling to obtain an education read like +the beautiful romances of a people in an heroic age. Sometimes Negroes +of the type of Lott Carey[1] educated themselves. James Redpath +discovered in Savannah that in spite of the law great numbers +of slaves had learned to read well. Many of them had acquired a +rudimentary knowledge of arithmetic. "But," said he, "blazon it to the +shame of the South, the knowledge thus acquired has been snatched from +the spare records of leisure in spite of their owners' wishes and +watchfulness."[2] C.G. Parsons was informed that although poor masters +did not venture to teach their slaves, occasionally one with a thirst +for knowledge secretly learned the rudiments of education without any +instruction.[3] While on a tour through parts of Georgia, E.P. Burke +observed that, notwithstanding the great precaution which was taken +to prevent the mental improvement of the slaves, many of them "stole +knowledge enough to enable them to read and write with ease."[4] +Robert Smalls[5] of South Carolina and Alfred T. Jones[6] of Kentucky +began their education in this manner. + +[Footnote 1: Mott, _Biographical Sketches_, p. 87.] + +[Footnote 2: Redpath, _Roving Editor_, etc., p. 161.] + +[Footnote 3: Parsons, _Inside View_, etc., p. 248.] + +[Footnote 4: Burke, _Reminiscences of Georgia_, p. 85.] + +[Footnote 5: Simmons, _Men of Mark_, p. 126.] + +[Footnote 6: Drew, _Refugee_, p. 152.] + +Probably the best example of this class was Harrison Ellis of Alabama. +At the age of thirty-five he had acquired a liberal education by his +own exertions. Upon examination he proved himself a good Latin and +Hebrew scholar and showed still greater proficiency in Greek. His +attainments in theology were highly satisfactory. _The Eufaula +Shield_, a newspaper of that State, praised him as a man courteous in +manners, polite in conversation, and manly in demeanor. Knowing how +useful Ellis would be in a free country, the Presbyterian Synod of +Alabama purchased him and his family in 1847 at a cost of $2500 that +he might use his talents in elevating his own people in Liberia.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Niles Register_, vol. lxxi., p. 296.] + +Intelligent Negroes secretly communicated to their fellow men what +they knew. Henry Banks of Stafford County, Virginia, was taught by +his brother-in-law to read, but not write.[1] The father of Benedict +Duncan, a slave in Maryland, taught his son the alphabet.[2] M.W. +Taylor of Kentucky received his first instruction from his mother. +H.O. Wagoner learned from his parents the first principles of the +common branches.[3] A mulatto of Richmond taught John H. Smythe when +he was between the ages of five and seven.[4] The mother of Dr. C.H. +Payne of West Virginia taught him to read at such an early age that +he does not remember when he first developed that power.[5] Dr. E.C. +Morris, President of the National Baptist Convention, belonged to a +Georgia family, all of whom were well instructed by his father.[6] + +[Footnote 1: Drew, _Refugee_, etc., p. 72.] + +[Footnote 2: Ibid., p. 110.] + +[Footnote 3: Simmons, _Men of Mark_, p. 679.] + +[Footnote 4: Ibid., p. 873.] + +[Footnote 5: Ibid., p. 368.] + +[Footnote 6: This is his own statement.] + +The white parents of Negroes often secured to them the educational +facilities then afforded the superior race. The indulgent teacher of +J. Morris of North Carolina was his white father, his master.[1] +W.J. White acquired his education from his mother, who was a white +woman.[2] Martha Martin, a daughter of her master, a Scotch-Irishman +of Georgia, was permitted to go to Cincinnati to be educated, while +her sister was sent to a southern town to learn the milliner's +trade.[3] Then there were cases like that of Josiah Settle's white +father. After the passage of the law forbidding free Negroes to remain +in the State of Tennessee, he took his children to Hamilton, Ohio, +to be educated and there married his actual wife, their colored +mother.[4] + +[Footnote 1: This is based on an account given by his son.] + +[Footnote 2: _The Crisis_, vol. v., p. 119.] + +[Footnote 3: Drew, _Refugee_, p. 143.] + +[Footnote 4: Simmons, _Men of Mark_, p. 539.] + +The very employment of slaves in business establishments accelerated +their mental development. Negroes working in stores often acquired +a fair education by assisting clerks. Some slaves were clerks +themselves. Under the observation of E.P. Burke came the notable case +of a young man belonging to one of the best families of Savannah. He +could read, write, cipher, and transact business so intelligently +that his master often committed important trusts to his care.[1] B.K. +Bruce, while still a slave, educated himself when he was working at +the printer's trade in Brunswick, Missouri. Even farther south where +slavery assumed its worst form, we find that this condition obtained. +Addressing to the New Orleans _Commercial Bulletin_ a letter on +African colonization, John McDonogh stated that the work imposed on +his slaves required some education for which he willingly provided. In +1842 he had had no white man over his slaves for twenty years. He had +assigned this task to his intelligent colored manager who did his work +so well that the master did not go in person once in six months to see +what his slaves were doing. He says, "They were, besides, my men of +business, enjoyed my confidence, were my clerks, transacted all my +affairs, made purchases of materials, collected my rents, leased my +houses, took care of my property and effects of every kind, and +that with an honesty and fidelity which was proof against every +temptation."[2] Traveling in Mississippi in 1852, Olmsted found +another such group of slaves all of whom could read, whereas the +master himself was entirely illiterate. He took much pride, however, +in praising his loyal, capable, and intelligent Negroes.[3] + +[Footnote 1: Burke, _Reminiscences of Georgia_, p. 86. + +Frances Anne Kemble gives in her journal an interesting account of her +observations in Georgia. She says: "I must tell you that I have been +delighted, surprised, and the very least perplexed, by the sudden +petition on the part of our young waiter, Aleck, that I will teach him +to read. He is a very intelligent lad of about sixteen, and preferred +his request with urgent humility that was very touching. I will do it; +and yet, it is simply breaking the laws of the government under which +I am living. Unrighteous laws are made to be broken--perhaps--but +then you see, I am a woman, and Mr.---- stands between me and the +penalty--. I certainly intend to teach Aleck to read; and I'll teach +every other creature that wants to learn." See Kemble, _Journal_, p. +34.] + +[Footnote 2: McDonogh, "Letter on African Colonization."] + +[Footnote 3: Olmsted, _Cotton Kingdom_, vol. ii., p. 70.] + +White persons deeply interested in Negroes taught them regardless +of public opinion and the law. Dr. Alexander T. Augusta of Virginia +learned to read while serving white men as a barber.[1] A prominent +white man of Memphis taught Mrs. Mary Church Terrell's mother French +and English. The father of Judge R.H. Terrell was well-grounded +in reading by his overseer during the absence of his master from +Virginia.[2] A fugitive slave from Essex County of the same State was +not allowed to go to school publicly, but had an opportunity to learn +from white persons privately.[3] The master of Charles Henry Green, a +slave of Delaware, denied him all instruction, but he was permitted +to study among the people to whom he was hired.[4] M.W. Taylor of +Kentucky studied under attorneys J.B. Kinkaid and John W. Barr, whom +he served as messenger.[5] Ignoring his master's orders against +frequenting a night school, Henry Morehead of Louisville learned to +spell and read sufficiently well to cause his owner to have the school +unceremoniously closed.[6] + +[Footnote 1: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 258.] + +[Footnote 2: This is based on the statements of Judge and Mrs. +Terrell.] + +[Footnote 3: Drew, _Refugee_, p. 335.] + +[Footnote 4: Ibid., p. 96.] + +[Footnote 5: Simmons, _Men of Mark_, p. 933.] + +[Footnote 6: Drew, _Refugee_, p. 180.] + +The educational experiences of President Scarborough and of Bishop +Turner show that some white persons were willing to make unusual +sacrifices to enlighten Negroes. President Scarborough began to attend +school in his native home in Bibb County, Georgia, at the age of six +years. He went out ostensibly to play, keeping his books concealed +under his arm, but spent six or eight hours each day in school until +he could read well and had mastered the first principles of geography, +grammar, and arithmetic. At the age of ten he took regular lessons in +writing under an old South Carolinian, J.C. Thomas, a rebel of the +bitterest type. Like Frederick Douglass, President Scarborough +received much instruction from his white playmates.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Simmons, _Men of Mark_, p. 410.] + +Bishop Turner of Newberry Court House, in South Carolina, purchased +a spelling book and secured the services of an old white lady and a +white boy, who in violation of the State law taught him to spell as +far as two syllables.[1] The white boy's brother stopped him from +teaching this lad of color, pointing out that such an instructor was +liable to arrest. For some time he obtained help from an old colored +gentleman, a prodigy in sounds. At the age of thirteen his mother +employed a white lady to teach him on Sundays, but she was soon +stopped by indignant white persons of the community. When he attained +the age of fifteen he was employed by a number of lawyers in whose +favor he ingratiated himself by his unusual power to please people. +Thereafter these men in defiance of the law taught him to read and +write and explained anything he wanted to know about arithmetic, +geography, and astronomy.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Bishop Turner says that when he started to learn there +were among his acquaintances three colored men who had learned to read +the Bible in Charleston. See Simmons, _Men of Mark_, p. 806.] + +[Footnote 2: Ibid., p. 806.] + +Often favorite slaves were taught by white children. By hiding books +in a hayloft and getting the white children to teach him, James W. +Sumler of Norfolk, Virginia, obtained an elementary education.[1] +While serving as overseer for his Scotch-Irish master, Daniel +J. Lockhart of the same commonwealth learned to read under the +instruction of his owner's boys. They were not interrupted in their +benevolent work.[2] In the same manner John Warren, a slave of +Tennessee, acquired a knowledge of the common branches.[3] John +Baptist Snowden of Maryland was secretly instructed by his owner's +children.[4] Uncle Cephas, a slave of Parson Winslow of Tennessee, +reported that the white children taught him on the sly when they came +to see Dinah, who was a very good cook. He was never without books +during his stay with his master.[5] One of the Grimké Sisters taught +her little maid to read while brushing her young mistress's locks.[6] +Robert Harlan, who was brought up in the family of Honorable J.M. +Harlan, acquired the fundamentals of the common branches from Harlan's +older sons.[7] The young mistress of Mrs. Ann Woodson of Virginia +instructed her until she could read in the first reader.[8] Abdy +observed in 1834 that slaves of Kentucky had been thus taught to read. +He believed that they were about as well off as they would have +been, had they been free.[9] Giving her experiences on a Mississippi +plantation, Susan Dabney Smedes stated that the white children +delighted in teaching the house servants. One night she was formally +invited with the master, mistress, governess, and guests by a +twelve-year-old school mistress to hear her dozen pupils recite +poetry. One of the guests was quite astonished to see his servant +recite a piece of poetry which he had learned for this occasion.[10] +Confining his operations to the kitchen, another such teacher of this +plantation was unusually successful in instructing the adult male +slaves. Five of these Negroes experienced such enlightenment that they +became preachers.[11] + +[Footnote 1: Drew, _Refugee_, p. 97.] + +[Footnote 2: Ibid., p. 45.] + +[Footnote 3: Ibid., p. 185.] + +[Footnote 4: Snowden, _Autobiography_, p. 23.] + +[Footnote 5: Albert, _The House of Bondage_, p. 125.] + +[Footnote 6: Birney, _The Grimké Sisters_, p. 11.] + +[Footnote 7: Simmons, _Men of Mark_, p. 613.] + +[Footnote 8: This fact is stated in one of her letters.] + +[Footnote 9: Abdy, _Journal of a Residence and Tour in U.S.A._, +1833-1834. P. 346.] + +[Footnote 10: Smedes, _A Southern Planter_, pp. 79-80.] + +[Footnote 11: Ibid., p. 80.] + +Planters themselves sometimes saw to the education of their slaves. +Ephraim Waterford was bound out in Virginia until he was twenty-one on +the condition that the man to whom he was hired should teach him to +read.[1] Mrs. Isaac Riley and Henry Williamson, of Maryland, did not +attend school but were taught by their master to spell and read but +not to write.[2] The master and mistress of Williamson Pease, of +Hardman County, Tennessee, were his teachers.[3] Francis Fredric began +his studies under his master in Virginia. Frederick Douglass was +indebted to his kind mistress for his first instruction.[4] Mrs. +Thomas Payne, a slave in what is now West Virginia, was fortunate +in having a master who was equally benevolent.[5] Honorable I.T. +Montgomery, now the Mayor of Mound Bayou, Mississippi, was, while a +slave of Jefferson Davis's brother, instructed in the common branches +and trained to be the confidential accountant of his master's +plantation.[6] While on a tour among the planters of East Georgia, +C.G. Parsons discovered that about 5000 of the 400,000 slaves there +had been taught to read and write. He remarked, too, that such slaves +were generally owned by the wealthy slaveholders, who had them +schooled when the enlightenment of the bondmen served the purposes of +their masters.[7] + +[Footnote 1: Drew, _A North-Side View of Slavery_, p. 373.] + +[Footnote 2: Ibid., p. 133.] + +[Footnote 3: Ibid., p. 123.] + +[Footnote 4: Lee, _Slave Life in Virginia and Kentucky_, p. x.] + +[Footnote 5: Simmons, _Men of Mark_, p. 368.] + +[Footnote 6: This is his own statement.] + +[Footnote 7: Parsons, _Inside View_, etc., p. 248.] + +The enlightenment of the Negroes, however, was not limited to what +could be accomplished by individual efforts. In many southern +communities colored schools were maintained in defiance of public +opinion or in violation of the law. Patrick Snead of Savannah was sent +to a private institution until he could spell quite well and then to +a Sunday-school for colored children.[1] Richard M. Hancock wrote of +studying in a private school in Newbern, North Carolina;[2] John S. +Leary went to one in Fayetteville eight years;[3] and W.A. Pettiford +of this State enjoyed similar advantages in Granville County during +the fifties. He then moved with his parents to Preston County where he +again had the opportunity to attend a special school.[4] About 1840, +J.F. Boulder was a student in a mixed school of white and colored +pupils in Delaware.[5] Bishop J.M. Brown, a native of the same +commonwealth, attended a private school taught by a friendly woman of +the Quaker sect.[6] John A. Hunter, of Maryland, was sent to a school +for white children kept by the sister of his mistress, but his second +master said that Hunter should not have been allowed to study and +stopped his attendance.[7] Francis L. Cardozo of Charleston, South +Carolina, entered school there in 1842 and continued his studies until +he was twelve years of age.[8] During the fifties J.W. Morris of the +same city attended a school conducted by the then distinguished Simeon +Beard.[9] In the same way T. McCants Stewart[10] and the Grimké +brothers [11] were able to begin their education there prior to +emancipation. + +[Footnote 1: Drew, _Refugee_, p. 99.] + +[Footnote 2: Simmons, _Men of Mark_, p. 406.] + +[Footnote 3: Ibid., p. 432.] + +[Footnote 4: Ibid., p. 469] + +[Footnote 5: Ibid., p. 708.] + +[Footnote 6: Ibid., 930.] + +[Footnote 7: Drew, _Refugee_, p. 114.] + +[Footnote 8: Simmons, _Men of Mark_, 428] + +[Footnote 9: Ibid., p. 162] + +[Footnote 10: Ibid., p. 1052] + +[Footnote 11: This is their own statement.] + +More schools for slaves existed than white men knew of, for it was +difficult to find them. Fredrika Bremer heard of secret schools for +slaves during her visit to Charleston, but she had extreme difficulty +in finding such an institution. When she finally located one and +gained admission into its quiet chamber, she noticed in a wretched +dark hole a "half-dozen poor children, some of whom had an aspect that +testified great stupidity and mere animal life."[1] She was informed, +too, that there were in Georgia and Florida planters who had +established schools for the education of the children of their slaves +with the intention of preparing them for living as "good free human +beings."[2] Frances Anne Kemble noted such instances in her diary.[3] +The most interesting of these cases was discovered by the Union Army +on its march through Georgia. Unsuspected by the slave power and +undeterred by the terrors of the law, a colored woman by the name of +Deveaux had for thirty years conducted a Negro school in the city of +Savannah.[4] + +[Footnote 1: Bremer, _The Homes of the New World_, vol. ii., p. 499.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, p. 491; Burke, _Reminiscences of Georgia_, p. +85.] + +[Footnote 3: Kemble, _Journal_, etc., p. 34.] + +[Footnote 4: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 340.] + +The city Negroes of Virginia continued to maintain schools despite +the fact that the fear of servile insurrection caused the State to +exercise due vigilance in the execution of the laws. The father of +Richard De Baptiste of Fredericksburg made his own residence a school +with his children and a few of those of his relatives as pupils. +The work was begun by a Negro and continued by an educated +Scotch-Irishman, who had followed the profession of teaching in his +native land. Becoming suspicious that a school of this kind was +maintained at the home of De Baptiste, the police watched the place +but failed to find sufficient evidence to close the institution before +it had done its work.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Simmons, _Men of Mark_, p. 352.] + +In 1854 there was found in Norfolk, Virginia, what the radically +proslavery people considered a dangerous white woman. It was +discovered that one Mrs. Douglass and her daughter had for three years +been teaching a school maintained for the education of Negroes.[1] It +was evident that this institution had not been run so clandestinely +but that the opposition to the education of Negroes in that city had +probably been too weak to bring about the close of the school at an +earlier date. Mrs. Douglass and her pupils were arrested and brought +before the court, where she was charged with violating the laws of the +State. The defendant acknowledged her guilt, but, pleading ignorance +of the law, was discharged on the condition that she would not commit +the same "crime" again. Censuring the court for this liberal decision +the _Richmond Examiner_ referred to it as offering "a very convenient +way of getting out of the scrape." The editor emphasized the fact +that the law of Virginia imposed on such offenders the penalty of one +hundred dollars fine and imprisonment for six months, and that its +positive terms "allowed no discretion in the community magistrate."[2] + +[Footnote 1: Parsons, _Inside View of Slavery_, p. 251; and Lyman, +_Leaven for Doughfaces_, p. 43.] + +[Footnote 2: _13th Annual Report of the American and Foreign +Antislavery Societies_, 1853, p. 143.] + +All such schools, however, were not secretly kept. Writing from +Charleston in 1851 Fredrika Bremer made mention of two colored +schools. One of these was a school for free Negroes kept with open +doors by a white master. Their books which she examined were the same +as those used in American schools for white children.[1] The Negroes +of Lexington, Kentucky, had in 1830 a school in which thirty colored +children were taught by a white man from Tennessee.[2] This gentleman +had pledged himself to devote the rest of his life to the uplift of +his "black brethren."[3] Travelers noted that colored schools were +found also in Richmond, Maysville, Danville, and Louisville decades +before the Civil War.[4] William H. Gibson, a native of Baltimore, was +after 1847 teaching at Louisville in a day and night school with +an enrollment of one hundred pupils, many of whom were slaves with +written permits from their masters to attend.[5] Some years later W.H. +Stewart of that city attended the schools of Henry Adams, W.H. Gibson, +and R.T.W. James. Robert Taylor began his studies there in Robert +Lane's school and took writing from Henry Adams.[6] Negroes had +schools in Tennessee also. R.L. Perry was during these years attending +a school at Nashville.[7] An uncle of Dr. J.E. Moorland spent some +time studying medicine in that city. + +[Footnote 1: Bremer, _The Homes of the New World_, vol. ii., p. 499.] + +[Footnote 2: Abdy, _Journal of a Residence and Tour in U.S.A_., +1833-34, p. 346.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid_., pp. 346-348.] + +[Footnote 4: Tower, _Slavery Unmasked_; Dabney, _Journal of a Tour +through the U.S. and Canada_, p. 185; _Niles Register_, vol. lxxii., +p. 322; and Simmons, _Men of Mark_, p. 631.] + +[Footnote 5: Simmons, _Men of Mark_, p. 603.] + +[Footnote 6: Simmons, _Men of Mark_, p. 629.] + +[Footnote 7: _Ibid._, p. 620.] + +Many of these opportunities were made possible by the desire to +teach slaves religion. In fact the instruction of Negroes after the +enactment of prohibitory laws resembled somewhat the teaching of +religion with letters during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. +Thousands of Negroes like Edward Patterson and Nat Turner learned +to read and write in Sabbath-schools. White men who diffused such +information ran the gauntlet of mobs, but like a Baptist preacher of +South Carolina who was threatened with expulsion from his church, if +he did not desist, they worked on and overcame the local prejudice. +When preachers themselves dared not undertake this task it was often +done by their children, whose benevolent work was winked at as an +indulgence to the clerical profession. This charity, however, was +not restricted to the narrow circle of the clergy. Believing with +churchmen that the Bible is the revelation of God, many laymen +contended that no man should be restrained from knowing his Maker +directly.[1] Negroes, therefore, almost worshiped the Bible, and +their anxiety to read it was their greatest incentive to learn. Many +southerners braved the terrors of public opinion and taught their +Negroes to read the Scriptures. To this extent General Coxe of +Fluvanna County, Virginia, taught about one hundred of his adult +slaves.[2] While serving as a professor of the Military Institute +at Lexington, Stonewall Jackson taught a class of Negroes in a +Sunday-school.[3] + +[Footnote 1: Orr, "An Address on the Need of Education in the South, +1879."] + +[Footnote 2: This statement is made by several of General Coxe's +slaves who are still living.] + +[Footnote 3: _School Journal_, vol. lxxx., p. 332.] + +Further interest in the cause was shown by the Evangelical Society +of the Synods of North Carolina and Virginia in 1834.[1] Later +Presbyterians of Alabama and Georgia urged masters to enlighten their +slaves.[2] The attitude of many mountaineers of Kentucky was well set +forth in the address of the Synod of 1836, proposing a plan for the +instruction and emancipation of the slaves.[3] They complained that +throughout the land, so far as they could learn, there was but one +school in which slaves could be taught during the week. The light +of three or four Sabbath-schools was seen "glittering through the +darkness" of the black population of the whole State. Here and there +one found a family where humanity impelled the master, mistress, or +children, to the laborious task of private instruction. In consequence +of these undesirable conditions the Synod recommended that "slaves be +instructed in the common elementary branches of education."[4] + +[Footnote 1: _African Repository_, vol. x., pp. 174, 205, and 245.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, vol. xi., pp. 140 and 268.] + +[Footnote 3: Goodell, _Slave Code_, pp. 323-324.] + +[Footnote 4: _The Enormity of the Slave Trade, etc_., p. 74.] + +Some of the objects of such charity turned out to be interesting +characters. Samuel Lowry of Tennessee worked and studied privately +under Rev. Mr. Talbot of Franklin College, and at the age of sixteen +was sufficiently advanced to teach with success. He united with the +Church of the Disciples and preached in that connection until 1859.[1] +In some cases colored preachers were judged sufficiently informed, +not only to minister to the needs of their own congregations, but to +preach to white churches. There was a Negro thus engaged in the State +of Florida.[2] Another colored man of unusual intelligence and much +prominence worked his way to the front in Giles County, Tennessee. In +1859 he was the pastor of a Hard-shell Baptist Church, the membership +of which was composed of the best white people in the community. He +was so well prepared for his work that out of a four days' argument +on baptism with a white minister he emerged victor. From this +appreciative congregation he received a salary of from six to seven +hundred dollars a year.[3] + +[Footnote 1: Simmons, _Men of Mark_, p. 144.] + +[Footnote 2: Bremer, _Homes of the New World_, vol. ii., pp. 488-491.] + +[Footnote 3: _The Richmond Enquirer_, July, 1859; and _Afr. +Repository_, vol. xxxv., p. 255.] + +Statistics of this period show that the proportionately largest number +of Negroes who learned in spite of opposition were found among the +Scotch-Irish of Kentucky and Tennessee. Possessing few slaves, and +having no permanent attachment to the institution, those mountaineers +did not yield to the reactionaries who were determined to keep the +Negroes in heathendom. Kentucky and Tennessee did not expressly forbid +the education of the colored people.[1] Conditions were probably +better in Kentucky than in Tennessee. Traveling in Kentucky about this +time, Abdy was favorably impressed with that class of Negroes who +though originally slaves saved sufficient from their earnings to +purchase their freedom and provide for the education of their +children.[2] + +[Footnote 1: In 1830 one-twelfth of the population of Lexington +consisted of free persons of color, who since 1822 had had a Baptist +church served by a member of their own race and a school in which +thirty-two of their children were taught by a white man from +Tennessee. He had pledged himself to devote the rest of his life to +the uplift of his colored brethren. One of these free Negroes in +Lexington had accumulated wealth to the amount of $20,000. In +Louisville, also a center of free colored population, efforts were +being made to educate ambitious Negroes. Travelers noted that colored +schools were found there generations before the Civil War and +mentioned the intelligent and properly speaking colored preachers, +who were bought and supported by their congregations. Charles Dabney, +another traveler through this State in 1837, observed that the slaves +of this commonwealth were taught to read and believed that they were +about as well off as they would have been had they been free. See +Dabney, _Journal of a Tour through the U.S. and Canada_, p. 185.] + +[Footnote 2: Abdy, _Journal of a Tour_, etc., 1833-1834, pp. 346-348.] + +It was the desire to train up white men to carry on the work of their +liberal fathers that led John G. Fee and his colaborers to establish +Berea College in Kentucky. In the charter of this institution was +incorporated the declaration that "God has made of one blood all +nations that dwell upon the face of the earth." No Negroes were +admitted to this institution before the Civil War, but they came in +soon thereafter, some being accepted while returning home wearing +their uniforms.[1] The State has since prohibited the co-education of +the two races. + +[Footnote 1: Catalogue of Berea College, 1896-1897.] + +The centers of this interest in the mountains of Tennessee were +Maryville and Knoxville. Around these towns were found a goodly number +of white persons interested in the elevation of the colored people. +There developed such an antislavery sentiment in the former town that +half of the students of the Maryville Theological Seminary became +abolitionists by 1841.[1] They were then advocating the social uplift +of Negroes through the local organ, the _Maryville Intelligencer_. +From this nucleus of antislavery men developed a community with ideals +not unlike those of Berea.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Some of the liberal-mindedness of the people of Kentucky +and Tennessee was found in the State of Missouri. The question of +slavery there, however, was so ardently discussed and prominently kept +before the people that while little was done to help the Negroes, much +was done to reduce them to the plane of beasts. There was not so much +of the tendency to wink at the violation of the law on the part of +masters in teaching their slaves. But little could be accomplished by +private teachers in the dissemination of information among Negroes +after the free persons of color had been excluded from the State.] + +[Footnote 2: _Fourth Annual Report of the American Antislavery +Society_, New York, 1837, p. 48; and the _New England Antislavery +Almanac_ for 1841, p. 31.] + +The Knoxville people who advocated the enlightenment of the Negroes +expressed their sentiment through the _Presbyterian Witness_. The +editor felt that there was not a solitary argument that might be urged +in favor of teaching a white man that might not as properly be urged +in favor of enlightening a man of color. "If one has a soul that will +never die," said he, "so has the other. Has one susceptibilities of +improvement, mentally, socially, and morally? So has the other. Is one +bound by the laws of God to improve the talents he has received from +the Creator's hands? So is the other. Is one embraced in the command +'Search the Scriptures'? So is the other."[1] He maintained that +unless masters could lawfully degrade their slaves to the condition of +beasts, they were just as much bound to teach them to read the Bible +as to teach any other class of their population. + +[Footnote 1: _African Repository_, vol. xxxii., p. 16.] + +But great as was the interest of the religious element, the movement +for the education of the Negroes of the South did not again become a +scheme merely for bringing them into the church. Masters had more +than one reason for favoring the enlightenment of the slaves. Georgia +slaveholders of the more liberal class came forward about the middle +of the nineteenth century, advocating the education of Negroes as a +means to increase their economic value, and to attach them to their +masters. This subject was taken up in the Agricultural Convention +at Macon in 1850, and was discussed again in a similar assembly +the following year. After some opposition the Convention passed a +resolution calling on the legislature to enact a law authorizing the +education of slaves. The petition was presented by Mr. Harlston, who +introduced the bill embodying this idea, piloted it through the lower +house, but failed by two or three votes to secure the sanction of the +senate.[1] In 1855 certain influential citizens of North Carolina[2] +memorialized their legislature asking among other things that the +slaves be taught to read. This petition provoked some discussion, but +did not receive as much attention as that of Georgia. + +[Footnote 1: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, p. 339] + +[Footnote 2: _African Repository_, vol. xxxi., pp. 117-118.] + +In view of this renewed interest in the education of the Negroes +of the South we are anxious to know exactly what proportion of +the colored population had risen above the plane of illiteracy. +Unfortunately this cannot be accurately determined. In the first +place, it was difficult to find out whether or not a slave could read +or write when such a disclosure would often cause him to be dreadfully +punished or sold to some cruel master of the lower South. Moreover, +statistics of this kind are scarce and travelers who undertook to +answer this question made conflicting statements. Some persons of that +day left records which indicate that only a few slaves succeeded in +acquiring an imperfect knowledge of the common branches, whereas +others noted a larger number of intelligent servants. Arfwedson +remarked that the slaves seldom learned to read; yet elsewhere +he stated that he sometimes found some who had that ability.[1] +Abolitionists like May, Jay, and Garrison would make it seem that the +conditions in the South were such that it was almost impossible for a +slave to develop intellectual power.[2] Rev. C.C. Jones[3] believed +that only an inconsiderable fraction of the slaves could read. +Witnesses to the contrary, however, are numerous. Abdy, Smedes, +Andrews, Bremer, and Olmsted found during their stay in the South +many slaves who had experienced unusual spiritual and mental +development.[4] Nehemiah Adams, giving the southern view of slavery +in 1854, said that large numbers of the slaves could read and +were furnished with the Scriptures.[5] Amos Dresser, who traveled +extensively in the Southwest, believed that one out of every fifty +could read and write.[6] C.G. Parsons thought that five thousand +out of the four hundred thousand slaves of Georgia had these +attainments.[7] These figures, of course, would run much higher were +the free people of color included in the estimates. Combining the two +it is safe to say that ten per cent. of the adult Negroes had the +rudiments of education in 1860, but the proportion was much less than +it was near the close of the era of better beginnings about 1825. + +[Footnote 1: Arfwedson, _The United States and Canada_, p. 331.] + +[Footnote 2: See their pamphlets, addresses, and books referred to +elsewhere.] + +[Footnote 3: Jones, _Religious Instruction of Negroes_, p. 115.] + +[Footnote 4: Redpath, _The Roving Editor_, p. 161.] + +[Footnote 5: Adams, _South-Side View of Slavery_, pp. 52 and 59.] + +[Footnote 6: Dresser, _The Narrative of Amos Dresser_, p. 27; Dabney, +_Journal of a Tour through the United States and Canada_, p. 185.] + +[Footnote 7: Parsons, _Inside View of Slavery_, p. 248.] + + + + +CHAPTER X + +EDUCATING NEGROES TRANSPLANTED TO FREE SOIL + + +While the Negroes of the South were struggling against odds to acquire +knowledge, the more ambitious ones were for various reasons making +their way to centers of light in the North. Many fugitive slaves +dreaded being sold to planters of the lower South, the free blacks of +some of the commonwealths were forced out by hostile legislation, +and not a few others migrated to ameliorate their condition. The +transplanting of these people to the Northwest took place largely +between 1815 and 1850. They were directed mainly to Columbia and +Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Greenwich, New Jersey; and Boston, +Massachusetts, in the East; and to favorable towns and colored +communities in the Northwest.[1] The fugitives found ready helpers +in Elmira, Rochester, Buffalo, New York; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; +Gallipolis, Portsmouth, Akron, and Cincinnati, Ohio; and Detroit, +Michigan.[2] Colored settlements which proved attractive to these +wanderers had been established in Ohio, Indiana, and Canada. That most +of the bondmen in quest of freedom and opportunity should seek the +Northwest had long been the opinion of those actually interested in +their enlightenment. The attention of the colored people had been +early directed to this section as a more suitable place for their +elevation than the jungles of Africa selected by the American +Colonization Society. The advocates of Western colonization believed +that a race thus degraded could be elevated only in a salubrious +climate under the influences of institutions developed by Western +nations. + +[Footnote 1: Siebert, _The Underground Railroad_, p. 32.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, pp. 32 and 37.] + +The rôle played by the Negroes in this migration exhibited the +development of sufficient mental ability to appreciate this truth. +It was chiefly through their intelligent fellows that prior to the +reaction ambitious slaves learned to consider the Northwest Territory +the land of opportunity. Furthermore, restless freedmen, denied +political privileges and prohibited from teaching their children, did +not always choose to go to Africa. Many of them went north of the Ohio +River and took up land on the public domain. Observing this longing +for opportunity, benevolent southerners, who saw themselves hindered +in carrying out their plan for educating the blacks for citizenship, +disposed of their holdings and formed free colonies of their slaves in +the same section. White men of this type thus made possible a new era +of uplift for the colored race by coming north in time to aid the +abolitionists, who had for years constituted a small minority +advocating a seemingly hopeless cause. + +A detailed description of these settlements has no place in this +dissertation save as it has a bearing on the development of education +among the colored people. These settlements, however, are important +here in that they furnish the key to the location of many of the early +colored churches and schools of the North and West. Philanthropists +established a number of Negroes near Sandy Lake in Northwestern +Pennsylvania.[1] There was a colored settlement near Berlin +Crossroads, Ohio.[2] Another group of pioneering Negroes emigrating +to this State found homes in the Van Buren township of Shelby County. +Edward Coles, a Virginian, who in 1818 emigrated to Illinois, of which +he later became Governor, made a settlement on a larger scale. He +brought his slaves to Edwardsville, where they constituted a community +known as "Coles' Negroes."[3] The settlement made by Samuel Gist, an +Englishman possessing extensive plantations in Hanover, Amherst, and +Henrico Counties, Virginia, was still more significant. He provided in +his will that his slaves should be freed and sent to the North. It was +further directed "that the revenue from his plantation the last year +of his life be applied in building schoolhouses and churches for their +accommodation," and "that all money coming to him in Virginia be +set aside for the employment of ministers and teachers to instruct +them."[4] In 1818, Wickham, the executor of this estate, purchased +land and established these Negroes in what was called the Upper and +Lower Camps of Brown County, Ohio. + +[Footnote 1: Siebert, _The Underground Railroad_, p. 249.] + +[Footnote 2: Langston,_From the Virginia Plantation to the National +Capitol_, p. 35.] + +[Footnote 3: Davidson and Stuvé,_A Complete History of Illinois_, pp. +321-322; and Washburne, _Sketch of Edward Cole, Second Governor of +Illinois_, pp. 44 and 53.] + +[Footnote 4: _History of Brown County_, pp. 313 _et seq._; and Lane, +_Fifty Years and over of Akron and Summit County, Ohio_, pp. 579-580.] + +Augustus Wattles, a native of Connecticut, made a settlement of +Negroes in Mercer County early in the nineteenth century.[1] About the +year 1834 many of the freedmen, then concentrating at Cincinnati, were +induced to take up 30,000 acres of land in the same vicinity.[2] John +Harper of North Carolina manumitted his slaves in 1850 and had them +sent to this community.[3] John Randolph of Roanoke freed his slaves +at his death, and provided for the purchase of farms for them in +Mercer County.[4] The Germans, however, would not allow them to take +possession of these lands. Driven later from Shelby County[5] also, +these freedmen finally found homes in Miami County.[7] Then there was +one Saunders, a slaveholder of Cabell County, now West Virginia, who +liberated his slaves and furnished them homes in free territory. They +finally made their way to Cass County, Michigan, where philanthropists +had established a prosperous colored settlement and supplied it +with missionaries and teachers. The slaves of Theodoric H. Gregg +of Dinwiddie County, Virginia, were liberated in 1854 and sent to +Ohio,[7] where some of them were educated. + +[Footnote 1: Howe, _Ohio Historical Collections_, p. 356.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, p. 356.] + +[Footnote 3: Manuscript in the hands of Dr. J.E. Moreland.] + +[Footnote 4: _The African Repository_, vol. xxii., pp. 322-323.] + +[Footnote 5: Howe, _Ohio Historical Collections_, p. 465.] + +[Footnote 6: _Ibid._, p. 466.] + +[Footnote 7: Simmons, _Men of Mark_, p. 723.] + +Many free persons of color of Virginia and Kentucky went north about +the middle of the nineteenth century. The immediate cause in Virginia +was the enactment in 1838 of a law prohibiting the return of such +colored students as had been accustomed to go north to attend school +after they were denied this privilege in that State.[1] Prominent +among these seekers of better opportunities were the parents +of Richard De Baptiste. His father was a popular mechanic of +Fredericksburg, where he for years maintained a secret school.[2] A +public opinion proscribing the teaching of Negroes was then rendering +the effort to enlighten them as unpopular in Kentucky as it was in +Virginia. Thanks to a benevolent Kentuckian, however, an important +colored settlement near Xenia, Greene County, Ohio, was then taking +shape. The nucleus of this group was furnished about 1856 by Noah +Spears, who secured small farms there for sixteen of his former +bondmen.[3] The settlement was not only sought by fugitive slaves +and free Negroes, but was selected as the site for Wilberforce +University.[4] + +[Footnote 1: Russell, _The Free Negro in Virginia_, Johns Hopkins +University Studies, Series xxxi., No. 3, p. 492; and _Acts of the +General Assembly of Virginia_, 1848, p. 117.] + +[Footnote 2: Simmons, _Men of Mark_, p. 352.] + +[Footnote 3: Wright, "Negro Rural Communities" (_Southern Workman_, +vol. xxxvii., p. 158).] + +[Footnote 4: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, p. 373; and +_Non-Slaveholder_, vol. ii., p. 113.] + +During the same period, and especially from 1820 to 1835, a more +continuous and effective migration of southern Negroes was being +promoted by the Quakers of Virginia and North Carolina.[1] One of +their purposes was educational. Convinced that the "buying, selling, +and holding of men in slavery" is a sin, these Quakers with a view to +future manumission had been "careful of the moral and intellectual +training of such as they held in servitude."[2] To elevate their +slaves to the plane of men, southern Quakers early hit upon the scheme +of establishing in the Northwest such Negroes as they had by education +been able to equip for living as citizens. When the reaction in the +South made it impossible for the Quakers to continue their policy of +enlightening the colored people, these philanthropists promoted the +migration of the blacks to the Northwest Territory with still greater +zeal. Most of these settlements were made in Hamilton, Howard, Wayne, +Randolph, Vigo, Gibson, Grant, Rush, and Tipton Counties, Indiana, and +in Darke County, Ohio.[3] Prominent among these promoters was Levi +Coffin, the Quaker Abolitionist of North Carolina, and reputed +President of the Underground Railroad. He left his State and settled +among Negroes at Newport, Indiana.[4] Associated with these leaders +also were Benjamin Lundy of Tennessee and James G. Birney, once a +slaveholder of Huntsville, Alabama. The latter manumitted his slaves +and apprenticed and educated some of them in Ohio.[5] + +[Footnote 1: Wright, "Negro Rural Communities" (_Southern Workman_, +vol. xxxvii., p. 158); and Bassett, _Slavery in North Carolina_, p. +68.] + +[Footnote 2: A Brief Statement of the Rise and Progress of the +Testimony, etc.] + +[Footnote 3: Wright, "Rural Negro Communities in Indiana" (_Southern +Workman_, vol. xxxvii., pp. 162-166); and Bassett, _Slavery in North +Carolina_, pp. 67 and 68.] + +[Footnote 4: Coffin, _Reminiscences_, p. 106.] + +[Footnote 5: Birney, _James G. Birney and His Times_, p. 139.] + +The importance of this movement to the student of education lies in +the fact that it effected an unequal distribution of intelligent +Negroes. The most ambitious and enlightened ones were fleeing to free +territory. As late as 1840 there were more intelligent blacks in the +South than in the North.[1] The number of southern colored people who +could read was then decidedly larger than that of such persons found +in the free States. The continued migration of Negroes to the North, +despite the operation of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, made this +distribution more unequal. While the free colored population of the +slave States increased only 23,736 from 1850 to 1860, that of the +free States increased 29,839. In the South only Delaware, Georgia, +Maryland, and North Carolina showed a noticeable increase in the +number of free persons of color during the decade immediately +preceding the Civil War. This element of the population had only +slightly increased in Alabama, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, +Virginia, Louisiana, South Carolina, and the District of Columbia. The +number of free Negroes of Florida remained practically constant. Those +of Arkansas, Mississippi, and Texas diminished. In the North, of +course, the tendency was in the other direction. With the exception of +Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York, which had about the same +free colored population in 1860 as they had in 1850, there was a +general increase in the number of Negroes in the free States. Ohio +led in this respect having had during this period an increase of +11,394.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Jones, _Religious Instruction of the Negroes_, p. 115.] + +[Footnote 2: See statistics on pages 237-240.] + +On comparing the educational statistics of these sections this truth +becomes more apparent. In 1850 there were 4,354 colored children +attending school in the South, but by 1860 this number had dropped +to 3,651. Slight increases were noted only in Alabama, Missouri, +Delaware, South Carolina, and the District of Columbia. Georgia +and Mississippi had then practically deprived all Negroes of this +privilege. The former, which reported one colored child as attending +school in 1850, had just seven in 1860; the latter had none in 1850 +and only two in 1860. In all other slave States the number of pupils +of African blood had materially decreased.[1] In the free States there +were 22,107 colored children in school in 1850, and 28,978 in 1860. +Most of these were in New Jersey, Ohio, New York, and Pennsylvania, +which in 1860 had 2,741; 5,671; 5,694; and 7,573, respectively.[2] + +[Footnote 1: STATISTICS OF THE FREE COLORED POPULATION OF THE + UNITED STATES IN 1850 + + ATTENDING ADULTS UNABLE + SCHOOL TO READ + STATE Population Males Females Total Males Females Total + + Alabama 2,265 33 35 68 108 127 235 + Arkansas 608 6 5 11 61 55 116 + California 962 1 0 1 88 29 117 + Connecticut 7,693 689 575 1,264 292 273 567 + Delaware 18,073 92 95 187 2,724 2,921 5,645 + Florida 932 29 37 66 116 154 270 + Georgia 2,931 1 0 1 208 259 467 + Illinois 5,436 162 161 323 605 624 1,229 + Indiana 11,262 484 443 927 1,024 1,146 2,170 + Iowa 333 12 5 17 15 18 33 + Kentucky 10,011 128 160 288 1,431 1,588 3,029 + Louisiana 17,462 629 590 1,219 1,038 2,351 3,389 + Maine 1,356 144 137 281 77 58 135 + Maryland 74,723 886 730 1,616 9,422 11,640 21,062 + Massachusetts 9,064 726 713 1,439 375 431 806 + Michigan 2,583 106 101 207 201 168 369 + Mississippi 930 0 0 0 75 48 123 + Missouri 2,618 23 17 40 271 226 497 + New Hampshire 520 41 32 73 26 26 52 + New Jersey 23,810 1,243 1,083 2,326 2,167 2,250 4,417 + New York 49,069 2,840 2,607 5,447 3,387 4,042 7,429 + North Carolina 27,463 113 104 217 3,099 3,758 6,857 + Ohio 25,279 1,321 1,210 2,531 2,366 2,624 4,990 + Pennsylvania 53,626 3,385 3,114 6,499 4,115 5,229 9,344** + [** was 6,344 in error.**] + Rhode Island 3,670 304 247 551 130 137 267 + South Carolina 8,960 54 26 80 421 459 880 + Tennessee 6,422 40 30 70 506 591 1,097 + Texas 397 11 9 20 34 24 58 + Vermont 718 58 32 90 32 19 51 + Virginia 54,333 37 27 64 5,141 6,374 11,515 + Wisconsin 635 32 35 67 55 37 92 + District of + Columbia 10,059 232 235 467 1,106 2,108 3,214 + Minnesota 30 0 2 2 0 0 0 + New Mexico 207 0 0 0 0 0 0 + Oregon 24 2 0 2 3 2 5 + Utah 22 0 0 0 1 0 1 + + Total 434,495 13,864 12,597 26,461 40,722 49,800 90,522 + + See Sixth Census of the United States, 1850.] + +[Footnote 2: See statistics on pages 237-240.] + +The report on illiteracy shows further the differences resulting from +the divergent educational policies of the two sections. In 1850 there +were in the slave States 58,444 adult free Negroes who could not read, +and in 1860 this number had reached 59,832. In all such commonwealths +except Arkansas, Louisiana, Florida, and Mississippi there was an +increase in illiteracy among the free blacks. These States, however, +were hardly exceptional, because Arkansas and Mississippi had suffered +a decrease in their free colored population, that of Florida had +remained the same, and the difference in the case of Louisiana was +very slight. The statistics of the Northern States indicate just the +opposite trend. Notwithstanding the increase of persons of color +resulting from the influx of the migrating element, there was in all +free States exclusive of California, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, +Ohio, and Pennsylvania a decrease in the illiteracy of Negroes. But +these States hardly constitute exceptions; for California, Wisconsin, +and Minnesota had very few colored inhabitants in 1850, and the others +had during this decade received so many fugitives in the rough that +race prejudice and its concomitant drastic legislation impeded the +educational progress of their transplanted freedmen.[1] In the +Northern States where this condition did not obtain, the benevolent +whites had, in coöperation with the Negroes, done much to reduce +illiteracy among them during these years. + +[Footnote 1: STATISTICS OF THE FREE COLORED POPULATION OF THE UNITED +STATES IN 1860 + + STATE Population| ATTENDING SCHOOL | ADULTS UNABLE TO READ + +----- +----- +------ +-------- +------- +---- + -- + Males | Males + Females | Females + Total | Total + ---------------- +-------- +----- +------- +------- +------- +------- + +------ + Alabama 2,690 48 65 114 192 263 455 + Arkansas 144 3 2 5 10 13 23 + California 4,086 69 84 153 497 207 704 + Connecticut 8,627 737 641 1,378 181 164 345 + Delaware 19,829 122 128 250 3,056 3,452 6,508 + Florida 932 3 6 9 48 72 120 + Georgia 3,500 3 4 7 255 318 573 + Illinois 7,628 264 347 611 632 695 1,327 + Indiana 11,428 570 552 1,122 869 904 1,773 + Iowa 1,069 77 61 138 92 77 169 + Kansas 625 8 6 14 25 38 63 + Kentucky 10,684 102 107 209 1,113 1,350 2,463 + Louisiana 18,647 153 122 275 485 717 1,202 + Maine 1,327 148 144 292 25 21 46 + Maryland 83,942 687 668 1,355 9,904 11,795 21,699 + Massachusetts 9,602 800 815 1,615 291 368 659 + Michigan 6,797 555 550 1,105 558 486 1,044 + Minnesota 259 8 10 18 6 6 12 + Mississippi 773 0 2 2 50 60 110 + Missouri 3,572 76 79 155 371 514 885 + New Hampshire 494 49 31 80 15 19 34 + New Jersey 25,318 1,413 1,328 2,741 1,720 2,085 3,805 + New York 49,005 2,955 2,739 5,694 2,653 3,260 5,913 + North Carolina 30,463 75 58 133 3,067 3,782 6,849 + Ohio 36,673 2,857 2,814 5,671 2,995 3,191 6,186 + Oregon 128 0 0 2 7 5 12 + Pennsylvania 56,949 3,882 3,691 7,573 3,893 5,466 9,359 + Rhode Island 3,952 276 256 532 119 141 260 + South Carolina 9,914 158 207 365 633 783 1,416 + Tennessee 7,300 28 24 52 743 952 1,695 + Texas 355 4 7 11 25 37 62 + Vermont 709 65 50 115 27 20 47 + Virginia 58,042 21 20 41 5,489 6,008 12,397 + Wisconsin 1,171 62 50 112 53 45 98 + + TERRITORIES + + Colorado 46 No returns + Dakota 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 + District Columbia 11,131 315 363 678 1,131 2,224 3,375 + Nebraska 67 1 1 2 6 7 13 + Nevada 45 0 0 0 6 1 7 + New Mexico 85 0 0 0 12 15 27 + Utah 30 0 0 0 0 0 0 + Washington 30 0 0 0 1 0 1 + + Total 488,070 16,594 16,035 32,629 41,275 50,461 91,736 + + See Seventh Census of the United States, vol. 1.] + +How the problem of educating these people on free soil was solved can +be understood only by keeping in mind the factors of the migration. +Some of these Negroes had unusual capabilities. Many of them had +in slavery either acquired the rudiments of education or developed +sufficient skill to outwit the most determined pursuers. Owing so +much to mental power, no man was more effective than the successful +fugitive in instilling into the minds of his people the value of +education. Not a few of this type readily added to their attainments +to equip themselves for the best service. Some of them, like Reverend +Josiah Henson, William Wells Brown, and Frederick Douglass, became +leaders, devoting their time not only to the cause of abolition, but +also to the enlightenment of the colored people. Moreover, the free +Negroes migrating to the North were even more effective than the +fugitive slaves in advancing the cause of education.[1] A larger +number of the former had picked up useful knowledge. In fact, the +prohibition of the education of the free people of color in the South +was one of the reasons they could so readily leave their native +homes.[2] The free blacks then going to the Northwest Territory proved +to be decidedly helpful to their benefactors in providing colored +churches and schools with educated workers, who otherwise would have +been brought from the East at much expense. + +[Footnote 1: Howe, _The Refugee from Slavery_, p. 77.] + +[Footnote 2: Russell, _The Free Negro in Virginia_ (Johns Hopkins +University Studies, series xxxi., No. 3, p. 107).] + +On perusing this sketch the educator naturally wonders exactly what +intellectual progress was made by these groups on free soil. This +question cannot be fully answered for the reason that extant records +give no detailed account of many colored settlements which underwent +upheaval or failed to endure. In some cases we learn simply that a +social center flourished and was then destroyed. On "Black Friday," +January 1, 1830, eighty Negroes were driven out of Portsmouth, Ohio, +at the request of one or two hundred white citizens, set forth in an +urgent memorial.[1] After the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law of +1850 the colored population of Columbia, Pennsylvania, dropped from +nine hundred and forty-three to four hundred and eighty-seven.[2] The +Negro community in the northwestern part of that State was broken up +entirely.[3] The African Methodist and Baptist churches of Buffalo +lost many communicants. Out of a membership of one hundred and +fourteen, the colored Baptist church of Rochester lost one hundred and +twelve, including its pastor. About the same time eighty-four members +of the African Baptist church of Detroit crossed into Canada.[4] The +break-up of these churches meant the end of the day and Sunday-schools +which were maintained in them. Moreover, the migration of these +Negroes aroused such bitter feeling against them that their +schoolhouses were frequently burned. It often seemed that it was just +as unpopular to educate the blacks in the North as in the South. Ohio, +Illinois, and Oregon enacted laws to prevent them from coming into +those commonwealths. + +[Footnote 1: Evans, _A History of Scioto County, Ohio_, p. 613.] + +[Footnote 2: Siebert, _The Underground Railroad_, p. 249.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid_., p. 249.] + +[Footnote 4: _Ibid_., p. 250.] + +We have, however, sufficient evidence of large undertakings to educate +the colored people then finding homes in less turbulent parts beyond +the Ohio. In the first place, almost every settlement made by the +Quakers was a center to which Negroes repaired for enlightenment. +In other groups where there was no such opportunity, they had the +coöperation of certain philanthropists in providing facilities for +their mental and moral development. As a result, the free blacks had +access to schools and churches in Hamilton, Howard, Randolph, Vigo, +Gibson, Rush, Tipton, Grant, and Wayne counties, Indiana,[1] and +Madison, Monroe, and St. Clair counties, Illinois. There were colored +schools and churches in Logan, Clark, Columbiana, Guernsey, Jefferson, +Highland, Brown, Darke, Shelby, Green, Miami, Warren, Scioto, Gallia, +Ross, and Muskingum counties, Ohio.[2] Augustus Wattles said that with +the assistance of abolitionists he organized twenty-five such schools +in Ohio counties after 1833.[3] Brown County alone had six. Not many +years later a Negro settlement in Gallia County, Ohio, was paying a +teacher fifty dollars a quarter.[4] + +[Footnote 1: Wright, "Negro Rural Communities in Indiana," _Southern +Workman_, vol. xxxvii., p. 165; Boone, _The History of Education in +Indiana_, p. 237; and Simmons, _Men of Mark_, pp. 590 and 948.] + +[Footnote 2: Simmons, _Men of Mark_, p. 948; and Hickok, _The Negro in +Ohio_, p. 85.] + +[Footnote 3: Howe, _Historical Collections of Ohio_, p. 355.] + +[Footnote 4: Hickok, _The Negro in Ohio_, p. 89.] + +Still better colored schools were established in Pittsburgh, +Pennsylvania, and in Springfield, Columbus, and Cincinnati, Ohio. +While the enlightenment of the few Negroes in Pittsburgh did not +require the systematic efforts put forth to elevate the race +elsewhere, much was done to provide them educational facilities in +that city. Children of color first attended the white schools there +just as they did throughout the State of Pennsylvania.[1] But when +larger numbers of them collected in this gateway to the Northwest, +either race feeling or the pressing needs of the migrating freedmen +brought about the establishment of schools especially adapted to their +instruction. Such efforts were frequent after 1830.[2] John Thomas +Johnson, a teacher of the District of Columbia, moved to Pittsburgh +in 1838 and became an instructor in a colored school of that city.[3] +Cleveland had an "African School" as early as 1832. John Malvin, the +moving spirit of the enterprise in that city, organized about that +time "The School Fund Society" which established other colored schools +in Cincinnati, Columbus, and Springfield.[4] + +[Footnote 1: Wickersham, _Education in Pennsylvania_, p. 248.] + +[Footnote 2: _Life of Martin R. Delaney_, p. 33.] + +[Footnote 3: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 214.] + +[Footnote 4: Hickok, _The Negro in Ohio_, p. 88.] + +The concentration of the freedmen and fugitives at Cincinnati was +followed by efforts to train them for higher service. The Negroes +themselves endeavored to provide their own educational facilities in +opening in 1820 the first colored school in that city. This school +did not continue long, but another was established the same year. +Thereafter one Mr. Wing, who kept a private institution, admitted +persons of color to his evening classes. On account of a lack of +means, however, the Negroes of Cincinnati did not receive any +systematic instruction before 1834. After that year the tide turned in +favor of the free blacks of that section, bringing to their assistance +a number of daring abolitionists, who helped them to educate +themselves. Friends of the race, consisting largely of the students of +Lane Seminary, had then organized colored Sunday and evening schools, +and provided for them scientific and literary lectures twice a week. +There was a permanent colored school in Cincinnati in 1834. In 1835 +the Negroes of that city contributed $150 of the $1000 expended for +their education. Four years later, however, they raised $889.03 for +this purpose, and thanks to their economic progress, this sacrifice +was less taxing than that of 1835.[1] In 1844 Rev. Hiram Gilmore +opened there a high school which among other students attracted P.B.S. +Pinchback, later Governor of Louisiana. Mary E. Miles, a graduate +of the Normal School at Albany, New York, served as an assistant of +Gilmore after having worked among her people in Massachusetts and +Pennsylvania.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Ibid._, p. 83.] + +[Footnote 1: Delany, _The Condition of the Colored People_, etc., +132.] + +The educational advantages given these people were in no sense +despised. Although the Negroes of the Northwest did not always keep +pace with their neighbors in things industrial they did not permit +the white people to outstrip them much in education. The freedmen +so earnestly seized their opportunity to acquire knowledge and +accomplished so much in a short period that their educational progress +served to disabuse the minds of indifferent whites of the idea that +the blacks were not capable of high mental development.[1] The +educational work of these centers, too, tended not only to produce men +capable of ministering to the needs of their environment, but to serve +as a training center for those who would later be leaders of their +people. Lewis Woodson owed it to friends in Pittsburgh that he became +an influential teacher. Jeremiah H. Brown, T. Morris Chester, James T. +Bradford, M.R. Delany, and Bishop Benjamin T. Tanner obtained much +of their elementary education in the early colored schools of that +city.[2] J.C. Corbin, a prominent educator before and after the Civil +War, acquired sufficient knowledge at Chillicothe, Ohio, to qualify in +1848 as an assistant in Rev. Henry Adams's school in Louisville.[3] +John M. Langston was for a while one of Corbin's fellow-students at +Chillicothe before the former entered Oberlin. United States Senator +Hiram Revels of Mississippi spent some time in a Quaker seminary in +Union County, Indiana.[4] Rev. J.T. White, one of the leading spirits +of Arkansas during the Reconstruction, was born and educated in Clark +County in that State.[5] Fannie Richards, still a teacher at Detroit, +Michigan, is another example of the professional Negro equipped +for service in the Northwest before the Rebellion.[6] From other +communities of that section came such useful men as Rev. J.W. Malone, +an influential minister of Iowa; Rev. D.R. Roberts, a very successful +pastor of Chicago; Bishop C.T. Shaffer of the African Methodist +Episcopal Church; Rev. John G. Mitchell, for many years the Dean of +the Theological Department of Wilberforce University; and President +S.T. Mitchell, once the head of the same institution.[7] + +[Footnote 1: This statement is based on the accounts of various +western freedmen.] + +[Footnote 2: Simmons, _Men of Mark_, p. 113.] + +[Footnote 3: Simmons, _Men of Mark_, p. 829.] + +[Footnote 4: _Ibid._, p. 948.] + +[Footnote 5: _Ibid._, p. 590.] + +[Footnote 6: _Ibid._, p. 1023.] + +[Footnote 7: Wright, "Negro Rural Communities in Indiana," _Southern +Workman_, vol. xxxvii., p. 169.] + +In the colored settlements of Canada the outlook for Negro education +was still brighter. This better opportunity was due to the high +character of the colonists, to the mutual aid resulting from the +proximity of the communities, and to the coöperation of the Canadians. +The previous experience of most of these adventurers as sojourners in +the free States developed in them such noble traits that they did not +have to be induced to ameliorate their condition. They had already +come under educative influences which prepared them for a larger task +in Canada. Fifteen thousand of sixty thousand Negroes in Canada in +1860 were free born.[1] Many of those, who had always been free, fled +to Canada[2] when the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 made it possible +for even a dark-complexioned Caucasian to be reduced to a state of +bondage. Fortunately, too, these people settled in the same section. +The colored settlements at Dawn, Colchester, Elgin, Dresden, Windsor, +Sandwich, Queens, Bush, Wilberforce, Hamilton, St. Catherines, +Chatham, Riley, Anderton, Maiden, Gonfield, were all in Southern +Ontario. In the course of time the growth of these groups produced a +population sufficiently dense to facilitate coöperation in matters +pertaining to social betterment. The uplift of the refugees was made +less difficult also by the self-denying white persons who were their +first teachers and missionaries. While the hardships incident to this +pioneer effort all but baffled the ardent apostle to the lowly, he +found among the Canadian whites so much more sympathy than among the +northerners that his work was more agreeable and more successful than +it would have been in the free States. Ignoring the request that the +refugees be turned from Canada as undesirables, the white people of +that country protected and assisted them.[3] Canadians later underwent +some change in their attitude toward their newcomers, but these +British-Americans never exhibited such militant opposition to the +Negroes as sometimes developed in the Northern States.[4] + +[Footnote 1: Siebert, _The Underground Railroad_, p. 222.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, pp. 247-250.] + +[Footnote 3: Siebert, _The Underground Railroad_, pp. 201 and 233.] + +[Footnote 4: _Ibid._, 233.] + +The educational privileges which the refugees hoped to enjoy in +Canada, however, were not easily exercised. Under the Canadian law +they could send their children to the common schools, or use their +proportionate share of the school funds in providing other educational +facilities.[1] But conditions there did not at first redound to the +education of the colored children.[2] Some were too destitute to +avail themselves of these opportunities; others, unaccustomed to this +equality of fortune, were timid about having their children mingle +with those of the whites, and not a few clad their youths so poorly +that they became too unhealthy to attend regularly[3]. Besides, race +prejudice was not long in making itself the most disturbing factor. +In 1852 Benjamin Drew found the minds of the people of Sandwich much +exercised over the question of admitting Negroes into the public +schools. The same feeling was then almost as strong in Chatham, +Hamilton, and London[4]. Consequently, "partly owing to this +prejudice, and partly to their own preference, the colored people, +acting under the provision of the law that allowed them to have +separate schools, set up their own schools in Sandwich and in many +other parts of Ontario"[5]. There were separate schools at Colchester, +Amherstburg, Sandwich, Dawn, and Buxton[6]. It was doubtless because +of the rude behavior of white pupils toward the children of the blacks +that their private schools flourished at London, Windsor, and other +places[7]. The Negroes, themselves, however, did not object to the +coeducation of the races. Where there were a few white children +in colored settlements they were admitted to schools maintained +especially for pupils of African descent.[8] In Toronto no distinction +in educational privileges was made, but in later years there +flourished an evening school for adults of color.[9] + +[Footnote 1: Howe, _The Refugees from Slavery_, p. 77.] + +[Footnote 2: Drew said: "The prejudice against the African race is +here [Canada] strongly marked. It had not been customary to levy +school taxes on the colored people. Some three or four years since a +trustee assessed a school tax on some of the wealthy citizens of that +class. They sent their children at once into the public school. As +these sat down the white children near them deserted the benches: and +in a day or two the white children were wholly withdrawn, leaving the +schoolhouse to the teacher and his colored pupils. The matter was +at last 'compromised': a notice 'Select School' was put on the +schoolhouse: the white children were selected _in_ and the black were +selected _out_." See Drew's. _A North-side View of Slavery_, etc., p. +341.] + + +[Footnote 3: Mitchell, _The Underground Railroad_, pp. 140, 164, and +165.] + +[Footnote 4: Drew, _A North-side View of Slavery_, pp. 118, 147, 235, +and 342.] + +[Footnote 5: _Ibid_., p. 341.] + +[Footnote 6: Siebert, _The Underground Railroad_, p. 229.] + +[Footnote 7: _Ibid_., p. 229.] + +[Footnote 8: _First Annual Report of the Anti-slavery Society of +Canada_, 1852, Appendix, p. 22.] + +[Footnote 9: _Ibid_., p. 15.] + +The most helpful schools, however, were not those maintained by the +state. Travelers in Canada found the colored mission schools with +a larger attendance and doing better work than those maintained at +public expense.[1] The rise of the mission schools was due to the +effort to "furnish the conditions under which whatever appreciation +of education there was native in a community of Negroes, or whatever +taste for it could be awakened there," might be "free to assert itself +unhindered by real or imagined opposition."[2] There were no such +schools in 1830, but by 1838 philanthropists had established the first +mission among the Canadian refugees.[3] The English Colonial Church +and School Society organized schools at London, Amherstburg, and +Colchester. Certain religious organizations of the United States sent +ten or more teachers to these settlements.[4] In 1839 these workers +were conducting four schools while Rev. Hiram Wilson, their inspector, +probably had several other institutions under his supervision.[5] In +1844 Levi Coffin found a large school at Isaac Rice's mission at Fort +Maiden or Amherstburg.[6] Rice had toiled among these people six +years, receiving very little financial aid, and suffering unusual +hardships.[7] Mr. E. Child, a graduate of Oneida Institute, was later +added to the corps of mission teachers.[8] In 1852 Mrs. Laura S. +Haviland was secured to teach the school of the colony of "Refugees' +Home," where the colored people had built a structure "for school and +meeting purposes."[9] On Sundays the schoolhouses and churches were +crowded by eager seekers, many of whom lived miles away. Among these +earnest students a traveler saw an aged couple more than eighty +years old.[10] These elementary schools broke the way for a higher +institution at Dawn, known as the Manual Labor Institute. + +[Footnote 1: Drew, _A North-side View of Slavery_, pp. 118, 147, 235, +341, and 342.] + +[Footnote 2: Siebert, _The Underground Railroad_, p. 229.] + +[Footnote 3: _Father Henson's Story of His Own Life_, p. 209.] + +[Footnote 4: _First Annual Report of the Anti-slavery Society of +Canada_, 1852, p. 22.] + +[Footnote 5: Siebert, _The Underground Railroad_, p. 199.] + +[Footnote 6: "While at this place we made our headquarters at Isaac J. +Rice's missionary buildings, where he had a large school for colored +children. He had labored here among the colored people, mostly +fugitives, for six years. He was a devoted, self-denying worker, had +received very little pecuniary help, and had suffered many privations. +He was well situated in Ohio as pastor of a Presbyterian Church, and +had fine prospects before him, but believed that the Lord called him +to this field of missionary labor among the fugitive slaves, who +came here by hundreds and by thousands, poor, destitute, ignorant, +suffering from all the evil influences of slavery. We entered into +deep sympathy with him and his labors, realizing the great need there +was here for just such an institution as he had established. He had +sheltered at his missionary home many hundred of fugitives till other +homes for them could be found. This was the great landing point, the +principal terminus of the Underground Railroad of the West." See +Coffin's _Reminiscences_, p. 251.] + +[Footnote 7: _Ibid_., pp. 249-251.] + +[Footnote 8: Siebert, _The Underground Railroad_, p. 202.] + +[Footnote 9: Haviland, _A Woman's Work_, pp. 192, 196, 201.] + +[Footnote 10: Haviland, _A Woman's Work_, pp. 192, 193.] + +With these immigrants, however, this was not a mere passive +participation in the work of their amelioration. From the very +beginning the colored people partly supported their schools. Without +the coöperation of the refugees the large private schools at London, +Chatham, and Windsor could not have succeeded. The school at Chatham +was conducted by Alfred Whipper,[1] a colored man, that at Windsor by +Mary E. Bibb, the wife of Henry Bibb,[2] the founder of the Refugees' +Home Settlement, and that at Sandwich by Mary Ann Shadd, of +Delaware.[3] Moreover, the majority of these colonists showed +increasing interest in this work of social uplift.[4] Foregoing their +economic opportunities many of the refugees congregated in towns of +educational facilities. A large number of them left their first abodes +to settle near Dresden and Dawn because of the advantages offered +by the Manual Labor Institute. Besides, the Negroes organized "True +Bands" which effected among other things the improvement of schools +and the increase of their attendance[5]. + +[Footnote 1: Drew, _A North-side View of Slavery_, p. 236.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., p. 322.] + +[Footnote 3: Delany, _The Condition of the Colored People_, etc., +131.] + +[Footnote 4: Howe, _The Refugees from Slavery_, pp. 70, 71, 108, and +110.] + +[Footnote 5: According to Drew a True Band was composed of colored +persons of both sexes, associated for their own improvement. "Its +objects," says he, "are manifold: mainly these:--the members are to +take a general interest in each other's welfare; to pursue such plans +and objects as may be for their mutual advantage; to improve all +schools, and to induce their race to send their children into the +schools; to break down all prejudice; to bring all churches as far as +possible into one body, and not let minor differences divide them; to +prevent litigation by referring all disputes among themselves to a +committee; to stop the begging system entirely (that is, going to the +United States and thereby representing that the fugitives are starving +and suffering, raising large sums of money, of which the fugitives +never receive the benefit,--misrepresenting the character of the +fugitives for industry and underrating the advance of the country, +which supplies abundant work for all at fair wages); to raise such +funds among themselves as may be necessary for the poor, the sick, +and the destitute fugitive newly arrived; and prepare themselves +ultimately to bear their due weight of political power." See Drew, _A +North-side View of Slavery_, p. 236.] + +The good results of these schools were apparent. In the same degree +that the denial to slaves of mental development tended to brutalize +them the teaching of science and religion elevated the fugitives in +Canada. In fact, the Negroes of these settlements soon had ideals +differing widely from those of their brethren less favorably +circumstanced. They believed in the establishment of homes, respected +the sanctity of marriage, and exhibited in their daily life a moral +sense of the highest order. Travelers found the majority of them +neat, orderly, and intelligent[1]. Availing themselves of their +opportunities, they quickly qualified as workers among their fellows. +An observer reported in 1855 that a few were engaged in shop keeping +or were employed as clerks, while a still smaller number devoted +themselves to teaching and preaching.[2] Before 1860 the culture of +these settlements was attracting the colored graduates of northern +institutions which had begun to give men of African blood an +opportunity to study in their professional schools. + +[Footnote 1: According to the report of the Freedmen's Inquiry +Commission published by S.G. Howe, an unusually large proportion of +the colored population believed in education. He says: "Those from the +free States had very little schooling in youth; those from the slave +States, none at all. Considering these things it is rather remarkable +that so many can now read and write. Moreover, they show their esteem +for instruction by their desire to obtain it for their children. They +all wish to have their children go to school, and they send them all +the time that they can be spared. + +"Canada West has adopted a good system of public instruction, which +is well administered. The common schools, though inferior to those of +several of the States of the United States, are good. Colored children +are admitted to them in most places; and where a separate school is +open for them, it is as well provided by the government with teachers +and apparatus as the other schools are. Notwithstanding the growing +prejudice against blacks, the authorities evidently mean to deal +justly by them in regard to instruction; and even those who advocate +separate schools, promise that they shall be equal to white schools. + +"The colored children in the mixed schools do not differ in their +general appearance and behavior from their white comrades. They are +usually clean and decently clad. They look quite as the whites; and +are perhaps a little more mirthful and roguish. The association +is manifestly beneficial to the colored children." See Howe, _The +Refugees_, etc., p. 77.] + +[Footnote 2: Siebert, _The Underground Railroad_, p. 226.] + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +HIGHER EDUCATION + + +The development of the schools and churches established for these +transplanted freedmen made more necessary than ever a higher education +to develop in them the power to work out their own salvation. It +was again the day of thorough training for the Negroes. Their +opportunities for better instruction were offered mainly by the +colonizationists and abolitionists.[1] Although these workers had +radically different views as to the manner of elevating the colored +people, they contributed much to their mental development. The more +liberal colonizationists endeavored to furnish free persons of +color the facilities for higher education with the hope that their +enlightenment would make them so discontented with this country +that they would emigrate to Liberia. Most southern colonizationists +accepted this plan but felt that those permanently attached to this +country should be kept in ignorance; for if they were enlightened, +they would either be freed or exterminated. During the period of +reaction, when the elevation of the race was discouraged in the North +and prohibited in most parts of the South, the colonizationists +continued to secure to Negroes, desiring to expatriate themselves, +opportunities for education which never would have been given those +expecting to remain in the United States.[2] + +[Footnote 1: The views of the abolitionists at that time were well +expressed by Garrison in his address to the people of color in the +convention assembled in Philadelphia in 1830. He encouraged them to +get as much education as possible for themselves and their offspring, +to toil long and hard for it as for a pearl of great price. "An +ignorant people," said he, "can never occupy any other than a degraded +place in society; they can never be truly free until they are +intelligent. It is an old maxim that knowledge is power; and not only +is it power but rank, wealth, dignity, and protection. That capital +brings highest return to a city, state, or nation (as the case may +be) which is invested in schools, academies, and colleges. If I had +children, rather than that they should grow up in ignorance, I would +feed upon bread and water: I would sell my teeth, or extract the blood +from my veins." See _Minutes of the Proceedings of the Convention for +the Improvement of the Free People of Color_, 1830, pages 10, 11.] + +[Footnote 2: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, pp. +213-214; and _The African Repository_, under the captions of +"Education in Liberia," and "African Education Societies," _passim_.] + +The policy of promoters of African colonization, however, did not +immediately become unprogressive. Their plan of education differed +from previous efforts in that the objects of their philanthropy were +to be given every opportunity for mental growth. The colonizationists +had learned from experience in educating Negroes that it was necessary +to begin with the youth.[1] These workers observed, too, that the +exigencies of the time demanded more advanced and better endowed +institutions to prepare colored men to instruct others in science and +religion, and to fit them for "civil offices in Liberia and Hayti."[2] +To execute this scheme the leaders of the colonization movement +endeavored to educate Negroes in "mechanic arts, agriculture, science, +and Biblical literature."[3] Exceptionally bright youths were to +be given special training as catechists, teachers, preachers, and +physicians.[4] A southern planter offered a plantation for the +establishment of a suitable institution of learning,[5] a few masters +sent their slaves to eastern schools to be educated, and men organized +"education societies" in various parts to carry out this work at +shorter range. In 1817 colonizationists opened at Pasippany, New +Jersey, a school to give a four-year course to "African youth" who +showed "talent, discretion, and piety" and were able to read and +write.[6] Twelve years later another effort was made to establish a +school of this kind at Newark in that State,[7] while other promoters +of that faith were endeavoring to establish a similar institution at +Hartford, Connecticut,[8] all hoping to make use of the Kosciuszko +fund.[9] + +[Footnote 1: _African Repository_, vol. i., p. 277.] + +[Footnote 2: _African Repository_, vol. ii., p. 223.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid._, vol. xxviii., pp. 271, 347; Child, _An Appeal_, +p. 144.] + +[Footnote 4: _African Repository_, vol. i., p. 277.] + +[Footnote 5: _Report of the Proceedings at the Organization of the +African Education Society_, p. 9.] + +[Footnote 6: _African Repository_, vol. i., p. 276, and Griffin, _A +Plea for Africa_, p. 65.] + +[Footnote 7: _African Repository_, vol. iv., pp. 186, 193, and 375; +and vol. vi., pp. 47, 48, 49, and _Report of the Proceedings of the +African Education Society_, p. 7.] + +[Footnote 8: _Ibid_., pp. 7 and 8 and _African Repository_, vol. iv., +p. 375.] + +[Footnote 9: What would become of this plan depended upon the changing +fortunes of the men concerned. Kosciuszko died in 1817; and as Thomas +Jefferson refused to take out letters testamentary under this will, +Benjamin Lincoln Lear, a trustee of the African Education Society, who +intended to apply for the whole fund, was appointed administrator of +it. The fund amounted to about $16,000. Later Kosciuszko Armstrong +demanded of the administrator $3704 bequeathed to him by T. Kosciuszko +in a will alleged to have been executed in Paris in 1806. The bill was +dismissed by the Circuit Court of the District of Columbia, and the +decision of the lower Court was confirmed by the United States Supreme +Court in 1827 on the grounds that the said will had not been admitted +to probate anywhere. To make things still darker just about the +time the trustees of the African Education Society were planning to +purchase a farm and select teachers and mechanics to instruct the +youth, the heirs of General Kosciuszko filed a bill against Mr. +Lear in the Supreme Court of the United States on the ground of the +invalidity of the will executed by Kosciuszko in 1798. The death of +Mr. Lear in 1832 and that of William Wirt, the Attorney-General of +the United States, soon thereafter, caused a delay in having the case +decided. The author does not know exactly what use was finally made of +this fund. See _African Repository_, vol. it., pp. 163, 233; also 7 +Peters, 130, and 8 Peters, 52.] + +The schemes failed, however, on account of the unyielding opposition +of the free Negroes and abolitionists. They could see no philanthropy +in educating persons to prepare for doom in a deadly climate. The +convention of the free people of color assembled in Philadelphia in +1830, denounced the colonization movement as an evil, and urged their +fellows not to support it. Pointing out the impracticability of such +schemes, the convention encouraged the race to take steps toward its +elevation in this country.[1] Should the colored people be properly +educated, the prejudice against them would not continue such as to +necessitate their expatriation. The delegates hoped to establish a +Manual Labor College at New Haven that Negroes might there acquire +that "classical knowledge which promotes genius and causes man to soar +up to those high intellectual enjoyments and acquirements which place +him in a situation to shed upon a country and people that scientific +grandeur which is imperishable by time, and drowns in oblivion's cup +their moral degradation."[2] + +[Footnote 1: Williams, _History of the Negro Race_, p. 67.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, p. 68; and _Minutes of the Proceedings of the +Third Convention for the Improvement of the Free People of Color_, pp. +9, 10, and 11.] + +Influential abolitionists were also attacking this policy of the +colonizationists. William Jay, however, delivered against them such +diatribes and so wisely exposed their follies that the advocates +of colonization learned to consider him as the arch enemy of their +cause.[1] Jay advocated the education of the Negroes for living +where they were. He could not see how a Christian could prohibit or +condition the education of any individual. To do such a thing was +tantamount to preventing him from having a direct revelation of God. +How these "educators" could argue that on account of the hopelessness +of the endeavors to civilize the blacks they should be removed to a +foreign country, and at the same time undertake to provide for them +there the same facilities for higher education that white men enjoyed, +seemed to Jay to be facetiously inconsistent.[2] If the Africans could +be elevated in their native land and not in America, it was due to the +Caucasians' sinful condition, for which the colored people should not +be required to suffer the penalty of expatriation.[3] The desirable +thing to do was to influence churches and schools to admit students of +color on terms of equality with all other races. + +[Footnote 1: Reese, _Letters to Honorable William Jay._] + +[Footnote 2: Jay, _Inquiry_, p. 26; and _Letters_, p. 21.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid._, p. 22.] + +Encountering this opposition, the institutions projected by the +colonization society existed in name only. Exactly how and why the +organization failed to make good with its educational policy is well +brought out by the wailing cry of one of its promoters. He asserted +that "every endeavor to divert the attention of the community or even +a portion of the means which the present so imperatively calls for, +from the colonization society to measures calculated to bind the +colored population to this country and seeking to raise them to a +level with the whites, whether by founding colleges or in any other +way, tends directly in the proportion that it succeeds, to counteract +and thwart the whole plan of colonization."[1] The colonizationists, +therefore, desisted from their attempt to provide higher education for +any considerable number of the belated race. Seeing that they could +not count on the support of the free persons of color, they feared +that those thus educated would be induced by the abolitionists to +remain in the United States. This would put the colonizationists in +the position of increasing the intelligent element of the colored +population, which was then regarded as a menace to slavery. +Consequently these timorous "educators" did practically nothing +during the reactionary period to carry out their plan of establishing +colleges. + +[Footnote 1: Hodgkin, _Inquiry into the Merits of the Am. Col. Soc._, +p. 31.] + +Thereafter the colonizationists found it advisable to restrict their +efforts to individual cases. Not much was said about what they were +doing, but now and then appeared notices of Negroes who had been +privately prepared in the South or publicly in the North for +professional work in Liberia. Dr. William Taylor and Dr. Fleet were +thus educated in medicine in the District of Columbia.[1] In the +same way John V. DeGrasse, of New York, and Thomas J. White,[2] of +Brooklyn, were allowed to complete the Medical Course at Bowdoin in +1849. Garrison Draper, who had acquired his literary education at +Dartmouth, studied law in Baltimore under friends of the colonization +cause, and with a view to going to Liberia passed the examination of +the Maryland Bar in 1857.[3] In 1858 the Berkshire Medical School +graduated two colored doctors, who were gratuitously educated by the +American Colonization Society. The graduating class thinned out, +however, and one of the professors resigned because of their +attendance.[4] + +[Footnote 1: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, and +_African Repository_, vol. x., p. 10.] + +[Footnote 2: _Niles Register_, vol. lxxv., p. 384.] + +[Footnote 3: _African Repository_, vol. xxxiv., pp. 26 and 27.] + +[Footnote 4: _Ibid._, p. 30.] + +Not all colonizationists, however, had submitted to this policy of +mere individual preparation of those emigrating to Liberia. Certain of +their organizations still believed that it was only through educating +the free people of color sufficiently to see their humiliation that a +large number of them could be induced to leave this country. As long +as they were unable to enjoy the finer things of life, they could not +be expected to appreciate the value and use of liberty. It was +argued that instead of remaining in this country to wage war on its +institutions, the highly enlightened Negroes would be glad to go to a +foreign land.[1] By this argument some colonizationists were induced +to do more for the general education of the free blacks than they +had considered it wise to do during the time of the bold attempts at +servile insurrection.[2] In fact, many of the colored schools of the +free States were supported by ardent colonizationists. + +[Footnote 1: Boone, _The History of Education in Indiana_, p. 237; and +_African Repository_, vol. xxx., p. 195.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, p. 195.] + + +The later plan of most colonizationists, however, was to educate the +emigrating Negroes after they settled in Liberia. Handsome sums +were given for the establishment of schools and colleges in which +professorships were endowed for men educated at the expense of +churches and colonization societies.[1] The first institution of +consequence in this field was the Alexander High School. To this +school many of the prominent men of Liberia owed the beginning of +their liberal education. The English High School at Monrovia, the +Baptist Boarding School at Bexley, and the Protestant Episcopal High +School at Cape Palmas also offered courses in higher branches.[2] +Still better opportunities were given by the College of West Africa +and Liberia College. The former was founded in 1839 as the head of a +system of schools established by the Methodist Episcopal Church in +every county of the Republic.[3] Liberia College was at the request +of its founders, the directors of the American Colonization Society, +incorporated by the legislature of the country in 1851. As it took +some time to secure adequate funds, the main building was not +completed, and students were not admitted before 1862. + +[Footnote 1: _African Repository_, under the caption of "Education in +Liberia" in various volumes; and Alexander, _A History of Col._, pp. +348, 391.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, p. 348.] + +[Footnote 3: Monroe, _Cyclopaedia of Education_, vol. iv., p. 6.] + +Though the majority of the colored students scoffed at the idea of +preparing for work in Liberia their education for service in the +United States was not encouraged. No Negro had graduated from a +college before 1828, when John B. Russworm, a classmate of Hon. John +P. Hale, received his degree from Bowdoin.[1] During the thirties +and forties, colored persons, however well prepared, were generally +debarred from colleges despite the protests of prominent men. We have +no record that as many as fifteen Negroes were admitted to higher +institutions in this country before 1840. It was only after much +debate that Union College agreed to accept a colored student on +condition that he should swear that he had no Negro blood in his +veins.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Dyer, Speech in Congress on the Progress of the Negro, +1914.] + +[Footnote 2: Clarke, _The Condition of the Free People of Color_, +1859, p. 3, and the _Sixth Annual Report of the American Antislavery +Society_, p. 11.] + +Having had such a little to encourage them to expect a general +admission into northern institutions, free blacks and abolitionists +concluded that separate colleges for colored people were necessary. +The institution demanded for them was thought to have an advantage +over the aristocratic college in that labor would be combined with +study, making the stay at school pleasant and enabling the poorest +youth to secure an education.[1] It was the kind of higher institution +which had already been established in several States to meet the needs +of the illiterate whites. Such higher training for the Negroes was +considered necessary, also, because their intermediate schools were +after the reaction in a languishing state. The children of color were +able to advance but little on account of having nothing to stimulate +them. The desired college was, therefore, boomed as an institution to +give the common schools vigor, "to kindle the flame of emulation," +"to open to beginners discerning the mysteries of arithmetic other +mysteries beyond," and above all to serve them as Yale or Harvard did +as the capstone of the educational system of the other race.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Proceedings of the Third Convention of Free People of +Color held in Philadelphia in 1836_, pp. 7 and 8; _Ibid., Fourth +Annual Convention_, p. 26; _Proceedings of the New England Antislavery +Society_, 1836, p. 40.] + +[Footnote 2: _Minutes and Proceedings of the Third Annual Convention +of the Free People of Color_, 1836; Garrison's Address.] + +In the course of time these workers succeeded in various communities. +The movement for the higher education of the Negroes of the District +of Columbia centered largely around the academy established by Miss +Myrtilla Miner, a worthy young woman of New York. After various +discouragements in seeking a special preparation for life's work, she +finally concluded that she should devote her time to the moral and +intellectual improvement of Negroes.[1] She entered upon her career in +Washington in 1851 assisted by Miss Anna Inman, a native of New York, +and a member of the Society of Friends. After teaching the girls +French one year Miss Inman returned to her home in Southfield, Rhode +Island.[2] Finding it difficult to get a permanent location, Miss +Miner had to move from place to place among colored people who were +generally persecuted and threatened with conflagration for having a +white woman working among them. Driven to the extremity of building +a schoolhouse for her purpose, she purchased a lot with money raised +largely by Quakers of New York, Philadelphia, and New England, and +by Harriet Beecher Stowe.[3] Miss Miner had also the support of Mrs. +Means, an aunt of the wife of President Franklin Pierce, and of United +States Senator W.H. Seward.[4] Effective opposition, however, was not +long in developing. Articles appeared in the newspapers protesting +against this policy of affording Negroes "a degree of instruction so +far above their social and political condition which must continue in +this and every other slaveholding community."[5] Girls were insulted, +teachers were abused along the streets, and for lack of police +surveillance the house was set afire in 1860. It was sighted, however, +in time to be saved.[6] + +[Footnote 1: O'Connor, _Myrtilla Miner_, pp. 11, 12.] + +[Footnote 2: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 207.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid._, 1871, p. 208.] + +[Footnote 4: _Ibid._, pp. 208, 209, and 210.] + +[Footnote 5: _The National Intelligencer._] + +[Footnote 6: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 209.] + +Undisturbed by these efforts to destroy the institution, Miss Miner +persisted in carrying out her plan for the higher education of colored +girls of the District of Columbia. She worked during the winter, and +traveled during the summer to solicit friends and contributions to +keep the institution on that higher plane where she planned it should +be. She had the building well equipped with all kinds of apparatus, +utilized the ample ground for the teaching of horticulture, collected +a large library, and secured a number of paintings and engravings with +which she enlightened her pupils on the finer arts. In addition to the +conventional teaching of seminaries of that day, Miss Miner provided +lectures on scientific and literary subjects by the leading men of +that time, and trained her students to teach.[1] She hoped some day to +make the seminary a first-class teachers' college. During the Civil +War, however, it was difficult for her to find funds, and health +having failed her in 1858 she died in 1866 without realizing this +dream.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 210.] + +[Footnote 2: Those who assisted her were Helen Moore, Margaret Clapp, +Anna H. Searing, Amanda Weaver, Anna Jones, Matilda Jones, and Lydia +Mann, the sister of Horace Mann, who helped Miss Miner considerably +in 1856 at the time of her failing health. Emily Holland was her firm +supporter when the institution was passing through the crisis, and +stood by her until she breathed her last. See _Special Report of the +U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 210.] + + +Earlier in the nineteenth century the philanthropists of Pennsylvania +had planned to establish for Negroes several higher institutions. +Chief among these was the Institute for Colored Youth. The founding +of an institution of this kind had been made possible by Richard +Humphreys, a Quaker, who, on his death in 1832, devised to a Board +of Trustees the sum of $10,000 to be used for the education of the +descendants of the African race.[1] As the instruction of Negroes was +then unpopular, no steps were taken to carry out this plan until 1839. +The Quakers then appointed a Board and undertook to execute this +provision of Humphreys's will. In conformity with the directions of +the donor, the Board of Trustees endeavored to give the colored +youth the opportunity to obtain a good education and acquire useful +knowledge of trades and commercial occupations. Humphreys desired that +"they might be enabled to obtain a comfortable livelihood by their +own industry, and fulfill the duties of domestic and social life +with reputation and fidelity as good citizens and pious men."[2] +Accordingly they purchased a tract of land in Philadelphia County and +taught a number of boys the principles of farming, shoemaking, and +other useful occupations. + +[Footnote 1: Wickersham, _History of Education in Pa._, p. 249.] + +[Footnote 2: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 379.] + + +Another stage in the development of this institution was reached in +1842, the year of its incorporation. It then received several small +contributions and the handsome sum of $18,000 from another Quaker, +Jonathan Zane. As it seemed by 1846 that the attempt to combine the +literary with the industrial work had not been successful, it was +decided to dispose of the industrial equipment and devote the funds of +the institution to the maintenance of an evening school. An effort at +the establishment of a day school was made in 1850, but it was not +effected before 1852. A building was then erected in Lombard Street +and the school known thereafter as the Institute for Colored Youth was +opened with Charles L. Reason of New York in charge. Under him the +institution was at once a success in preparing advanced pupils of +both sexes for the higher vocations of teaching and preaching. The +attendance soon necessitated increased accommodations for which Joseph +Dawson and other Quakers liberally provided in later years.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Special Report of the United States Com. of Ed._, 1871, +p. 380.] + +This favorable tendency in Pennsylvania led to the establishment of +Avery College at Alleghany City. The necessary fund was bequeathed by +Rev. Charles Avery, a rich man of that section, who left an estate of +about $300,000 to be applied to the education and Christianization of +the African race.[1] Some of this fund was devoted to missionary +work in Africa, large donations were made to colored institutions of +learning, and another portion was appropriated to the establishment +of Avery College. This institution was incorporated in 1849. Soon +thereafter it advertised for students, expressing willingness to make +every provision without regard to religious proclivities. The school +had a three-story brick building, up-to-date apparatus for teaching +various branches of natural science, a library of all kinds +of literature, and an endowment of $25,000 to provide for its +maintenance. Rev. Philotas Dean, the only white teacher connected with +this institution, was its first principal. He served until 1856 when +he was succeeded by his assistant, M.H. Freeman, who in 1863 was +succeeded by George B. Vashon. Miss Emma J. Woodson was an assistant +in the institution from 1856 to 1867. After the din of the Civil War +had ceased the institution took on new life, electing a new corps of +teachers, who placed the work on a higher plane. Among these were Rev. +H.H. Garnett, president, B.K. Sampson, Harriet C. Johnson, and Clara +G. Toop.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _African Repository_, vol. xxxiv., p. 156.] + +[Footnote 2: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 381.] + +It was due also to the successful forces at work in Pennsylvania that +the Ashmun Institute, now Lincoln University, was established in that +State. The need of higher education having come to the attention of +the Presbytery of New Castle, that body decided to establish within +its limits an institution for the "scientific, classical, and +theological education of the colored youth of the male sex." In 1853 +the Synod approved the plans of the founders and provided that the +institution should be under the supervision and control of the +Presbytery or Synod within whose bounds it might be located. A +committee to solicit funds, find a site, and secure a charter for the +school was appointed. They selected for the location Hensonville, +Chester County, Pennsylvania.[1] The legislature incorporated the +institution in 1854 with John M. Dickey, Alfred Hamilton, Robert P. +DuBois, James Latta, John B. Spottswood, James Crowell, Samuel J. +Dickey, Alfred Hamilton, John M. Kelton, and William Wilson as +trustees. Sufficient buildings and equipment having been provided by +1856, the doors of this institution were opened to young colored men +seeking preparation for work in this country and Liberia.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Baird, _A Collection_, etc., p. 819.] + +[Footnote 2: _Special Report of the United States Com. of Ed._, 1871, +p. 382.] + +An equally successful plan of workers in the West resulted in the +founding of the first higher institution to be controlled by Negroes. +Having for some years believed that the colored people needed a +college for the preparation of teachers and preachers, the Cincinnati +Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in session in 1855 +appointed Rev. John F. Wright as general agent to execute this design. +Addressing themselves immediately to this task Rev. Mr. Wright and his +associates solicited from philanthropic persons by 1856 the amount of +$13,000. The agents then made the purchase payment on the beautiful +site of Tawawa Springs, long known as the healthy summer resort near +Xenia, Ohio.[1] That same year the institution was incorporated as +Wilberforce University. From 1856 to 1862 the school had a fair +student body, consisting of the mulatto children of southern +slaveholders.[2] When these were kept away, however, by the operations +of the Civil War, the institution declined so rapidly that it had to +be closed for a season. Thereafter the trustees appealed again to the +African Methodist Episcopal Church which in 1856 had declined the +invitation to coöperate with the founders. The colored Methodists had +adhered to their decision to operate Union Seminary, a manual labor +school, which they had started near Columbus, Ohio.[3] The proposition +was accepted, however, in 1862. For the amount of the debt of $10,000 +which the institution had incurred while passing through the crisis, +Rev. Daniel A. Payne and his associates secured the transfer of +the property to the African Methodist Episcopal Church. These new +directors hoped to develop a first-class university, offering courses +in law, medicine, literature, and theology. The debt being speedily +removed the school showed evidences of new vigor, but was checked in +its progress by an incendiary, who burned the main building while the +teachers and pupils were attending an emancipation celebration at +Xenia, April 14, 1865. With the amount of insurance received and +donations from friends, the trustees were able to construct a more +commodious building which still marks the site of these early +labors.[4] + +[Footnote 1: _The Non-Slaveholder_, vol. ii., p. 113.] + +[Footnote 2: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, pp. +372-373.] + +[Footnote 3: _History of Greene County, Ohio_, chapter on Wilberforce; +and _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 373.] + +[Footnote 4: _The Non-Slaveholder_, vol. ii., p. 113.] + +A brighter day for the higher education of the colored people at home, +however, had begun to dawn during the forties. The abolitionists +were then aggressively demanding consideration for the Negroes. Men +"condescended" to reason together about slavery and the treatment of +the colored people. The northern people ceased to think that they had +nothing to do with these problems. When these questions were openly +discussed in the schools of the North, students and teachers gradually +became converted to the doctrine of equality in education. This +revolution was instituted by President C.B. Storrs, of Western Reserve +College, then at Hudson, Ohio. His doctrine in regard to the training +of the mind "was that men are able to be made only by putting youth +under the responsibilities of men." He, therefore, encouraged the free +discussion of all important subjects, among which was the appeal of +the Negroes for enlightenment. This policy gave rise to a spirit of +inquiry which permeated the whole school. The victory, however, was +not easy. After a long struggle the mind of the college was carried by +irresistible argument in favor of fair play for colored youth. This +institution had two colored students as early as 1834.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _First Annual Report of the American Anti-Slavery +Society_, p. 42.] + +Northern institutions of learning were then reaching the third stage +in their participation in the solution of the Negro problem. At first +they had to be converted even to allow a free discussion of the +question; next the students on being convinced that slavery was a sin, +sought to elevate the blacks thus degraded; and finally these workers, +who had been accustomed to instructing the neighboring colored people, +reached the conclusion that they should be admitted to their schools +on equal footing with the whites. Geneva College, then at Northfield, +Ohio, now at Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, was being moved in this +manner.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _First Annual Report of the American Anti-slavery +Society_, 1834. p. 43.] + +Lane Seminary, however, is the best example of a school which passed +through the three stages of this revolution. This institution was +peculiar in that the idea of establishing it originated with a +southerner, a merchant of New Orleans. It was founded largely by funds +of southern Presbyterians, was located in Cincinnati about a mile from +slave territory, and was attended by students from that section.[1] +When the right of free discussion swept the country many of the +proslavery students were converted to abolition. To southerners it +seemed that the seminary had resolved itself into a society for the +elevation of the free blacks. Students established Sabbath-schools, +organized Bible classes, and provided lectures for Negroes ambitious +to do advanced work. Measures were taken to establish an academy for +colored girls, and a teacher was engaged. But these noble efforts put +forth so near the border States soon provoked firm opposition from +the proslavery element. Some of the students had gone so far in the +manifestation of their zeal that the institution was embarrassed by +the charge of promoting the social equality of the races.[2] Rather +than remain in Cincinnati under restrictions, the reform element of +the institution moved to the more congenial Western Reserve where a +nucleus of youth and their instructors had assumed the name of Oberlin +College. This school did so much for the education of Negroes before +the Civil War that it was often spoken of as an institution for the +education of the people of color. + +[Footnote 1: _Ibid_., p. 43.] + +[Footnote 2: _First Annual Report of the American Anti-Slavery +Society_, p. 43.] + +Interest in the higher education of the neglected race, however, was +not confined to a particular commonwealth. Institutions of other +States were directing their attention to this task. Among others were +a school in New York City founded by a clergyman to offer Negroes an +opportunity to study the classics,[1] New York Central College at +McGrawville, Oneida Institute conducted by Beriah Green at Whitesboro, +Thetford Academy of Vermont, and Union Literary Institute in the +center of the communities of freedmen transplanted to Indiana. Many +other of our best institutions were opening their doors to students of +African descent. By 1852 colored students had attended the Institute +at Easton, Pennsylvania; the Normal School of Albany, New York; +Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine; Rutland College, Vermont; Jefferson +College, Pennsylvania; Athens College, Athens, Ohio; Franklin College, +New Athens, Ohio; and Hanover College near Madison, Indiana. Negroes +had taken courses at the Medical School of the University of New York; +the Castleton Medical School in Vermont; the Berkshire Medical School, +Pittsfield, Massachusetts; the Rush Medical School in Chicago; the +Eclectic Medical School of Philadelphia; the Homeopathic College of +Cleveland; and the Medical School of Harvard University. Colored +preachers had been educated in the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, +Pennsylvania; the Dartmouth Theological School; and the Theological +Seminary of Charleston, South Carolina.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Simmons, _Men of Mark_, p. 530.] + +[Footnote 2: These facts are taken from M.R. Delany's _The Condition, +Elevation, Emigration, and Destiny of the Colored People of the United +States Practically Considered_, published in 1852; the _Reports of +the Antislavery and Colonization Societies_, and _The African +Repository_.] + +Prominent among those who brought about this change in the attitude +toward the education of the free blacks was Gerrit Smith, one of +the greatest philanthropists of his time. He secured privileges for +Negroes in higher institutions by extending aid to such as would open +their doors to persons of color. In this way he became a patron of +Oneida Institute, giving it from $3,000 to $4,000 in cash and 3,000 +acres of land in Vermont. Because of the hospitality of Oberlin to +colored students he gave the institution large sums of money and +20,000 acres of land in Virginia valued at $50,000. New York Central +College which opened its doors alike to both races obtained from him +several donations.[1] This gentleman proceeded on the presumption that +it is the duty of the white people to elevate the colored and that the +education of large numbers of them is indispensable to the uplift of +the degraded classes.[2] He wanted them to have the opportunity for +obtaining either a common or classical education; and hoped that they +would go out from our institutions well educated for any work to +which they might be called in this country or abroad.[3] He himself +established a colored school at Peterboro, New York. As this +institution offered both industrial and literary courses we shall +have occasion to mention it again. Both a cause and result of the +increasing interest in the higher education of Negroes was that these +unfortunates had made good with what little training they had. Many +had by their creative power shown what they could do in business,[4] +some had convinced the world of the inventive genius of the man of +color,[5] others had begun to rank as successful lawyers,[6] not a +few had become distinguished physicians,[7] and scores of intelligent +Negro preachers were ministering to the spiritual needs of their +people.[8] S.R. Ward, a scholar of some note, was for a few years the +pastor of a white church at Courtlandville, New York. Robert Morris +had been honored by the appointment as Magistrate by the Governor of +Massachusetts, and in New Hampshire another man of African blood had +been elected to the legislature.[9] + +[Footnote 1: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed_., 1871, p. 367.] + +[Footnote 2: _African Repository_, vol. x., p. 312.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid_., p. 312.] + +[Footnote 4: Among these were John B. Smith, Coffin Pitts, Robert +Douglas, John P. Bell, Augustus Washington, Alexander S. Thomas, Henry +Boyd, P.H. Ray, and L.T. Wilcox.] + +[Footnote 5: A North Carolina Negro had discovered a cure for +snakebite; Henry Blair, a slave of Maryland, had invented a +corn-planter; and Roberts of Philadelphia had made a machine for +lifting railway cars from the tracks.] + +[Footnote 6: The most noted of these lawyers were Robert Morris, +Malcolm B. Allen, G.B. Vashon, and E.G. Walker.] + +[Footnote 7: The leading Negroes of this class were T. Joiner White, +Peter Ray, John DeGrasse, David P. Jones, J. Gould Bias, James Ulett, +Martin Delany, and John R. Peck. James McCrummill, Joseph Wilson, +Thos. Kennard, and Wm. Nickless were noted colored dentists of +Philadelphia.] + +[Footnote 8: The prominent colored preachers of that day were Titus +Basfield, B.F. Templeton, W.T. Catto, Benjamin Coker, John B. Vashon, +Robert Purvis, David Ruggles, Philip A. Bell, Charles L. Reason, +William Wells Brown, Samuel L. Ward, James McCune Smith, Highland +Garnett, Daniel A. Payne, James C. Pennington, M. Haines, and John F. +Cook.] + +[Footnote 9: Baldwin, _Observations_, etc., p. 44.] + +Thanks to the open doors of liberal schools, the race could boast of a +number of efficient educators.[1] There were Martin H. Freeman, John +Newton Templeton, Mary E. Miles, Lucy Stratton, Lewis Woodson, John +F. Cook, Mary Ann Shadd, W.H. Allen, and B.W. Arnett. Professor C.L. +Reason, a veteran teacher of New York City, was then so well educated +that in 1844 he was called to the professorship of Belles-Lettres and +the French Language in New York Central College. Many intelligent +Negroes who followed other occupations had teaching for their +avocation. In fact almost every colored person who could read and +write was a missionary teacher among his people. + +[Footnote 1: James B. Russworm, an alumnus of Bowdoin, was the first +Negro to receive a degree from a college in this country.] + +In music, literature, and journalism the Negroes were also doing well. +Eliza Greenfield, William Jackson, John G. Anderson, and William Appo +made their way in the musical world. Lemuel Haynes, a successful +preacher to a white congregation, took up theology about 1815. Paul +Cuffee wrote an interesting account of Sierra Leone. Rev. Daniel +Coker published a book on slavery in 1810. Seven years later came +the publication of the _Law and Doctrine of the African Methodist +Episcopal Church_ and the _Standard Hymnal_ written by Richard Allen. +In 1836 Rev. George Hogarth published an addition to this volume and +in 1841 brought forward the first magazine of the sect. Edward W. +Moore, a colored teacher of white children in Tennessee, wrote an +arithmetic. C.L. Remond of Massachusetts was then a successful +lecturer and controversialist. James M. Whitefield, George Horton, +and Frances E.W. Harper were publishing poems. H.H. Garnett and J.C. +Pennington, known to fame as preachers, attained success also as +pamphleteers. R.B. Lewis, M.R. Delany, William Nell, and Catto +embellished Negro history; William Wells Brown wrote his _Three Years +in Europe_; and Frederick Douglass, the orator, gave the world his +creditable autobiography. More effective still were the journalistic +efforts of the Negro intellect pleading its own cause. [1] Colored +newspapers varying from the type of weeklies like _The North Star_ to +that of the modern magazine like _The Anglo-African_ were published in +most large towns and cities of the North. + +[Footnote 1: In 1827 John B. Russworm and Samuel B. Cornish began the +publication of _The Freedom's Journal_, appearing afterward as +_Rights to All_. Ten years later P.A. Bell was publishing _The Weekly +Advocate_. From 1837 to 1842 Bell and Cornish edited _The Colored +Man's Journal_, while Samuel Ruggles sent from his press _The Mirror +of Liberty_. In 1847, one year after the appearance of Thomas Van +Rensselaer's _Ram's Horn_, Frederick Douglass started _The North Star_ +at Rochester, while G. Allen and Highland Garnett were appealing to +the country through _The National Watchman_ of Troy, New York. That +same year Martin R. Delany brought out _The Pittsburg Mystery_, and +others _The Elevator_ at Albany, New York. At Syracuse appeared The +_Impartial Citizen_ established by Samuel R. Ward in 1848, three years +after which L.H. Putnam came before the public in New York City with +_The Colored Man's Journal_. Then came _The Philadelphia Freeman_, +_The Philadelphia Citizen_, _The New York Phalanx_, _The Baltimore +Elevator_, and _The Cincinnati Central Star_. Of a higher order was +_he Anglo-African_, a magazine published in New York in 1859 by Thomas +Hamilton, who was succeeded in editorship by Robert Hamilton and +Highland Garnett. In 1852 there were in existence _The Colored +American_, _The Struggler_, _The Watchman_, _The Ram's Horn_, _The +Demosthenian Shield_, _The National Reformer_, _The Pittsburg +Mystery_, _The Palladium of Liberty_, _The Disfranchised American_, +_The Colored Citizen_, _The National Watchman_, _The Excelsior_, +_The Christian Herald_, _The Farmer_, _The Impartial Citizen_, _The +Northern Star_ of Albany, and The _North Star_ of Rochester.] + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +VOCATIONAL TRAINING + + +Having before them striking examples of highly educated colored men +who could find no employment in the United States, the free Negroes +began to realize that their preparation was not going hand in hand +with their opportunities. Industrial education was then emphasized as +the proper method of equipping the race for usefulness. The advocacy +of such training, however, was in no sense new. The early anti-slavery +men regarded it as the prerequisite to emancipation, and the +abolitionists urged it as the only safe means of elevating the +freedmen. But when the blacks, converted to this doctrine, began to +enter the higher pursuits of labor during the forties and fifties, +there started a struggle which has been prolonged even into our day. +Most northern white men had ceased to oppose the enlightenment of the +free people of color but still objected to granting them economic +equality. The same investigators that discovered increased facilities +of conventional education for Negroes in 1834 reported also that there +existed among the white mechanics a formidable prejudice against +colored artisans.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Minutes of the Fourth Annual Convention for the +Improvement of the Free People of Color_, p. 26.] + +In opposing the encroachment of Negroes on their field of labor the +northerners took their cue from the white mechanics in the South. At +first laborers of both races worked together in the same room and at +the same machine.[1] But in the nineteenth century, when more white +men in the South were condescending to do skilled labor and trying to +develop manufactures, they found themselves handicapped by competition +with the slave mechanics. Before 1860 most southern mechanics, +machinists, local manufacturers, contractors, and railroad men with +the exception of conductors were Negroes.[2] Against this custom +of making colored men such an economic factor the white mechanics +frequently protested.[3] The riots against Negroes occurring in +Cincinnati, Philadelphia, New York, and Washington during the thirties +and forties owed their origin mainly to an ill feeling between the +white and colored skilled laborers.[4] The white artisans prevailed +upon the legislatures of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Georgia to enact +measures hostile to their rivals.[5] In 1845 the State of Georgia made +it a misdemeanor for a colored mechanic to make a contract for the +repair or the erection of buildings.[6] The people of Georgia, +however, were not unanimously in favor of keeping the Negro artisan +down. We have already observed that at the request of the Agricultural +Convention of that State in 1852 the legislature all but passed a bill +providing for the education of slaves to increase their efficiency and +attach them to their masters.[7] + +[Footnote 1: Buckingham, _Slave States of America_, vol. ii., p. 112.] + +[Footnote 2: Du Bois and Dill, _The Negro American Artisan_, p. 36.] + +[Footnote 3: Du Bois and Dill, _The Negro American Artisan_, pp. 31, +32, 33.] + +[Footnote 4: Du Bois and Dill, _The Negro American Artisan_, p. 34, +and _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 365.] + +[Footnote 5: Du Bois and Dill, _The Negro American Artisan_, pp. 31, +32.] + +[Footnote 6: Du Bois and Dill, _The Negro American Artisan_, p. 32.] + +[Footnote 7: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 339.] + +It was unfortunate that the free people of color in the North had +not taken up vocational training earlier in the century before the +laboring classes realized fraternal consciousness. Once pitted against +the capitalists during the Administration of Andrew Jackson the +working classes learned to think that their interests differed +materially from those of the rich, whose privileges had multiplied at +the expense of the poor. Efforts toward effecting organizations to +secure to labor adequate protection began to be successful during +Van Buren's Administration. At this time some reformers were boldly +demanding the recognition of Negroes by all helpful groups. One of the +tests of the strength of these protagonists was whether or not they +could induce the mechanics of the North to take colored workmen to +supply the skilled laborers required by the then rapid economic +development of our free States. Would the whites permit the blacks +to continue as their competitors after labor had been elevated above +drudgery? To do this meant the continuation of the custom of taking +youths of African blood as apprentices. This the white mechanics of +the North generally refused to do.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Minutes of the Third Annual Convention of the Free +People of Color_, p. 18.] + +The friends of the colored race, however, were not easily discouraged +by that "vulgar race prejudice which reigns in the breasts of working +classes."[1] Arthur Tappan, Gerrit Smith, and William Lloyd Garrison +made the appeal in behalf of the untrained laborers.[2] Although they +knew the difficulties encountered by Negroes seeking to learn trades, +and could daily observe how unwilling master mechanics were to receive +colored boys as apprentices, the abolitionists persisted in saying +that by perseverance these youths could succeed in procuring +profitable situations.[3] Garrison believed that their failure to find +employment at trades was not due so much to racial differences as to +their lack of training. Speaking to the free people of color in their +convention in Philadelphia in 1831, he could give them no better +advice than that "wherever you can, put your children to trades. A +good trade is better than a fortune, because when once obtained it +cannot be taken away." Discussing the matter further, he said: "Now, +there can be no reason why your sons should fail to make as ingenious +and industrious mechanics, as any white apprentices; and when they +once get trades, they will be able to accumulate money; money begets +influence, and influence respectability. Influence, wealth, and +character will certainly destroy those prejudices which now separate +you from society."[4] + +[Footnote 1: _Minutes of the Fourth Annual Convention for the +Improvement of the Free People of Color_, p. 26.] + +[Footnote 2: This statement is based on articles appearing in _The +Liberator_ from time to time.] + +[Footnote 3: _Minutes of the Second Annual Convention for the +Improvement of the Free People of Color_, 1831, p. 10.] + +[Footnote 4: _Minutes of the Second Annual Convention for the +Improvement of the Free People of Color_, 1831, p. II.] + +To expect the coöperation of the white working classes in thus +elevating the colored race turned out to be a delusion. They reached +the conclusion that in making their headway against capital they had a +better chance without Negroes than with them. White mechanics of the +North not only refused to accept colored boys as apprentices, but +would not even work for employers who persisted in hiring Negroes. +Generally refused by the master mechanics of Cincinnati, a colored +cabinet-maker finally found an Englishman who was willing to hire him, +but the employees of the shop objected, refusing to allow the newcomer +even to work in a room by himself.[1] A Negro who could preach in a +white church of the North would have had difficulty in securing the +contract to build a new edifice for that congregation. A colored man +could then more easily get his son into a lawyer's office to learn law +than he could "into a blacksmith shop to blow the bellows and wield +the sledge hammer."[2] + +[Footnote 1: _The Liberator_, June 13, 1835.] + +[Footnote 2: Douglass, _Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass_, +p. 248.] + +Left then in a quandary as to what they should do, northern Negroes +hoped to use the then popular "manual labor schools" to furnish the +facilities for both practical and classical education. These schools +as operated for the whites, however, were not primarily trade schools. +Those which admitted persons of African descent paid more attention to +actual industrial training for the reason that colored students could +not then hope to acquire such knowledge as apprentices. This tendency +was well shown by the action of the free Negroes through their +delegates in the convention assembled in Philadelphia in 1830. +Conversant with the policy of so reshaping the educational system of +the country as to carry knowledge even to the hovels, these leaders +were easily won to the scheme of reconstructing their schools "on the +manual labor system." In this they saw the redemption of the free +Negroes of the North. These gentlemen were afraid that the colored +people were not paying sufficient attention to the development of the +power to use their hands skillfully.[1] One of the first acts of the +convention was to inquire as to how fast colored men were becoming +attached to mechanical pursuits,[2] and whether or not there was any +prospect that a manual labor school for the instruction of the youth +would shortly be established. The report of the committee, to which +the question was referred, was so encouraging that the convention +itself decided to establish an institution of the kind at New Haven, +Connecticut. They appealed to their fellows for help, called +the attention of philanthropists to this need of the race, and +commissioned William Lloyd Garrison to solicit funds in Great +Britain.[3] Garrison found hearty supporters among the friends of +freedom in that country. Some, who had been induced to contribute +to the Colonization Society, found it more advisable to aid the new +movement. Charles Stewart of Liverpool wrote Garrison that he could +count on his British co-workers to raise $1000 for this purpose.[4] At +the same time Americans were equally active. Arthur Tappan subscribed +$1000 on the condition that each of nineteen other persons should +contribute the same amount.[5] + +[Footnote 1: _Minutes of the Fourth Annual Convention for the +Improvement of the Free People of Color_, p. 26; and _The Liberator_, +October 22, 1831; and _The Abolitionist_, November, 1833 (p. 191).] + +[Footnote 2: _Minutes of the Fourth Annual Convention for the +Improvement of the Free People of Color_, p. 27.] + +[Footnote 3: _Minutes of the Third Annual Convention for the +Improvement of the Free People of Color_, p. 34.] + +[Footnote 4: _The Abolitionist_ (November 1833), p. 191.] + +[Footnote 5: _The Liberator_, October 22, 1831.] + +Before these well-laid plans could mature, however, unexpected +opposition developed in New Haven. Indignation meetings were held, +protests against this project were filed, and the free people of color +were notified that the institution was not desired in Connecticut.[1] +It was said that these memorialists feared that a colored college so +near to Yale might cause friction between the two student bodies, and +that the school might attract an unusually large number of undesirable +Negroes. At their meeting the citizens of New Haven resolved "That the +founding of colleges for educating colored people is an unwarrantable +and dangerous undertaking to the internal concerns of other states and +ought to be discouraged, and that the mayor, aldermen, common council, +and freemen will resist the movement by every lawful means."[2] In +view of such drastic action the promoters had to abandon their plan. +No such protests were made by the citizens of New Haven, however, when +the colonizationists were planning to establish there a mission school +to prepare Negroes to leave the country. + +[Footnote 1: Monroe, _Cyclopaedia of Education_, vol. iv., p. 406.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, vol. iv., p. 406; and _The Liberator_, July 9, +1831.] + +The movement, however, was not then stopped by this outburst of race +prejudice in New Haven. Directing attention to another community, the +New England Antislavery Society took up this scheme and collected +funds to establish a manual labor school. When the officials had on +hand about $1000 it was discovered that they could accomplish their +aim by subsidizing the Noyes Academy of Canaan, New Hampshire, and +making such changes as were necessary to subserve the purposes +intended.[1] The plan was not to convert this into a colored school. +The promoters hoped to maintain there a model academy for the +co-education of the races "on the manual labor system." The treasurer +of the Antislavery Society was to turn over certain moneys to this +academy to provide for the needs of the colored students, who then +numbered fourteen of the fifty-two enrolled. But although it had +been reported that the people of the town were in accord with the +principal's acceptance of this proposition, there were soon evidences +to the contrary. Fearing imaginary evils, these modern Canaanites +destroyed the academy, dragging the building to a swamp with a hundred +yoke of oxen.[2] The better element of the town registered against +this outrage only a slight protest. H.H. Garnett and Alexander +Crummell were among the colored students who sought education at this +academy. + +[Footnote 1: _The Liberator_, July 4, 1835.] + +[Footnote 2: _Minutes and Proceedings of the Third Annual Convention +for the Improvement of the Free People of Color_, p. 34; and Monroe, +_Cyclopaedia of Education_, vol. iv., p. 406.] + +This work was more successful in the State of New York. There, +too, the cause was championed by the abolitionists.[1] After the +emancipation of all Negroes in that commonwealth by 1827 the New York +Antislavery Society devoted more time to the elevation of the free +people of color. The rapid rise of the laboring classes in this +swiftly growing city made it evident to their benefactors that they +had to be speedily equipped for competition with white mechanics or be +doomed to follow menial employments. The only one of that section to +offer Negroes anything like the opportunity for industrial training, +however, was Gerrit Smith.[2] He was fortunate in having sufficient +wealth to carry out the plan. In 1834 he established in Madison +County, New York, an institution known as the Peterboro Manual Labor +School. The working at trades was provided not altogether to teach the +mechanic arts, but to enable the students to support themselves while +attending school. As a compensation for instruction, books, room, +fuel, light, and board furnished by the founder, the student was +expected to labor four hours daily at some agricultural or mechanical +employment "important to his education."[3] The faculty estimated the +four hours of labor as worth on an average of about 12-1/2 cents for +each student. + +[Footnote 1: _Minutes and Proceedings of the Third Annual Convention +for the Improvement of the Free People of Color_, p. 25.] + +[Footnote 2: _African Repository_, vol. x., p. 312.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid._, vol. x., p. 312.] + +Efforts were then being made for the establishment of another +institution near Philadelphia. These endeavors culminated in the +above-mentioned benefaction of Richard Humphreys, by the will of +whom $10,000 was devised to establish a school for the purpose of +instructing "descendants of the African race in school learning in +the various branches of the mechanical arts and trades and +agriculture."[1] In 1839 members of the Society of Friends organized +an association to establish a school such as Humphreys had planned. +The founders believed that "the most successful method of elevating +the moral and intellectual character of the descendants of Africa, as +well as of improving their social condition, is to extend to them the +benefits of a good education, and to instruct them in the knowledge of +some useful trade or business, whereby they may be enabled to obtain a +comfortable livelihood by their own industry; and through these means +to prepare them for fulfilling the various duties of domestic and +social life with reputation and fidelity as good citizens and pious +men."[2] Directing their attention first to things practical the +association purchased in 1839 a piece of land in Bristol township, +Philadelphia County, where they offered boys instruction in farming, +shoemaking, and other useful trades. Their endeavors, so far as +training in the mechanic arts was concerned, proved to be a failure. +In 1846, therefore, the management decided to discontinue this +literary, agricultural, and manual labor experiment. The trustees then +sold the farm and stock, apprenticed the male students to mechanical +occupations, and opened an evening school. Thinking mainly of +classical education thereafter, the trustees of the fund finally +established the Institute for Colored Youth of which we have spoken +elsewhere. + +[Footnote 1: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 379.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, 1871, p. 379.] + +Some of the philanthropists who promoted the practical education +of the colored people were found in the Negro settlements of the +Northwest. Their first successful attempt in that section was the +establishment of the Emlen Institute in Mercer County, Ohio. The +founding of this institution was due manly to the efforts of Augustus +Wattles who was instrumental in getting a number of emigrating +freedmen to leave Cincinnati and settle in this county about 1835.[1] +Wattles traveled in almost every colored neighborhood of the State and +laid before them the benefits of permanent homes and the education for +their children. On his first journey he organized, with the assistance +of abolitionists, twenty-five schools for colored children. Interested +thereafter in providing a head for this system he purchased for +himself ninety acres of land in Mercer County to establish a manual +labor institution. He sustained a school on it at his own expense, +till the 11th of November, 1842. Wattles then visited Philadelphia +where he became acquainted with the trustees of the late Samuel Emlen, +a Friend of New Jersey. He had left by his will $20,000 "for the +support and education in school learning and mechanic arts and +agriculture of boys of African and Indian descent whose parents +would give such youths to the Institute."[2] The means of the two +philanthropists were united. The trustees purchased a farm and +appointed Wattles as superintendent of the establishment, calling it +Emlen Institute. Located in a section where the Negroes had sufficient +interest in education to support a number of elementary schools, this +institution once had considerable influence.[3] It was removed to +Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in 1858 and then to Warminster in the same +county in 1873. + +[Footnote 1: Howe, _Ohio Historical Collections_, p. 355.] + +[Footnote 2: Howe, _Ohio Historical Collections_, p. 356.] + +[Footnote 3: Wickersham, _History of Education in Pa._, p. 254.] + +Another school of this type was founded in the Northwest. This was the +Union Literary Institute of Spartanburg, Indiana. The institution owes +its origin to a group of bold, antislavery men who "in the heat of +the abolition excitement"[1] stood firm for the Negro. They soon had +opposition from the proslavery leaders who impeded the progress of +the institution. But thanks to the indefatigable Ebenezer Tucker, +its first principal, the "Nigger School" weathered the storm. The +Institute, however, was founded to educate both races. Its charter +required that no distinction should be made on account of race, color, +rank, or religion. Accordingly, although the student body was from +the beginning of the school partly white, the board of trustees +represented denominations of both races. Accessible statistics do not +show that colored persons ever constituted more than one-third of +the students.[2] It was one of the most durable of the manual labor +schools, having continued after the Civil War, carrying out to some +extent the original designs of its founders. As the plan to continue +it as a private institution proved later to be impracticable the +establishment was changed into a public school.[3] + +[Footnote 1: Boone, _The History of Education in Indiana_, p. 77.] + +[Footnote 2: According to the _Report of the United States +Commissioner of Education_ in 1893 the colored students then +constituted about one-third of those then registered at this +institution. See p. 1944 of this report.] + +[Footnote 3: Records of the United States Bureau of Education.] + +Scarcely less popular was the British and American Manual Labor +Institute of the colored settlements in Upper Canada. This school was +projected by Rev. Hiram Wilson and Josiah Henson as early as 1838, but +its organization was not undertaken until 1842. The refugees were then +called together to decide upon the expenditure of $1500 collected in +England by James C. Fuller, a Quaker. They decided to establish at +Dawn "a manual labor school, where children could be taught those +elements of knowledge which are usually the occupations of a grammar +school, and where boys could be taught in addition the practice of +some mechanic art, and the girls could be instructed in those domestic +arts which are the proper occupation and ornament of their sex."[1] A +tract of three hundred acres of land was purchased, a few buildings +were constructed, and pupils were soon admitted. The managers +endeavored to make the school, "self-supporting by the employment of +the students for certain portions of the time on the land."[2] The +advantage of schooling of this kind attracted to Dresden and Dawn +sufficient refugees to make these prosperous settlements. Rev. Hiram +Wilson, the first principal of the institution, began with fourteen +"boarding scholars" when there were no more than fifty colored persons +in all the vicinity. In 1852 when the population of this community +had increased to five hundred there were sixty students attending +the school. Indian and white children were also admitted. Among the +students there were also adults varying later in number from +fifty-six to one hundred and sixteen.[3] This institution became very +influential among the Negroes of Canada. Travelers mentioned the +Institute in accounting for the prosperity and good morals of the +refugees.[4] Unfortunately, however, after the year 1855 when the +school reached its zenith, it began to decline on account of bad +feeling probably resulting from a divided management. + +[Footnote 1: Henson, _Life of Josiah Henson_, pp. 73, 74.] + +[Footnote 2: Henson, _Life of Josiah Henson_, p. 115.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid._, p. 117.] + +[Footnote 4: Drew, _A North-Side View of Slavery_, p. 309; and Coffin, +_Reminiscences_, pp. 249, 250.] + +Studying these facts concerning the manual labor system of education, +the student of education sees that it was not generally successful. +This may be accounted for in various ways. One might say that colored +people were not desired in the higher pursuits of labor and that their +preparation for such vocations never received the support of the rank +and file of the Negroes of the North. They saw then, as they often +do now, the seeming impracticability of preparing themselves for +occupations which they apparently had no chance to follow. Moreover, +bright freedmen were not at first attracted to mechanical occupations. +Ambitious Negroes who triumphed over slavery and made their way to the +North for educational advantages hoped to enter the higher walks of +life. Only a few of the race had the foresight of the advocates of +industrial training. The majority of the enlightened class desired +that they be no longer considered as "persons occupying a menial +position, but as capable of the highest development of man."[1] +Furthermore, bitterly as some white men hated slavery, and deeply as +they seemingly sympathized with the oppressed, they were loath to +support a policy which they believed was fatal to their economic +interests.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Minutes and Proceedings of the Third Annual Convention_, +etc., p. 25.] + +[Footnote 2: _The Fifth Report of the American Antislavery Society_, +p. 115; Douglass, _The Life and Times of_, p. 248.] + +The chief reason for the failure of the new educational policy was +that the managers of the manual labor schools made the mistakes often +committed by promoters of industrial education of our day. At first +they proceeded on the presumption that one could obtain a classical +education while learning a trade and at the same time earn sufficient +to support himself at school. Some of the managers of industrial +schools have not yet learned that students cannot produce articles for +market. The best we can expect from an industrial school to-day is a +good apprentice. + +Another handicap was that at that time conditions were seldom +sufficiently favorable to enable the employer to derive profit enough +from students' work to compensate for the maintenance of the youth +at a manual labor school. Besides, such a school could not be +far-reaching in its results because it could not be so conducted as to +accommodate a large number of students. With a slight change in its +aims the manual labor schools might have been more successful in +the large urban communities, but the aim of their advocates was to +establish them in the country where sufficient land for agricultural +training could be had, and where students would not be corrupted by +the vices of the city. + +It was equally unfortunate that the teachers who were chosen to carry +out this educational policy lacked the preparation adequate to +their task. They had any amount of spirit, but an evident lack of +understanding as to the meaning of this new education. They failed +to unite the qualifications for both the industrial and academic +instruction. It was the fault that we find to-day in our industrial +schools. Those who were responsible for the literary training knew +little of and cared still less for the work in mechanic arts, and +those who were employed to teach trades seldom had sufficient +education to impart what they knew. The students, too, in their +efforts to pursue these uncorrelated courses seldom succeeded in +making much advance in either. We have no evidence that many Negroes +were equipped for higher service in the manual labor schools. +Statistics of 1850 and 1860 show that there was an increase in the +number of colored mechanics, especially in Philadelphia, Cincinnati, +Columbus, the Western Reserve, and Canada.[1] But this was probably +due to the decreasing prejudice of the local white mechanics toward +the Negro artisans fleeing from the South rather than to formal +industrial training.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Clarke, _Present Condition of the Free People of Color of +the United States_, 1859, pp. 9, 10, 11, 13, and 29.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, pp. 9, 10, and 23.] + +Schools of this kind tended gradually to abandon the idea of combining +labor and learning, leaving such provisions mainly as catalogue +fictions. Many of the western colleges were founded as manual +labor schools, but the remains of these beginnings are few and +insignificant. Oberlin, which was once operated on this basis, still +retains the seal of "Learning and Labor," with a college building in +the foreground and a field of grain in the distance. A number of our +institutions have recitations now in the forenoon that students may +devote the afternoon to labor. In some schools Monday instead of +Saturday is the open day of the week because this was wash-day for the +manual labor colleges. Even after the Civil War some schools had their +long vacation in the winter instead of the summer because the latter +was the time for manual labor. The people of our day know little about +this unsuccessful system. + +It is evident, therefore, that the leaders who had up to that time +dictated the policy of the social betterment of the colored people had +failed to find the key to the situation. This task fell to the lot +of Frederick Douglass, who, wiser in his generation than most of his +contemporaries, advocated actual vocational training as the greatest +leverage for the elevation of the colored people. Douglass was given +an opportunity to bring his ideas before the public on the occasion of +a visit to Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe. She was then preparing to go +to England in response to an invitation from her admirers, who were +anxious to see this famous author of _Uncle Tom's Cabin_ and to give +her a testimonial. Thinking that she would receive large sums of money +in England she desired to get Mr. Douglass's views as to how it could +be most profitably spent for the advancement of the free people of +color. She was especially interested in those who had become free by +their own exertions. Mrs. Stowe informed her guest that several had +suggested the establishment of an educational institution pure and +simple, but that she had not been able to concur with them, thinking +that it would be better to open an industrial school. Douglass was +opposed both to the establishment of such a college as was suggested, +and to that of an ordinary industrial school where pupils should +merely "earn the means of obtaining an education in books." He desired +what we now call the vocational school, "a series of workshops where +colored men could learn some of the handicrafts, learn to work in +iron, wood, and leather, while incidentally acquiring a plain English +education."[1] + +[Footnote 1: Douglass, _The Life and Times of_, p. 248.] + +Under Douglass's leadership the movement had a new goal. The learning +of trades was no longer to be subsidiary to conventional education. +Just the reverse was true. Moreover, it was not to be entrusted to +individuals operating on a small scale; it was to be a public effort +of larger scope. The aim was to make the education of Negroes so +articulate with their needs as to improve their economic condition. +Seeing that despite the successful endeavors of many freedmen to +acquire higher education that the race was still kept in penury, +Douglass believed that by reconstructing their educational policy the +friends of the race could teach the colored people to help themselves. +Pecuniary embarrassment, he thought, was the cause of all evil to +the blacks, "for poverty kept them ignorant and their lack of +enlightenment kept them degraded." The deliverance from these evils, +he contended, could be effected not by such a fancied or artificial +elevation as the mere diffusion of information by institutions beyond +the immediate needs of the poor. The awful plight of the Negroes, as +he saw it, resulted directly from not having the opportunity to learn +trades, and from "narrowing their limits to earn a livelihood." +Douglass deplored the fact that even menial employments were rapidly +passing away from the colored people. Under the caption of "Learn +Trades or Starve," he tried to drive home the truth that if the +free people of color did not soon heed his advice, foreigners then +immigrating in large numbers would elbow them from all lucrative +positions. In his own words, "every day begins with the lesson and +ends with the lesson that colored men must find new employments, new +modes of usefulness to society, or that they must decay under the +pressing wants to which their condition is bringing them."[1] + +[Footnote 1: Douglass, _The Life and Times of_, p. 248.] + +Douglass believed in higher education and looked forward to that stage +in the development of the Negroes when high schools and colleges could +contribute to their progress. He knew, however, that it was foolish +to think that persons accustomed to the rougher and harder modes of +living could in a single leap from their low condition reach that of +professional men. The attainment of such positions, he thought, was +contingent upon laying a foundation in things material by passing +"through the intermediate gradations of agriculture and the mechanic +arts."[1] He was sure that the higher institutions then open to the +colored people would be adequate to the task of providing for them all +the professional men they then needed, and that the facilities for +higher education so far as the schools and colleges in the free States +were concerned would increase quite in proportion to the future needs +of the race. + +[Footnote 1: _Ibid._, p. 249.] + +Douglass deplored the fact that education and emigration had gone +together. As soon as a colored man of genius like Russworm, Garnett, +Ward, or Crummell appeared, the so-called friends of the race reached +the conclusion that he could better serve his race elsewhere. Seeing +themselves pitted against odds, such bright men had had to seek +more congenial countries. The training of Negroes merely to aid the +colonization scheme would have little bearing on the situation at home +unless its promoters could transplant the majority of the free people +of color. The aim then should be not to transplant the race but to +adopt a policy such as he had proposed to elevate it in the United +States.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Douglass, _The Life and Times_, p. 250.] + +Vocational education, Douglass thought, would disprove the so-called +mental inferiority of the Negroes. He believed that the blacks should +show by action that they were equal to the whites rather than depend +on the defense of friends who based their arguments not on facts but +on certain admitted principles. Believing in the mechanical genius of +the Negroes he hoped that in the establishment of this institution +they would have an opportunity for development. In it he saw a benefit +not only to the free colored people of the North, but also to the +slaves. The strongest argument used by the slaveholder in defense of +his precious institution was the low condition of the free people of +color of the North. Remove this excuse by elevating them and you +will hasten the liberation of the slaves. The best refutation of +the proslavery argument is the "presentation of an industrious, +enterprising, thrifty, and intelligent free black population."[1] An +element of this kind, he believed, would rise under the fostering care +of vocational teachers. + +[Footnote 1: Douglass, _The Life and Times of_, p. 251.] + +With Douglass this proposition did not descend to the plane of mere +suggestion. Audiences which he addressed from time to time were +informed as to the necessity of providing for the colored people +facilities of practical education.[1] The columns of his paper +rendered the cause noble service. He entered upon the advocacy of it +with all the zeal of an educational reformer, endeavoring to show how +this policy would please all concerned. Anxious fathers whose minds +had been exercised by the inquiry as to what to do with their sons +would welcome the opportunity to have them taught trades. It would be +in line with the "eminently practical philanthropy of the Negroes' +trans-Atlantic friends." America would scarcely object to it as an +attempt to agitate the mind on slavery or to destroy the Union. "It +could not be tortured into a cause for hard words by the American +people," but the noble and good of all classes would see in the effort +"an excellent motive, a benevolent object, temperately, wisely, and +practically manifested."[2] The leading free people of color heeded +this message. Appealing to them through their delegates assembled in +Rochester in 1853, Douglass secured a warm endorsement of his plan in +eloquent speeches and resolutions passed by the convention. + +[Footnote 1: _African Repository_, vol. xxix., p. 136.] + +[Footnote 2: Douglass, _Life and Times of_, p. 252.] + +This great enterprise, like all others, was soon to encounter +opposition. Mrs. Stowe was attacked as soliciting money abroad for her +own private use. So bitter were these proslavery diatribes that Henry +Ward Beecher and Frederick Douglass had some difficulty in convincing +the world that her maligners had no grounds for this vicious +accusation. Furthermore, on taking up the matter with Mrs. Stowe after +her return to the United States, Douglass was disappointed to learn +that she had abandoned her plan to found a vocational institution. +He was never able to see any force in the reasons for the change of +policy; but believed that Mrs. Stowe acted conscientiously, although +her action was decidedly embarrassing to him both at home and +abroad.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Ibid_., p. 252.] + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +EDUCATION AT PUBLIC EXPENSE + + +The persistent struggle of the colored people to have their children +educated at public expense shows how resolved they were to be +enlightened. In the beginning Negroes had no aspiration to secure such +assistance. Because the free public schools were first regarded as a +system to educate the poor, the friends of the free blacks turned +them away from these institutions lest men might reproach them with +becoming a public charge. Moreover, philanthropists deemed it wise to +provide separate schools for Negroes to bring them into contact with +sympathetic persons, who knew their peculiar needs. In the course of +time, however, when the stigma of charity was removed as a result +of the development of the free schools at public expense, Negroes +concluded that it was not dishonorable to share the benefits of +institutions which they were taxed to support.[1] Unable then to cope +with systems thus maintained for the education of the white youth, the +directors of colored schools requested that something be appropriated +for the education of Negroes. Complying with these petitions boards +of education provided for colored schools which were to be partly or +wholly supported at public expense. But it was not long before the +abolitionists saw that they had made a mistake in carrying out this +policy. The amount appropriated to the support of the special schools +was generally inadequate to supply them with the necessary equipment +and competent teachers, and in most communities the white people +had begun to regard the co-education of the races as undesirable. +Confronted then with this caste prejudice, one of the hardest +struggles of the Negroes and their sympathizers was that for +democratic education. + +[Footnote 1: The Negroes of Baltimore were just prior to the Civil War +paying $500 in taxes annually to support public schools which their +children could not attend.] + +The friends of the colored people in Pennsylvania were among the first +to direct the attention of the State to the duty of enlightening the +blacks as well as the whites. In 1802, 1804, and 1809, respectively, +the State passed, in the interest of the poor, acts which although +interpreted to exclude Negroes from the benefits therein provided, +were construed, nevertheless, by friends of the race as authorizing +their education at public expense. Convinced of the truth of this +contention, officials in different parts of the State began to yield +in the next decade. At Columbia, Pennsylvania, the names of such +colored children as were entitled to the benefits of the law for the +education of the poor were taken in 1818 to enable them to attend the +free public schools. Following the same policy, the Abolition Society +of Philadelphia, seeing that the city had established public schools +for white children in 1818, applied two years later for the share of +the fund to which the children of African descent were entitled by +law. The request was granted. The Comptroller opened in Lombard Street +in 1822 a school for children of color, maintained at the expense of +the State. This furnished a precedent for other such schools which +were established in 1833, and 1841.[1] Harrisburg had a colored school +early in the century, but upon the establishment of the Lancastrian +school in that city in the thirties, the colored as well as the +white children were required to attend it or pay for their education +themselves.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed_., 1871, p. 379.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., p. 379.] + +In 1834 the legislature of Pennsylvania established a system of public +schools, but the claims of the Negroes to public education were +neither guaranteed nor denied.[1] The school law of 1854, however, +seems to imply that the benefits of the system had always been +understood to extend to colored children.[2] This measure provided +that the comptrollers and directors of the several school districts of +the State could establish within their respective districts separate +schools for Negro and mulatto children wherever they could be so +located as to accommodate twenty or more pupils. Another provision was +that wherever such schools should "be established and kept open four +months in the year" the directors and comptrollers should not be +compelled to admit colored pupils to any other schools of that +district. The law was interpreted to mean that wherever such +accommodations were not provided the children of Negroes could attend +the other schools. Such was the case in the rural districts where a +few colored children often found it pleasant and profitable to attend +school with their white friends.[3] The children of Robert B. Purvis, +however, were turned away from the public schools of Philadelphia +on the ground that special educational facilities for them had been +provided.[4] It was not until 1881 that Pennsylvania finally swept +away all the distinctions of caste from her public school system. + +[Footnote 1: _Purdon's Digest of the Laws of Pa_., p. 291, sections +1-23.] + +[Footnote 2: Stroud and Brightly, _Purdon's Digest_, p. 1064, section +23.] + +[Footnote 3: Wickersham, _History of Education in Pa_., p. 253.] + +[Footnote 4: Wigham, _The Antislavery Cause in America_, p. 103.] + +As the colored population of New Jersey was never large, there was not +sufficient concentration of such persons in that State to give rise +to the problems which at times confronted the benevolent people of +Pennsylvania. Great as had been the reaction, the Negroes of New +Jersey never entirely lost the privilege of attending school with +white students. The New Jersey Constitution of 1844 provided that the +funds for the support of the public schools should be applied for the +equal benefit of all the people of that State.[1] Considered then +entitled to the benefits of this fund, colored pupils were early +admitted into the public schools without any social distinction.[2] +This does not mean that there were no colored schools in that +commonwealth. Negroes in a few settlements like that of Springtown had +their own schools.[3] Separate schools were declared illegal by an act +of the General Assembly in 1881. + +[Footnote 1: Thorpe, _Federal and State Constitutions_, vol. v., p. +2604.] + +[Footnote 2: _Southern Workman_, vol. xxxvii., p. 390.] + +[Footnote 3: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed_., 1871, p. 400.] + +Certain communities of New York provided separate schools for colored +pupils rather than admit them to those open to white children. On +recommendation of the superintendent of schools in 1823 the State +adopted the policy of organizing schools exclusively for colored +people.[1] In places where they already existed, the State could aid +the establishment as did the New York Common Council in 1824, when it +appropriated a portion of its fund to the support of the African Free +Schools.[2] In 1841 the New York legislature authorized any district, +with the approbation of the school commissioners, to establish a +separate school for the colored children in their locality. The +superintendent's report for 1847 shows that schools for Negroes had +been established in fifteen counties in the State, reporting an +enrollment of 5000 pupils. For the maintenance of these schools +the sum of $17,000 had been annually expended. Colored pupils were +enumerated by the trustees in their annual reports, drew public money +for the district in which they resided, and were equally entitled +with white children to the benefit of the school fund. In the rural +districts colored children were generally admitted to the common +schools. Wherever race prejudice, however, was sufficiently violent to +exclude them from the village school, the trustees were empowered +to use the Negroes' share of the public money to provide for their +education elsewhere. At the same time indigent Negroes were to be +exempted from the payment of the "rate bill" which fell as a charge +upon the other citizens of the district.[3] + +[Footnote 1: Randall, _Hist. of Common School System of New York_, p. +24.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., p. 48.] + +[Footnote 3: Randall, _Hist. of Common School System of New York_, p. +248.] + +Some trouble had arisen from making special appropriations for +incorporated villages. Such appropriations, the superintendent had +observed, excited prejudice and parsimony; for the trustees of some +villages had learned to expend only the special appropriations for +the education of the colored pupils, and to use the public money +in establishing and maintaining schools for the white children. He +believed that it was wrong to argue that Negroes were any more a +burden to incorporated villages than to cities or rural districts, and +that they were, therefore, entitled to every allowance of money to +educate them.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Randall, _Hist. of Common School System of New York_, p. +249.] + +In New York City much had already been done to enlighten the Negroes +through the schools of the Manumission Society. But as the increasing +population of color necessitated additional facilities, the +Manumission Society obtained from the fund of the Public School +Society partial support of its system. The next step was to unite the +African Free Schools with those of the Public School Society to reduce +the number of organizations participating in the support of Negro +education. Despite the argument of some that the two systems should +be kept separate, the property and schools of the Manumission Society +were transferred to the New York Public School Society in 1834.[2] +Thereafter the schools did not do as well as they had done before. The +administrative part of the work almost ceased, the schools lost in +efficiency, and the former attendance of 1400 startlingly dropped. An +investigation made in 1835 showed that many Negroes, intimidated by +frequent race riots incident to the reactionary movement, had left the +city, while others kept their children at home for safety. It seemed, +too, that they looked upon the new system as an innovation, did not +like the action of the Public School Society in reducing their schools +of advanced grade to that of the primary, and bore it grievously that +so many of the old teachers in whom they had confidence, had been +dropped. To bring order out of chaos the investigating committee +advised the assimilation of the separate schools to the white. +Thereupon the society undertook to remake the colored schools, +organizing them into a system which offered instruction in primary, +intermediate, and grammar departments. The task of reconstruction, +however, was not completed until 1853, when the property of the +colored schools was transferred to the Board of Education of New +York.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed_., 1871, p. 366.] + +[Footnote 2: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed_., 1871, p. 366.] + +The second transfer marked an epoch in the development of Negro +education in New York. The Board of Education proceeded immediately +to perfect the system begun at the time of the first change. The new +directors reclassified the lower grades, opened other grammar schools, +and established a normal school according to the recommendation of +the investigating committee of 1835. Supervision being more rigid +thereafter, the schools made some progress, but failed to accomplish +what was expected of them. They were carelessly intrusted for +supervision to the care of ward officers, some of whom partly +neglected this duty, while others gave the work no attention whatever. +It was unfortunate, too, that some of these schools were situated in +parts of the city where the people were not interested in the uplift +of the despised race, and in a few cases in wards which were almost +proslavery. Better results followed after the colored schools were +brought under the direct supervision of the Board of Education. + +Before the close of the Civil War the sentiment of the people of the +State of New York had changed sufficiently to permit colored children +to attend the regular public schools in several communities. This, +however, was not general. It was, therefore, provided in the revised +code of that State in 1864 that the board of education of any city or +incorporated village might establish separate schools for children and +youth of African descent provided such schools be supported in the +same manner as those maintained for white children. The last vestige +of caste in the public schools of New York was not exterminated until +1900, in the administration of Theodore Roosevelt as Governor of New +York. The legislature then passed an act providing that no one should +be denied admittance to any public school on account of race, color, +or previous condition of servitude.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Laws of New York_, 1900, ch. 492.] + +In Rhode Island, where the black population was proportionately larger +than in some other New England States, special schools for persons of +color continued. These efforts met with success at Newport. In the +year 1828 a separate school for colored children was established at +Providence and placed in charge of a teacher receiving a salary of +$400 per annum.[1] A decade later another such school was opened on +Pond Street in the same city. About this time the school law of Rhode +Island was modified so as to make it a little more favorable to the +people of color. The State temporarily adopted a rule by which the +school fund was thereafter not distributed, as formerly, according +to the number of inhabitants below the age of sixteen. It was to be +apportioned, thereafter, according to the number of white persons +under the age of ten years, "together with five-fourteenths of the +said [colored] population between the ages of ten and twenty-four +years." This law remained in force between the years 1832 and 1845. +Under the new system these schools seemingly made progress. In 1841 +they were no longer giving the mere essentials of reading and writing, +but combined the instruction of both the grammar and the primary +grades.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Stockwell, _Hist. of Education in R.I_., p. 169.] + +[Footnote 2: Stockwell, _Hist. of Education in R.I_., p. 51.] + +Thereafter Rhode Island had to pass through the intense antislavery +struggle which had for its ultimate aim both the freedom of the Negro +and the democratization of the public schools. Petitions were sent to +the legislature, and appeals were made to representatives asking for +a repeal of those laws which permitted the segregation of the colored +children in the public schools. But intense as this agitation became, +and urgently as it was put before the public, it failed to gain +sufficient momentum to break down the barriers prior to 1866 when the +legislature of Rhode Island passed an act abolishing separate schools +for Negroes.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Public Laws of the State of Rhode Island_, 1865-66, p. +49.] + +Prior to the reactionary movement the schools of Connecticut were, +like most others in New England at that time, open alike to black and +white. It seems, too, that colored children were well received and +instructed as thoroughly as their white friends. But in 1830, whether +on account of the increasing race prejudice or the desire to do for +themselves, the colored people of Hartford presented to the School +Society of that city a petition that a separate school for persons of +color be established with a part of the public school fund which might +be apportioned to them according to their number. Finding this request +reasonable, the School Society decided to take the necessary steps to +comply with it. As such an agreement would have no standing at law +the matter was recommended to the legislature of the State, which +authorized the establishment in that commonwealth of several separate +schools for persons of color.[1] This arrangement, however, soon +proved unsatisfactory. Because of the small number of Negroes in +Connecticut towns, they found their pro rata inadequate to the +maintenance of separate schools. No buildings were provided for them, +such schools as they had were not properly supervised, the teachers +were poorly paid, and with the exception of a little help from a few +philanthropists, the white citizens failed to aid the cause. In 1846, +therefore, the pastor of the colored Congregational Church sent to the +School Society of Hartford a memorial calling attention to the fact +that for lack of means the colored schools had been unable to secure +suitable quarters and competent teachers. Consequently the education +of their children had been exceedingly irregular, deficient, and +onerous. The School Society had done nothing for these institutions +but to turn over to them every year their small share of the public +fund. These gentlemen then decided to raise by taxation an amount +adequate to the support of two better equipped schools and proceeded +at once to provide for its collection and expenditure.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed_., 1871, p. 334.] + +[Footnote 2: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed_., 1871, p. 334.] + +The results gave general satisfaction for a while. But as it was a +time when much was being done to develop the public schools of New +England, the colored people of Hartford could not remain contented. +They saw the white pupils housed in comfortable buildings and +attending properly graded classes, while their own children continued +to be crowded into small insanitary rooms and taught as unclassified +students. The Negroes, therefore, petitioned for a more suitable +building and a better organization of their schools. As this request +came at the time when the abolitionists were working hard to +exterminate caste from the schools of New England, the School +Committee called a meeting of the memorialists to decide whether they +desired to send their children to the white or separate schools.[1] +They decided in favor of the latter, provided that the colored people +should have a building adequate to their needs and instruction of the +best kind.[2] Complying with this decision the School Society erected +the much-needed building in 1852. To provide for the maintenance of +the separate schools the property of the citizens was taxed at such a +rate as to secure to the colored pupils of the city benefits similar +to those enjoyed by the white pupils.[3] + +[Footnote 1: _Minority Report_, etc., p. 21.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., p. 22.] + +[Footnote 3: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed_., 1871, p. 334.] + +Ardent antislavery men believed that this segregation in the schools +was undemocratic. They asserted that the colored people would never +have made such a request had the teachers of the public schools taken +the proper interest in them. The Negroes, too, had long since been +convinced that the white people would not maintain separate schools +with the same equipment which they gave their own. This arrangement, +however, continued until 1868. The legislature then passed an act +declaring that the schools of the State should be open to all persons +alike between the ages of four and sixteen, and that no person should +be denied instruction in any public school in his school district on +account of race or color.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Public Acts of the General Assembly of Conn_., 1868, p. +296.] + +In the State of Massachusetts the contest was most ardent. Boston +opened its first primary school for colored children in 1820. In other +towns like Salem and Nantucket, New Bedford and Lowell, where the +colored population was also considerable, the same policy was carried +out.[1] Some years later, however, both the Negroes and their friends +saw the error of their early advocacy of the establishment of special +schools to escape the stigma of receiving charity. After the change +in the attitude toward the public free schools and the further +development of caste in American education, there arose in +Massachusetts a struggle between leaders determined to restrict the +Negroes' privileges to the use of poorly equipped separate schools and +those contending for equality in education. + +[Footnote 1: _Minority Report_, etc., p. 35.] + +Basing their action on the equality of men before the law, the +advocates of democratic education held meetings from which went +frequent and urgent petitions to school committees until Negroes were +accepted in the public schools in all towns in Massachusetts except +Boston.[1] Children of African blood were successfully admitted to the +New Bedford schools on equality with the white youth in 1838.[2] In +1846 the school committee of that town reported that the colored +pupils were regular in their attendance, and as successful in their +work as the whites. There were then ninety in all in that system; four +in the high school, forty in grammar schools, and the remainder in the +primary department, all being scattered in such a way as to have one +to four in twenty-one to twenty-eight schools. At Lowell the children +of a colored family were not only among the best in the schools but +the greatest favorites in the system.[3] + +[Footnote 1: _Ibid_., p. 20, and _Niles Register_, vol. lxvi., p. +320.] + +[Footnote 2: _Minority Report_, etc., p. 23.] + +[Footnote 3: _Minority Report_, etc., p. 25.] + +The consolidation of the colored school of Salem with the others of +that city led to no disturbance. Speaking of the democracy of these +schools in 1846 Mr. Richard Fletcher said: "The principle of perfect +equality is the vital principle of the system. Here all classes of +the community mingle together. The rich and the poor meet on terms of +equality and are prepared by the same instruction to discharge the +duties of life. It is the principle of equality cherished in the free +schools on which our government and free institutions rest. Destroy +this principle in the schools and the people would soon cease to be +free." At Nantucket, however, some trouble was experienced because of +the admission of pupils of color in 1843. Certain patrons criticized +the action adversely and withdrew fourteen of their children from the +South Grammar School. The system, however, prospered thereafter rather +than declined.[1] Many had no trouble in making the change.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Ibid_., p. 6.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., p. 23.] + +These victories having been won in other towns of the State by 1846, +it soon became evident that Boston would have to yield. Not only were +abolitionists pointing to the ease with which this gain had been made +in other towns, but were directing attention to the fact that in these +smaller communities Negroes were both learning the fundamentals and +advancing through the lower grades into the high school. Boston, which +had a larger black population than all other towns in Massachusetts +combined, had never seen a colored pupil prepared for a secondary +institution in one of its public schools. It was, therefore, evident +to fair-minded persons that in cities of separate systems Negroes +would derive practically no benefit from the school tax which they +paid. + +This agitation for the abolition of caste in the public schools +assumed its most violent form in Boston during the forties. The +abolitionists then organized a more strenuous opposition to the caste +system. Why Sarah Redmond and the other children of a family paying +tax to support the schools of Boston should be turned away from a +public school simply because they were persons of color was a problem +too difficult for a fair-minded man.[1] The war of words came, +however, when in response to a petition of Edmund Jackson, H.J. +Bowditch, and other citizens for the admission of colored people to +the public schools in 1844, the majority of the school committee +refused the request. Following the opinion of Chandler, their +solicitor, they based their action of making distinction in the +public schools on the natural distinction of the races, which "no +legislature, no social customs, can efface," and which "renders a +promiscuous intermingling in the public schools disadvantageous both +to them and to the whites."[2] Questioned as to any positive law +providing for such discrimination, Chandler gave his opinion that the +School Committee of Boston, under the authority perhaps of the City +Council, had a legal right to establish and maintain special primary +schools for the blacks. He believed, too, that in the exercise of +their lawful discretionary power they could exclude white pupils from +certain schools and colored pupils from certain other schools when, +in their judgment, the best interests of all would thereby be +promoted.[3] + +[Footnote 1: Wigham, _The Antislavery Cause in America_, p. 103.] + +[Footnote 2: _Minority Report_, etc., p. 31.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid_., p. 30.] + +Encouraged by the fact that colored children were indiscriminately +admitted to the schools of Salem, Nantucket, New Bedford, and Lowell, +in fact, of every city in Massachusetts but Boston, the friends of +the colored people fearlessly attacked the false legal theories of +Solicitor Chandler. The minority of the School Committee argued that +schools are the common property of all, and that each and all are +legally entitled without "let or hindrance" to the equal benefits of +all advantages they might confer.[1] Any action, therefore, which +tended to restrict to any individual or class the advantages and +benefits designed for all, was an illegal use of authority, and an +arbitrary act used for pernicious purposes.[2] Their republican +system, the minority believed, conferred civil equality and legal +rights upon every citizen, knew neither privileged nor degraded +classes, made no distinctions, and created no differences between rich +and poor, learned and ignorant, or white and black, but extended to +all alike its protection and benefits.[3] The minority considered it a +merit of the school system that it produced the fusion of all classes, +promoted the feeling of brotherhood, and the habits of equality. The +power of the School Committee, therefore, was limited and constrained +by the general spirit of the civil policy and by the letter and spirit +of the laws which regulated the system.[4] It was further maintained +that to debar the colored youth from these advantages, even if they +were assured the same external results, would be a sore injustice and +would serve as the surest means of perpetuating a prejudice which +should be deprecated and discountenanced by all intelligent and +Christian men.[5] + +[Footnote 1: _Ibid_., p. 3.] + +[Footnote 2: _Minority Report_, etc. pp. 4 and 5.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid_., pp. 3 _et. seq_.] + +[Footnote 4: _Ibid_., p. 4.] + +[Footnote 5: _Ibid_., p. 5.] + +To the sophistry of Chandler, Wendell Phillips also made a logical +reply. He asserted that as members of a legal body, the School +Committee should have eyes only for such distinctions among their +fellow-citizens as the law recognized and pointed out. Phillips +believed that they had precedents for the difference of age and sex, +for regulation of health, etc., but that when they opened their eyes +to the varied complexion, to difference of race, to diversity of +creed, to distinctions of caste, they would seek in vain through the +laws and institutions of Massachusetts for any recognition of their +prejudice. He deplored the fact that they had attempted to foist into +the legal arrangements of the land a principle utterly repugnant +to the State constitution, and that what the sovereignty of the +constitution dared not attempt a school committee accomplished. To +Phillips it seemed crassly inconsistent to say that races permitted to +intermarry should be debarred by Mr. Chandler's "sapient committee" +from educational contact.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Minority Report_, etc., p. 27.] + +This agitation continued until 1855 when the opposition had grown too +strong to be longer resisted. The legislature of Massachusetts then +enacted a law providing that in determining the qualifications of a +scholar to be admitted to any public school no distinction should +be made on account of the race, color, or religious opinion of the +applicant. It was further provided that a child excluded from school +for any of these reasons might bring suit for damages against the +offending town.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Acts and Resolves of the General Court of Mass_., 1855, +ch. 256.] + +In other towns of New England, where the black population was +considerable, separate schools were established. There was one even in +Portland, Maine.[1] Efforts in this direction were made in Vermont and +New Hampshire, but because of the scarcity of the colored people these +States did not have to resort to such segregation. The Constitution of +Vermont was interpreted as extending to Negroes the benefits of the +Bill of Rights, making all men free and equal. Persons of color, +therefore, were regarded as men entitled to all the privileges of +freemen, among which was that of education at the expense of the +State.[2] The framers of the Constitution of New Hampshire were +equally liberal in securing this right to the dark race.[3] But when +the principal of an academy at Canaan admitted some Negroes to his +private institution, a mob, as we have observed above, broke up the +institution by moving the building to a swamp, while the officials of +the town offered no resistance. Such a spirit as this accounts for the +rise of separate schools in places where the free blacks had the right +to attend any institution of learning supported by the State. + +[Footnote 1: Adams, _Anti-slavery_, etc., p. 142.] + +[Footnote 2: Thorpe, _Federal and State Constitutions_, vol. vi., p. +3762.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid_., vol. iv., p. 2471.] + + +The problem of educating the Negroes at public expense was perplexing +also to the minds of the people of the West. The question became +more and more important in Ohio as the black population in that +commonwealth increased. The law of 1825 provided that moneys raised +from taxation of half a mill on the dollar should be appropriated to +the support of common schools in the respective counties and that +these schools should be "open to the youth of every class and grade +without distinction."[1] Some interpreted this law to include Negroes. +To overcome the objection to the partiality shown by school officials +the State passed another law in 1829. It excluded colored people from +the benefits of the new system, and returned them the amount accruing +from the school tax on their property.[2] Thereafter benevolent +societies and private associations maintained colored schools in +Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, and the southern counties of Ohio.[3] +But no help came from the cities and the State before 1849 when the +legislature passed a law authorizing the establishment of schools for +children of color at public expense.[4] + +[Footnote 1: _Laws of Ohio_, vol. xxiii., pp. 37 _et seq_.] + +[Footnote 2: Hickok, _The Negro in Ohio_, p. 85.] + +[Footnote 3: Simmons, _Men of Mark_, p. 374.] + +[Footnote 4: _Laws of Ohio_, vol. liii., pp. 117-118.] + +The Negroes of Cincinnati soon discovered that they had not won a +great victory. They proceeded at once to elect trustees, organized a +system, and employed teachers, relying on the money allotted them +by the law on the basis of a per capita division of the school fund +received by the Board of Education of Cincinnati. So great was the +prejudice that the school officials refused to turn over the required +funds on the grounds that the colored trustees were not electors, +and therefore could not be office holders qualified to receive and +disburse public funds.[1] Under the leadership of John I. Gaines the +trustees called indignation meetings, and raised sufficient money to +employ Flamen Ball, an attorney, to secure a writ of mandamus. The +case was contested by the city officials even in the Supreme Court of +the State which decided against the officious whites.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed_., 1871, pp. 371, +372.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., 1871, p. 372.] + +Unfortunately it turned out that this decision did not mean very much +to the Negroes. There were not many of them in certain settlements and +the per capita division of the fund did not secure to them sufficient +means to support schools. Even if the funds had been adequate to pay +teachers, they had no schoolhouses. Lawyers of that day contended that +the Act of 1849 had nothing to do with the construction of buildings. +After a short period of accomplishing practically nothing material, +the law was amended so as to transfer the control of such colored +schools to the managers of the white system.[1] This was taken as a +reflection on the standing of the blacks of the city and tended to +make them refuse to coöperate with the white board. On account of the +failure of this body to act effectively prior to 1856, the people of +color were again given power to elect their own trustees.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Laws of the State of Ohio_, vol. liii., p. 118.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., p. 118.] + +During the contest for the control of the colored schools certain +Negroes of Cincinnati were endeavoring to make good their claim that +their children had a right to attend any school maintained by the +city. Acting upon this contention a colored patron sent his son to a +public school, which on account of his presence became the center of +unusual excitement.[1] Miss Isabella Newhall, the teacher to whom he +went, immediately complained to the Board of Education, requesting +that he be expelled on account of his race. After "due deliberation" +the Board of Education decided by a vote of fifteen to ten that he +would have to withdraw from that school. Thereupon two members of that +body, residing in the district of the timorous teacher, resigned.[2] + +[Footnote 1: New York _Tribune_, Feb. 19, 1855.] + +[Footnote 2: New York _Tribune_, Feb. 19, 1855; and Carlier, +_L'Esclavage_, etc., p. 339.] + +Thereafter some progress in the development of separate schools in +Cincinnati was noted. By 1855 the Board of Education of that city had +established four public schools for the instruction of Negro youths. +The colored pupils were showing their appreciation by regular +attendance, manly deportment, and rapid progress in the acquisition of +knowledge. Speaking of these Negroes in 1855, John P. Foote said that +they shared with the white citizens that respect for education, +and the diffusion of knowledge, which has ever been one of their +"characteristics," and that they had, therefore, been more generally +intelligent than free persons of color not only in other States but in +all other parts of the world.[1] It was in appreciation of the worth +of this class of progressive Negroes that in 1858 Nicholas Longworth +built a comfortable school-house for them in Cincinnati, leasing it +with the privilege of purchasing it in fourteen years.[2] They met +these requirements within the stipulated time, and in 1859 secured +through other agencies the construction of another building in the +western portion of the city.[3] + +[Footnote 1: Foote, _The Schools of Cincinnati_, p. 92.] + +[Footnote 2: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed_., 1871, p. 372.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid_., p. 372.] + +The agitation for the admission of colored children to the public +schools was not confined to Cincinnati alone, but came up throughout +the section north of the Ohio River.[1] Where the black population was +large enough to form a social center of its own, Negroes and their +friends could more easily provide for the education of colored +children. In settlements, however, in which just a few of them were +found, some liberal-minded man usually asked the question why persons +taxed to support a system of free schools should not share its +benefits. To strengthen their position these benevolent men referred +to the rapid progress of the belated people, many of whom within +less than a generation from their emergence from slavery had become +intelligent, virtuous, and respectable persons, and in not a few +cases had accumulated considerable wealth.[2] Those who insisted that +children of African blood should be debarred from the regular public +schools had for their defense the so-called inequality of the races. +Some went so far as to concede the claims made for the progressive +blacks, and even to praise those of their respective communities.[3] +But great as their progress had been, the advocates of the restriction +of their educational privileges considered it wrong to claim for them +equality with the Caucasian race. They believed that society would +suffer from an intermingling of the children of the two races. + +[Footnote 1: Hickok, _The Negro in Ohio_, ch. iii.; and Boone, +_History of Education in Indiana_, p. 237.] + +[Footnote 2: Foote, _The Schools of Cincinnati_, p. 93.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid_., p. 92.] + +In Indiana the problem of educating Negroes was more difficult. R.G. +Boone says that, "nominally for the first few years of the educational +experience of the State, black and white children had equal privileges +in the few schools that existed."[1] But this could not continue long. +Abolitionists were moving the country, and freedmen soon found enemies +as well as friends in the Ohio valley. Indiana, which was in 1824 so +very "solicitous for a system of education which would guard against +caste distinction," provided in 1837 that the white inhabitants alone +of each congressional township should constitute the local school +corporation.[2] In 1841 a petition was sent to the legislature +requesting that a reasonable share of the school fund be appropriated +to the education of Negroes, but the committee to which it was +referred reported that legislation on that subject was inexpedient.[3] +With the exception of prohibiting the immigration of such persons into +that State not much account of them was taken until 1853. Then the +legislature amended the law authorizing the establishment of schools +in townships so as to provide that in all enumerations the children +of color should not be taken, that the property of the blacks and +mulattoes should not be taxed for school purposes, and that their +children should not derive any benefit from the common schools of that +State.[4] This provision had really been incorporated into the former +law, but was omitted by oversight on the part of the engrossing +clerk.[5] + +[Footnote 1: Boone, _History of Ed. in Indiana_, p. 237.] + +[Footnote 2: _Laws of a General Nature of the State of Indiana_, 1837, +p. 15.] + +[Footnote 3: Boone, _History of Education in Indiana_, p. 237.] + +[Footnote 4: _Laws of a General Nature of the State of Indiana_, 1855, +p. 161.] + +[Footnote 5: Boone, _History of Education in Indiana_, p. 237.] + +A resolution of the House instructing the educational committee to +report a bill for the establishment of schools for the education of +the colored children of the State was overwhelmingly defeated in 1853. +Explaining their position the opponents said that it was held "to be +better for the weaker party that no privilege be extended to them," +as the tendency to such "might be to induce the vain belief that the +prejudice of the dominant race could ever be so mollified as to break +down the rugged barriers that must forever exist between their social +relations." The friends of the blacks believed that by elevating them +the sense of their degradation would be keener, and so the greater +would be their anxiety to seek another country, where with the spirit +of men they "might breathe fresh air of social as well as political +liberty."[1] This argument, however, availed little. Before the Civil +War the Negroes of Indiana received help in acquiring knowledge from +no source but private and mission schools. + +[Footnote 1: Boone, _History of Education in Indiana_, p. 237.] + +In Illinois the situation was better than in Indiana, but far from +encouraging. The constitution of 1847 restricted the benefits of the +school law to white children, stipulating the word white throughout +the act so as to make clear the intention of the legislators.[1] It +seemed to some that, in excluding the colored children from the public +schools, the law contemplated the establishment of separate schools +in that it provided that the amount of school taxes collected from +Negroes should be returned. Exactly what should be done with such +money, however, was not stated in the act. But even if that were the +object in view, the provision was of little help to the people of +color for the reason that the clause providing for the return of +school taxes was seldom executed. In the few cases in which it was +carried out the fund thus raised was not adequate to the support of +a special school, and generally there were not sufficient colored +children in a community to justify such an outlay. In districts having +control of their local affairs, however, the children of Negroes were +often given a chance to attend school. + +[Footnote 1: The Constitution of Illinois, in the _Journal of the +Constitution of the State of Illinois_, 1847, p. 344.] + +As this scant consideration given Negroes of Illinois left one-half +of the six thousand of their children out of the pale of education, +earnest appeals were made that the restrictive word white be stricken +from the school law. The friends of the colored people sought to show +how inconsistent this system was with the spirit of the constitution +of the State, which, interpreted as they saw it, guaranteed all +persons equality.[1] They held meetings from which came renewed +petitions to their representatives, entreating them to repeal or amend +the old school law. It was not so much a question as to whether or not +there should be separate schools as it was whether or not the people +of color should be educated. The dispersed condition of their children +made it impossible for the State to provide for them in special +schools the same educational facilities as those furnished the youth +of Caucasian blood. Chicago tried the experiment in 1864, but failing +to get the desired result, incorporated the colored children into +the white schools the following year.[2] The State Legislature had +sufficient moral courage to do away with these caste distinctions in +1874.[3] + +[Footnote 1: Thorpe, _Federal and State Constitutions_, Const. of +Illinois.] + +[Footnote 2: _Special Report of U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 343.] + +[Footnote 3: Starr and Curtis, _Annotated Statutes of Illinois_, ch. +105, p. 2261.] + +In other States of the West and the North where few colored people +were found, the solution of the problem was easier. After 1848 Negroes +were legal voters in the school meetings of Michigan. Colored +children were enumerated with others to determine the basis for the +apportionment of the school funds, and were allowed to attend the +public schools. Wisconsin granted Negroes equal school privileges.[1] +After the adoption of a free constitution in 1857, Iowa "determined no +man's rights by the color of his skin." Wherever the word white had +served to restrict the privileges of persons of color it was stricken +out to make it possible for them not only to bear arms and to vote but +to attend public schools.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed._, 1871, p. 400.] + +[Footnote 2: _Journal of the Constitutional Convention of the State of +Iowa_, 1857, p. 3 of the Constitution.] + + + + +APPENDIX + +DOCUMENTS + + +The following resolutions on the subject treated in this part +(the instruction of Negroes) are from the works of Dr. Cotton +Mather.--Bishop William Meade. + +1st. I would always remember, that my servants are in some sense my +children, and by taking care that they want nothing which may be good +for them, I would make them as my children; and so far as the methods +of instituting piety into the mind which I use with my children, +may be properly and prudently used with my servants, they shall be +partakers in them--Nor will I leave them ignorant of anything, wherein +I may instruct them to be useful to their generation. + +2d. I will see that my servants be furnished with bibles and be able +and careful to read the lively oracles. I will put bibles and other +good and proper books into their hands; will allow them time to read +and assure myself that they do not misspend this time--If I can +discern any wicked books in their hands, I will take away those +pestilential instruments of wickedness. + +3d. I will have my servants present at the religious exercises of my +family; and will drop, either in the exhortations, in the prayers or +daily sacrifices of the family such pages as may have a tendency to +quicken a sense of religion in them. + +4th. The article of catechising, as far as the age or state of the +servants will permit it to be done with decency, shall extend to them +also,--And they shall be concerned in the conferences in which I may +be engaged with my family, in the repetition of the public sermons. If +any of them when they come to me shall not have learned the catechism, +I will take care that they do it, and will give them a reward when +they have accomplished it. + +5th. I will be very inquisitive and solicitous about the company +chosen by my servants; and with all possible earnestness will rescue +them from the snares of evil company, and forbid their being the +companions of fools. + +6th. Such of my servants as may be capable of the task, I will employ +to teach lessons of piety to my children, and will recompense them for +so doing. But I would, by a particular artifice, contrive them to be +such lessons, as may be for their own edification too. + +7th. I will sometimes call my servants alone; talk to them about the +state of their souls; tell them to close with their only servant, +charge them to do well and "lay hold on eternal life," and show them +very particularly how they may render all they do for me a service to +the glorious Lord; how they may do all from a principle of obedience +to him, and become entitled to the "reward of the heavenly +inheritance." + +To those resolutions did I add the following pages as an appendix: + +Age is nearly sufficient, with some masters to obliterate every letter +and action in the history of a meritorious life, and old services are +generally buried under the ruins of an old carcase. It is a barbarous +inhumanity in men towards their servants, to account their small +failings as crimes, without allowing their past services to have been +virtues; gracious God, keep thy servants from such base ingratitude! + +But then O servants, if you would obtain "the reward of inheritance," +each of you should set yourself to enquire "how shall I approve myself +such a servant, that the Lord may bless the house of my master, the +more for my being in it?" Certainly there are many ways by which +servants may become blessings. Let your studies with your continual +prayers for the welfare of the family to which you belong: and the +example of your sober carriage render you such. If you will but +remember four words and attempt all that is comprised in them, +Obedience, Honesty, Industry, and Piety, you will be the blessings and +Josephs of the families in which you live. Let these four words be +distinctly and frequently recollected; and cheerfully perform all your +business from this consideration--that it is obedience to heaven, and +from thence will leave a recompense. It was the observation even of a +pagan, "That a master may receive a benefit from a servant"; and "what +is done with the affection of a friend, ceases to be the act of a mere +servant." Even the maid-servants of a house may render a great service +to it, by instructing the infants and instilling into their minds the +lessons of goodness.--In the Appendix of Rev. Thomas Bacon's _Sermons +Addressed to Masters and Servants_. + + +EDIT DU ROI + +Concernant les Esclaves Négres des Colonies, qui seront amenés, ou +envoyés en France. Donné à Paris au mois d'Octobre 1716. + +I. Nous avons connu la nécessité qu'il y a d'y soutenir l'exécution +de l'édit du mars 1685, qui en maintenant la discipline de l'Eglise +Catholique, Apostolique et Romaine, pourvoit à ce qui concerne l'état +et la qualité des Esclaves Nègres, qu'on entretient dans lesdites +colonies pour la culture des terres; et comme nous avons été informés +que plusieurs habitans de nos Isles de l'Amérique désirent envoyer +en France quelques-uns de leur Esclaves pour les confirmer dans les +Instructions et dans les Exercices de notre Religion, et pour leur +faire apprendre en même tems quelque Art et Métier dont les colonies +recevroient beaucoup d'utilité par le retour de ces Esclaves; mais que +les habitans craignaient que les Esclaves ne pretendent être libres en +arrivant en France, ce qui pourroit causer auxdits habitans une perte +considérable, et les détourner d'un objet aussi pieux et aussi utile. + + * * * * * + +II. Si quelques-uns des habitans de nos colonies, ou officiers +employés sur l'Etat desdites colonies, veulent amener en France avec +eux des Esclaves Nègres, de l'un & de l'autre sexe, en qualité de +domestique ou autrement pour les fortifier davantage dans notre +Religion, tant par les instructions qu'ils recevront, que par +l'exemple de nos autre sujets, et pour leur faire apprendre en même +tems quelque Art et Métier, dont les colonies puissent retirer de +l'utilité, par le retour de ces Esclaves, lesdits propriétaires +seront tenus d'en obtenir la permission des Gouverneurs Généraux, ou +Commandans dans chaque Isle, laquelle permission contiendra le nom du +propriétaire, celui des Esclaves, leur age & leur signalement.--Code +Noir ou Recueil d'édits, declarations, et arrêts concernant des +Esclaves Nègres Discipline el le commerce des Esclaves Nègres des +isles françaises de l'Amérique (in Recueil de règlemens, edits, +declarations, et arrêts concernant le commerce, l'administration de +la justice et la police des colonies françaises de l'Amérique et les +Engages avec le Code Noir et l'addition audit Code) (Jefferson's +copy). A Paris chez les Libraires Associés, 1745. + + +A PROPOSITION FOR ENCOURAGING THE CHRISTIAN EDUCATION OF INDIAN, +NEGRO, AND MULATTO CHILDREN AT LAMBETH, VIRGINIA, 1724 + +"It being a duty of Christianity very much neglected by masters and +mistresses of this country (America) to endeavor the good instruction +and education of their heathen slaves in the Christian faith,--the +said duty being likewise earnestly recommended by his Majesty's +instructions,--for the facilitating thereof among the young slaves +that are born among us; it is, therefore, humbly proposed that every +Indian, Negro, or mulatto child that shall be baptized and afterward +brought to church and publicly catechized by the minister in church, +and shall, before the fourteenth year of his or her age, give a +distinct account of the Creed, the Lord's Prayer and Ten Commandments, +and whose master or mistress shall receive a certificate from the +minister that he or she hath so done, such Indian, Negro or mulatto +child shall be exempted from paying all levies till the age of +eighteen years."--Bishop William Meade's _Old Churches, Ministers, and +Families of Virginia_, vol. i., p. 265. + + +PASTORAL LETTER OF BISHOP GIBSON OF LONDON + +To the Masters and Mistresses of Families in the English Plantations +abroad; exhorting them to encourage and promote the instruction of +their Negroes in the Christian Faith. (About 1727.) + +The care of the Plantations abroad being committed to the Bishop of +London as to Religious Affairs; I have thought it my duty to make +particular Inquiries into the State of Religion in those Parts, and to +learn among other Things, what numbers of slaves are employed within +the several Governments, and what Means are used for their Instruction +in the Christian Faith: I find the Numbers are prodigiously great; and +am not a little troubled to observe how small a Progress has been made +in a Christian country, towards the delivering those poor Creatures +from the Pagan Darkness and Superstition in which they were bred, +and the making them Partakers in the Light of the Gospel, and the +Blessings and Benefits belonging to it. And what is yet more to be +lamented, I find there has not only been very little Progress made +in the work but that all Attempts toward it have been by too many +industriously discouraged and hindered; partly by magnifying the +Difficulties of the Work beyond what they really are; and partly by +mistaken Suggestions of the Change which Baptism would make in the +Condition of the Negroes, to the Loss and Disadvantage of their +Masters. + +As to the Difficulties; it may be pleaded, That the Negroes are grown +Persons when they come over, and that having been accustomed to the +Pagan Rites and Idolatries of their own Country, they are prejudiced +against all other Religions, and more particularly against the +Christian, as forbidding all that Licentiousness which is usually +practiced among the Heathens.... But a farther Difficulty is that they +are utter Strangers to our Language, and we to theirs; and the Gift of +Tongues being now ceased, there is no Means left of instructing them +in the Doctrines of the Christian Religion. And this, I own is a real +Difficulty, as long as it continues, and as far as it reaches. But, if +I am rightly informed, many of the Negroes, who are grown Persons when +they come over, do of themselves obtain so much of our Language, as +enables them to understand, and to be understood, in Things which +concern the ordinary Business of Life, and they who can go so far of +their own Accord, might doubtless be carried much farther, if proper +Methods and Endeavors were used to bring them to a competent Knowledge +of our Language, with a pious view to instructing them in the +Doctrines of our Religion. At least, some of them, who are more +capable and more serious than the rest, might be easily instructed +both in our Language and Religion, and then be made use of to convey +Instruction to the rest in their own Language. And this, one would +hope, may be done with great Ease, wherever there is a hearty and +sincere Zeal of the Work. + +But what Difficulties there may be in instructing those who are +grown-up before they are brought over; there are not the like +Difficulties in the Case of their Children, who are born and bred in +our Plantations, who have never been accustomed to Pagan Rites and +Superstitions, and who may easily be trained up, like all other +Children, to any Language whatsoever, and particularly to our own; if +the making them good Christians be sincerely the Desire and +Intention of those, who have Property in them, and Government over +them.--Dalcho's _An Historical Account of the Protestant Episcopal +Church in South Carolina_, pp. 104-106. + + +ANOTHER PASTORAL LETTER OF BISHOP GIBSON OF LONDON + +To the Missionaries in the English Plantations (about 1727). + +DEAR BROTHER, + +Having understood by many Letters from the Plantations, and by the +Accounts of Persons who have come from thence, that very little +progress hath hitherto been made in the conversion of the Negroes to +the Christian Faith; I have thought it proper for me to lay before +Masters and Mistresses the Obligations they are under, and to promote +and encourage that pious and necessary Work.... + +As to those Ministers who have Negroes of their own; I cannot but +esteem it their indispensable Duty to use their best Endeavors to +instruct them in the Christian Religion, in order to their being +baptised; both because such Negroes are their proper and immediate +Care, and because it is in vain to hope that other Masters and +Mistresses will exert themselves in this Work, if they see it wholly +neglected, or but coldly pursued, in the Families of the Clergy ... + +I would also hope that the Schoolmasters in the several Parishes, +part of whose Business it is to instruct Youth in the Principles of +Christianity, might contribute somewhat towards the carrying on of +this Work; by being ready to bestow upon it some of their Leisure +Time, and especially on the Lord's Day, when both they and the Negroes +are most at liberty and the Clergy are taken up with the public Duties +of their Function.--Dalcho's _An Historical Account of the Protestant +Episcopal Account of the Protestant Episcopal Church in South +Carolina_, pages 112-114. + + +AN EXTRACT FROM A SERMON PREACHED BY BISHOP SECKER OF LONDON IN 1741 + +"The next Object of the Society's Concern, were the poor Negroes. +These unhappy Wretches learn in their Native Country, the grossest +Idolatry, and the most savage Dispositions: and then are sold to the +best Purchaser: sometimes by their Enemies, who would else put them +to Death; sometimes by the nearest Friends, who are either unable or +unwilling to maintain them. Their Condition in our Colonies, though it +cannot well be worse than it would have been at Home, is yet nearly as +hard as possible: their Servitude most laborious, their Punishments +most severe. And thus many thousands of them spend their whole +Days, one Generation after another, undergoing with reluctant Minds +continual Toil in this World, and comforted with no Hopes of Reward +in a better. For it is not to be expected that Masters, too commonly +negligent of Christianity themselves, will take much Pains to teach it +their slaves; whom even the better Part of them are in a great Measure +habituated to consider, as they do their Cattle, merely with a view +to the Profit arising from them. Not a few, therefore, have openly +opposed their Instruction, from an Imagination now indeed proved and +acknowledged to be groundless, that Baptism would entitle them to +Freedom. Others by obliging them to work on Sundays to provide +themselves Necessaries, leave them neither Time to learn Religion, nor +any Prospect of being able to subsist, if once the Duty of resting on +that Day become Part of their Belief. And some, it may be feared, +have been averse to their becoming Christians because after that, +no Pretence will remain for not treating them like Men. When these +Obstacles are added to the fondness they have for their old Heathenish +Rites, and the strong Prejudices they must have against Teachers from +among those, whom they serve so unwillingly; it cannot be wondered, +if the Progress made in their Conversion prove slow. After some +Experience of this kind, Catechists were appointed in two Places, by +Way of Trial for Their Instruction alone: whose Success, where it +was least, hath been considerable; and so great in the Plantation +belonging to the Society that out of two hundred and thirty, at +least seventy are now Believers in Christ. And there is lately an +Improvement to this Scheme begun to be executed, by qualifying and +employing young Negroes, prudently chosen, to teach their Countrymen: +from which in the Opinion of the best Judges, we may reasonably +promise ourselves, that this miserable People, the Generality of whom +have hitherto sat in Darkness, will see great Light."--Seeker's _A +Sermon Preached before the Incorporated Society for the Propagation of +the Gospel in Foreign Parts_, 1741. + + +EXTRACTS FROM THE SERMONS OF REV. THOMAS BACON ADDRESSED TO MASTERS +AND SERVANTS ABOUT 1750 + +"Next to our children and brethren by blood, our servants, and +especially our slaves, are certainly in the nearest relation to us. +They are an immediate and necessary part of our households, by whose +labors and assistance we are enabled to enjoy the gifts of Providence +in ease and plenty; and surely we owe them a return of what is just +and equal for the drudgery and hardships they go through in our +service.... + +"It is objected, They are such stubborn creatures, there is no dealing +with them. + +"_Answer_. Supposing this to be true of most of them (which I believe +will scarcely be insisted on:) may it not fairly be asked, whence doth +this stubbornness proceed?--Is it from nature?--That cannot be:--for I +think it is generally acknowledged that _new Negroes_, or those born +in and imported from the coast of _Guinea_, prove the best and most +tractable servants. Is it then from education?--for one or the other +it must proceed from.--But pray who had the care of bringing up those +that were born here?--Was it not ourselves?--And might not an early +care, of instilling good principles into them when young, have +prevented much of that stubbornness and untractableness you complain +of in country-born negroes?--These, you cry out, are wickeder than the +others:--and, pray, where did they learn that wickedness?--Was it +not among ourselves?--for those who come immediately from their own +country, you say, have more simplicity and honesty. A sad reproach +to a Christian people indeed! that such poor ignorant heathens shall +bring better morals and dispositions from home with them, that they +can learn or actually do contract amongst us! + + * * * * * + +"It is objected,--they are so ignorant and unteachable, they cannot be +brought to any knowledge in these matters. + +"_Answer_. This objection seems to have little or no truth in it, with +respect to the bulk of them.--Their ignorance, indeed, about matters +of religion, is not to be disputed;--they are sunk in it to a sad and +lamentable degree, which has been shown to be chiefly owing to +the negligence of their owners.--But that they are so stupid and +unteachable, as that they cannot be brought to any competent knowledge +in these matters, is false, and contrary to fact and experience. In +regard to their work, they learn it, and grow dexterous enough in a +short time. Many of them have learned trades and manufactures, which +they perform well, and with sufficient ingenuity:--whence it is +plain they are not unteachable; do not want natural parts and +capacities.--Most masters and mistresses will complain of their art +and cunning in contriving to deceive them.--Is it reasonable to deny +then they can learn what is good, when it is owned at the same time +they can be so artful in what is bad?--Their ignorance, therefore, +if born in the country, must absolutely be the fault of their +owners:--and such as are brought here from Africa may, surely, be +taught something of advantage to their own future state, as well as to +work for their masters' present gain.--The difference plainly consists +in this;--that a good deal of pains is taken to shew them how to +labour, and they are punished if they neglect it.--This sort of +instruction their owners take care to give them every day, and look +well to it that it be duly followed.--But no such pains are taken in +the other case.--They are generally left to themselves, whether they +will serve God, or worship Devils--whether they become christians, or +remain heathens as long as they live: as if either their souls were +not worth the saving, or as if we were under no obligation of giving +them any instruction:--which is the true reason why so many of them +who are grown up, and lived many years among us, are as entirely +ignorant of the principles of religion, as if they had never come into +a christian country:--at least, as to any good or practical purposes. + + * * * * * + +"I have dwelt the longer upon this head, because it is of the utmost +importance, and seems to be but little considered among us.--For there +is too much reason to fear, that the many vices and immoralities so +common among white people;--the lewdness, drunkenness, quarrelling, +abusiveness, swearing, lying, pride, backbiting, overreaching, +idleness, and sabbath-breaking, everywhere to be seen among us, are a +great encouragement to our Negroes to do the like, and help strongly +to confirm them in the habits of wickedness and impiety. + +"We ought not only to avoid giving them bad examples, and abstain from +all appearance of evil, but also strive to set a daily good example +before their eyes, that seeing us lead the way in our own person, they +may more readily be persuaded to follow us in the wholesome paths of +religion and virtue. + + * * * * * + +"We ought to make this reading and studying the holy scriptures, and +the reading and explaining them to our children and slaves, and the +catechizing or instructing them in the principles of the Christian +religion, a stated duty. + + * * * * * + +"We ought in a particular manner to take care of the children, and +instil early principles of piety and religion into their minds. + +"If the grown up slaves, from confirmed habits of vice, are hard to be +reclaimed, the children surely are in our power, and may be trained up +in the way they should go, with rational hopes that when they are old, +they will not depart from it.--We ought, therefore, to take charge +of their education principally upon ourselves, and not leave them +entirely to the care of their wicked parents.--If the present +generation be bad, we may hope by this means that the succeeding ones +will be much better. One child well instructed, will take care when +grown up to instruct his children; and they again will teach their +posterity good things.--And I am fully of opinion, that the common +notion of _wickedness running in the blood_, is not so general in fact +as to be admitted for an axiom. And that the vices we see descending +from parents to their children are chiefly owing to the malignant +influence of bad example and conversation.--And though some persons +may be, and undoubtedly are, born with stronger passions and +appetites, or with a greater propensity to some particular +gratifications or pursuits than others, yet we do not want convincing +instances how effectually they may be restrained, or at least +corrected and turned to proper and laudable ends, by the force of an +early care, and a suitable education. + +"To you of the female sex, (whom I have had occasion more than once to +take notice of with honor in this congregation) I would address a few +words on this head.--You, who by your stations are more confined at +home, and have the care of the younger sort more particularly under +your management, may do a great deal of good in this way.--I know not +when I have been more affected, or my heart touched with stronger and +more pleasing emotions, than at the sight and conversation of a little +negro boy, not above seven years old, who read to me in the new +testament, and perfectly repeated his catechism throughout, and all +from the instruction of his careful, pious mistress, now I hope with +God, enjoying the blessed fruits of her labours while on earth.--This +example I would recommend to your serious imitation, and to enforce it +shall only remark, that a shining part of the character of Solomon's +excellent daughter is, that she looketh well to the ways of her +household."--Rev. Thomas Bacon's _Sermons Addressed to Masters and +Servants_, pp. 4, 48, 49, 51, 64, 65, 69, 70, 73, 74. + + +PORTIONS OF BENJAMIN FAWCETT's ADDRESS TO THE CHRISTIAN NEGROES IN +VIRGINIA ABOUT 1755 + +"Rejoice and be exceeding glad, that you are delivered either from the +Frauds of Mohamet, or Pagan Darkness, and Worship of Daemons; and are +not now taught to place your Dependence upon those other dead Men, +whom the Papists impiously worship, to the Neglect and Dishonor of +Jesus Christ, the one only Mediator between God and Men. Christ, tho' +he was dead, is alive again, and liveth forever-more. It is Christ, +who is able also to save them to the uttermost, that come unto God by +him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. Bless God, +with all your Heart, that the Holy Scriptures are put into your Hands, +which are able to make you wise unto Salvation, thro' Faith which is +in Christ Jesus. Read and study the Bible for yourselves; and consider +how Papists do all they can to hide it from their Followers, for Fear +such divine Light should discover the gross Darkness of their false +Doctrines and Worship. Be particularly thankful to the Ministers of +Christ around you, who are faithfully labouring to teach you the Truth +as it is in Jesus.... + +"Contrary to these evident Truths and precious Comforts of the Word +of God, you may perhaps be tempted very unjustly to renounce your +Fidelity and Obedience to your Old Masters, in Hope of finding new +ones, with whom you may live more happily. At one time or other it +will probably be suggested to you, that the French will make better +Masters than the English. But I beseech you to consider, that your +Happiness as Men and Christians exceedingly depends upon your doing +all in your Power to support the British Government, and that kind of +Christianity which is called the Protestant Religion; and likewise in +opposing, with all your Might, the Power of the French, the Delusions +of Popish Priests, and all the Rage and Malice of such Indians, as are +in the French Interest. If the Power of France was to prevail in the +Country where you now live, you have Nothing to expect but the most +terrible Increase of your Sufferings. Your Slavery would then, not +merely extend to Body, but also to the Soul; not merely run thro' your +Days of Labour, but even thro' your Lord's Days. Your Bibles would +then become like a sealed Book, and your Consciences would be fettered +with worse than Iron-Chains. Therefore be patient, be submissive and +obedient, be faithful and true, even when some of your Masters are +most unkind. This is the only way for you to have Consciences void +of Offense towards God and Man. This will really be taking the most +effectual Measures, to secure for yourselves a Share in the invaluable +Blessings and Privileges of the glorious Gospel of the Blessed God, +which you have already received thro' the Channel of the British +Government, and which no other Government upon the Face of the Earth +is so calculated to support and preserve. + +"The Lord Jesus Christ is now saying to you, as he did to Peter, when +thou art converted strengthen thy Brethren.... + +"Therefore let me entreat you to look upon your Country-men around +you, and pity them, not so much for their being Fellow-Captives with +you in a strange Land; as for this, that they are not yet, like you, +delivered from the Power of Darkness.... + +"Invite them to learn to read, and direct them where they may apply +for Assistance, especially to those faithful Ministers, who have been +your Instructors and Fathers in Christ...."--Fawcett's _Address to the +Negroes in Virginia_, etc., pp. 8, 17, 18, 24, 25. + + +EXTRACT FROM THE APPENDIX OF BENJAMIN FAWCETT'S "ADDRESS TO THE +CHRISTIAN NEGROES IN VIRGINIA" + +"The first Account, I ever met with, of any considerable Number of +Negroes embracing the Gospel, is in a letter written by Mr. Davies, +Minister at Hanover in Virginia, to Mr. Bellamy of Bethlehem in New +England, dated June 28, 1751. It appears that the Letter was designed +for Publication; and I suppose, was accordingly printed at Boston +in New England. It is to be seen in vol. ii., pages 330-338, of the +_Historical Collections_ relating to remarkable Periods of the Success +of the Gospel, and eminent Instruments employed in promoting it; +Compiled by Mr. John Gillies, one of the Ministers of Glasgow: Printed +by Foulis in 1754. Mr. Davies fills the greatest part of his Letter, +with an Account of the declining State of Religion in Virginia, and +the remarkable Means used by Providence to revive it, for a few Years +before his Settlement there, which was in 1747; not in the character +of a Missionary, but that of a dissenting Minister, invited by a +particular People, and fixed with them. Such, he observes, was the +scattered State of his Congregation, that he soon found it necessary +to license seven Meeting-Houses, the nearest of which are twelve or +fifteen Miles distant from each other, and the extremes about Forty; +yet some of his People live twenty, thirty, and a few forty Miles from +the nearest Meeting-House. He computes his Communicants at about three +Hundred. He then says, 'There is also a Number of Negroes. Some times +I see a Hundred and more among my Hearers. I have baptized about Forty +of them within the last three Years, upon such a Profession of Faith +as I then judged credible. Some of them, I fear, have apostatized; but +others, I trust, will persevere to the End. I have had as satisfying +Evidences of the sincere Piety of several of them, as ever I had from +any Person in my Life; and their artless Simplicity, their passionate +Aspirations after Christ, their incessant Endeavors to know and do +the Will of God, have charmed me. But, alas! while my Charge is +so extensive, I cannot take sufficient Pains with them for their +Instruction, which often oppresses my Heart....'" + +At the Close of the above Letter, in the _Historical Collections_ +(vol. ii., page 338), there is added the following Marginal +Note.--"May 22, 1754. Mr. G. Tennent and Mr. Davies being at +Edinburgh, as Agents for the Trustees of the College of New Jersey, +Mr. Davies informs,--that when he left Virginia in August last, there +was a hopeful Appearance of a greater Spread of a religious Concern +amongst the Negroes;--And a few weeks before he left Home, he baptized +in one Day fifteen Negroes, after they had been catechized for some +Months, and given credible Evidences of their sincerely embracing the +Gospel." + +After these Gentlemen had finished the Business of their late Mission +in this part of the World, Mr. Davies gave the following Particulars +to his Correspondent in London, in a letter which he wrote in the +Spring of the previous Year, six Weeks after his safe return to his +Family and Friends.--"The Inhabitants of Virginia are computed to be +about 300,000 Men, the one-half of which Number are supposed to be +Negroes. The Number of those who attend my Ministry at particular +Times is uncertain, but generally about three Hundred who give a +stated Attendance. And never have I been so much struck with the +Appearance of an Assembly, as when I have glanced my Eye to that Part +of the Meeting-House, where they usually sit; adorned, for so it had +appeared to me, with so many black Countenances, eagerly attentive to +every Word they hear, and frequently bathed in Tears. A considerable +Number of them, about a Hundred, have been baptized, after the proper +Time for Instruction, and having given credible Evidences, not only +of their Acquaintance with the important Doctrines of the Christian +Religion, but also a deep Sense of them upon their Minds, attested +by a Life of the strictest Piety and Holiness. As they are not +sufficiently polished to dissemble with a good Grace, they express the +sentiments of their Souls so much in the Language of simple Nature, +and with such genuine Indications of Sincerity, that it is impossible +to suspect their Professions, especially when attended with a truly +Christian Life and exemplary Conduct.--My worthy Friend, Mr. Tod, +Minister of the next Congregation, has near the same Number under his +Instructions, who, he tells me, discover the same serious Turn of +Mind. In short, Sir, there are Multitudes of them in different Places, +who are willing, and eagerly desirous to be instructed, and embrace +every Opportunity of acquainting themselves with the Doctrines of the +Gospel; and tho' they have generally very little Help to learn to +read, yet, to my agreeable Surprise, many of them, by the Dint of +Application in their Leisure-Hours, have made such a Progress, that +they can intelligibly read a plain Author, and especially their +Bibles; and Pity it is that many of them should be without them. +Before I had the Pleasure of being admitted a Member of your Society +[Mr. Davies here means the Society for promoting religious Knowledge +among the Poor, which was first begun in London in August, 1750] the +Negroes were wont frequently to come to me, with such moving Accounts +of their Necessities in this Respect, that I could not help supplying +them with Books to the utmost of my small Ability; and when I +distributed those among them, which my Friends with you sent over, I +had Reason to think that I never did an Action in all my Life, +that met with so much Gratitude from the Receivers. I have already +distributed all the Books I brought over, which were proper for them. +Yet still, on Saturday Evenings, the only Time they can spare [they +are allowed some short Time, viz., Saturday afternoon, and Sunday, +says Dr. Douglass in his Summary. See the _Monthly Review_ for +October, 1755, page 274] my House is crowded with Numbers of them, +whose very Countenances still carry the air of importunate Petitioners +for the same Favors with those who came before them. But, alas! +my Stock is exhausted, and I must send them away grieved and +disappointed.--Permit me, Sir, to be an Advocate with you, and, by +your Means, with your generous Friends in their Behalf. The Books I +principally want for them are, Watts' Psalms and Hymns, and Bibles. +The two first they cannot be supplied with any other Way than by a +Collection, as they are not among the Books which your Society give +away. I am the rather importunate for a good Number of these, and I +cannot but observe, that the Negroes, above all the Human Species that +I ever knew, have an Ear for Musick, and a kind of extatic Delight in +Psalmody; and there are no Books they learn so soon, or take so much +Pleasure in as those used in that heavenly Part of divine Worship. +Some Gentlemen in London were pleased to make me a private Present of +these Books for their Use, and from the Reception they met with, and +their Eagerness for more, I can easily foresee, how acceptable and +useful a larger Number would be among them. Indeed, Nothing would be a +greater Inducement to their Industry to learn to read, than the Hope +of such a Present; which they would consider, both as a Help, and a +Reward for their Diligence"....--_Fawcett's Address to the Christian +Negroes in Virginia_, etc., pp. 33. 34. 35. 36, 37. 38. + + +EXTRACT FROM JONATHAN BOUCHER'S "A VIEW OF THE CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES +OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION"(1763) + +"If ever these colonies, now filled with slaves, be improved to their +utmost capacity, an essential part of the improvement must be the +abolition of slavery. Such a change would be hardly more to the +advantage of the slaves than it would be to their owners.... + +"I do you no more than justice in bearing witness, that in no part of +the world were slaves better treated than, in general, they are in the +colonies.... In one essential point, I fear, we are all deficient; +they are nowhere sufficiently instructed. I am far from recommending +it to you, at once to set them free; because to do so would be an +heavy loss to you, and probably no gain to them; but I do entreat +you to make them some amends for the drudgery of their bodies by +cultivating their minds. By such means only can we hope to fulfil the +ends, which we may be permitted to believe, Providence had in view in +suffering them to be brought among us. You may unfetter them from the +chains of ignorance; you may emancipate them from the bondage of sin, +the worst slavery to which they can be subjected; and by thus setting +at liberty those that are bruised, though they still continue to be +your slaves, they shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption +into the glorious liberty of the Children of God."--Jonathan Boucher's +_A View of the Causes and Consequences_, etc., pp. 41, 42, 43. + + +BOUCHER ON AMERICAN EDUCATION IN 1773 + +"You pay far too little regard to parental education.... + +"What is still less credible is that at least two-thirds of the little +education we receive is derived from instructors who are either +indented servants or transported felons. Not a ship arrives either +with redemptioners or convicts, in which schoolmasters are not as +regularly advertised for sale as weavers, tailors, or any other trade; +with little other difference, that I can hear of, excepting perhaps +that the former do not usually fetch so good a price as the latter.... + +"I own, however, that I dislike slavery and among other reasons +because as it is here conducted it has pernicious effects on the +social state, by being unfavorable to education. It certainly is no +necessary circumstance, essential to the condition of a slave, that he +be uneducated; yet this is the general and almost universal lot of the +slaves. Such extreme, deliberate, and systematic inattention to all +mental improvement, in so large portion of our species, gives far too +much countenance and encouragement to those abject persons who are +contented to be rude and ignorant."--Jonathan Boucher's _A View of the +Causes and Consequences of the American Revolution_, pp. 183, 188, +189. + + +A PORTION OF AN ESSAY OF BISHOP PORTEUS TOWARD A PLAN FOR THE MORE +EFFECTUAL CIVILIZATION AND CONVERSION OF THE NEGRO SLAVES ON THE TRENT +ESTATE IN BARBADOES BELONGING TO THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF +THE GOSPEL IN FOREIGN PARTS. (WRITTEN IN 1784) + +"We are expressly commanded to preach the gospel to every creature; +and therefore every human creature must necessarily be capable of +receiving it. It may be true, perhaps, that the generality of +the Negro slaves are extremely dull of apprehension, and slow of +understanding; but it may be doubted whether they are more so than +some of the lowest classes of our own people; at least they are +certainly not inferior in capacity to the Greenlanders, many of whom +have made very sincere Christians. Several travellers of good credit +speak in very favorable terms, both of the understandings and +dispositions of the native Africans on the coast of Guinea; and it is +a well-known fact, that many even of the Negro slaves in our islands, +although laboring under disadvantages and discouragements, that might +well depress and stupefy even the best understandings, yet give +sufficient proofs of the great quickness of parts and facility in +learning. They have, in particular, a natural turn to the mechanical +arts, in which several of them show much ingenuity, and arrive at no +small degree of perfection. Some have discovered marks of genius for +music, poetry, and other liberal accomplishments; and there are not +wanting instances among them of a strength of understanding, and a +generosity, dignity, and heroism of mind, which would have done honour +to the most cultivated European. It is not, therefore, to any natural +or unconquerable disability in the subject we had to work upon, that +the little success of our efforts is to be ascribed. This would indeed +be an insuperable obstacle, and must put an effectual stop to all +future attempts of the same nature; but as this is far from being the +case, we must look for other causes of our disappointment; which may +perhaps appear to be, though of a serious, yet less formidable nature, +and such as it is in the power of human industry and perseverance, +with the blessing of Providence, to remove. The principal of them, it +is conceived, are these which here follow: + +1. "Although several of our ministers and catechists in the college of +Barbadoes have been men of great worth and piety, and good intentions, +yet in general they do not appear (if we may judge from their letters +to the Board) to have possessed that peculiar sort of talents and +qualifications, that facility and address in conveying religious +truths, that unconquerable activity, patience, and perseverance, which +the instruction of dull and uncultivated minds requires, and which +we sometimes see so eminently and successfully displayed in the +missionaries of other churches. + +"And indeed the task of instructing and converting near three hundred +Negro slaves, and of educating their children in the principles of +morality and religion, is too laborious for any one person to execute +well; especially when the stipend is too small to animate his +industry, and excite his zeal. + +2. "There seems also to have been a want of other modes of +instruction, and of other books and tracts for that purpose, besides +those made use of hitherto by our catechists. And there is reason +moreover to believe, that the time allotted to the instruction of the +Negroes has not been sufficient. + +3. "Another impediment to the progress of our slaves in Christian +knowledge has been their too frequent intercourse with the Negroes of +the neighboring plantations, and the accession of fresh slaves to our +own, either hired from other estates, or imported from Africa. These +are so many constant temptations in their way to revert to their +former heathenish principles and savage manners, to which they have +always a strong natural propensity; and when this propensity is +continually inflamed by the solicitations of their unconverted +brethren, or the arrival of new companions from the coast of Guinea, +it frequently becomes very difficult to be resisted, and counteracts, +in a great degree, all the influence and exhortations of their +religious teachers. + +4. "Although this society has been always most honourably +distinguished by the gentleness with which the negroes belonging to +its trust estates have been generally treated, yet even these (by the +confession of our missionaries) are in too abject, and depressed, and +uncivilized a state to be proper subjects for the reception of the +divine truths of revelation. They stand in need of some further marks +of the society's regard and tenderness for them, to conciliate their +affections, to invigorate their minds, to encourage their hopes, +and to rouse them out of that state of languor and indolence and +insensibility, which renders them indifferent and careless both about +this world and the next. + +5. "A still further obstacle to the effectual conversion of the +Negroes has been the almost unrestrained licentiousness of their +manner, the habits of vice and dissoluteness in which they are +permitted to live, and the sad examples they too frequently see in +their managers and overseers. It can never be expected that people +given up to such practices as these, can be much disposed to receive a +pure and undefiled religion: or that, if after their conversion they +are allowed, as they generally are, to retain their former habits, +their christianity can be anything more than a mere name. + +"These probably the society will, on inquiry, find to have been the +principal causes of the little success they have hitherto had in their +pious endeavors to render their own slaves real christians. And it is +with a view principally to the removal of these obstacles that the +following regulations are, with all due deference to better judgments, +submitted to their consideration. + +"The first and most essential step towards a real and effectual +conversion of our Negroes would be the appointment of a missionary +(in addition to the present catechist) properly qualified for that +important and difficult undertaking. He should be a clergyman sought +out for in this country, of approved ability, piety, humanity, +industry, and a fervent, yet prudent zeal for the interests of +religion, and the salvation of those committed to his care; and should +have a stipend not less than 200 f. sterling a year if he has an +apartment and is maintained in the College, or 300 f. a year if he is +not. + +"This clergyman might be called (for a reason to be hereafter +assigned) 'The Guardian of the Negroes'; and his province should be +to superintend the moral and spiritual concern of the slaves, to take +upon himself the religious instruction of the adult Negroes, and to +take particular care that all the Negro children are taught to read +by the catechist and the two assistant women (now employed by the +society) and also that they are diligently instructed by the catechist +in the principles of the Christian religion, till they are fifteen +years of age, when they shall be instructed by himself with the adult +Negroes. + +"This instruction of the Negro children from their earliest years is +one of the most important and essential parts of the whole plan; for +it is to the education of the young Negroes that we are principally +to look for the success of our spiritual labours. These may be easily +taught to understand and to speak the English language with fluency; +these may be brought up from their earliest youth in habits of virtue, +and restrained from all licentious indulgences: these may have the +principles and the precepts of religion impressed so early upon their +tender minds as to sink deep, and to take firm root, and bring forth +the fruits of a truly Christian life. To this great object, therefore, +must our chief attention be directed; and as almost everything must +depend on the ability, the integrity, the assiduity, the perseverance +of the person to whom we commit so important a charge, it is +impossible for us to be too careful and too circumspect in our choice +of a CATECHIST. He must consider it his province, not merely to teach +the Negroes the use of letters, but the elements of Christianity; not +only to improve their understandings, but to form their hearts. For +this purpose they must be put into his hands the moment they are +capable of articulating their words, and their instruction must be +pursued with unrelenting diligence. So long as they continue too young +to work, they may be kept constantly in the school; as they grow fit +to labour, their attendance on the CATECHIST must gradually lessen, +till at length they take their full share of work with the grown +Negroes. + +"A school of this nature was formerly established by the society +of Charlestown in South Carolina, about the year 1745, under the +direction of Mr. Garden, the Bishop of London's commissary in that +province. This school flourished greatly, and seemed to answer their +utmost wishes. There were at one time sixty scholars in it, and twenty +young Negroes were annually sent out from it well instructed in the +English language, and the Christian faith. Mr. Garden, in his letters +to the society, speaks in the highest terms of the progress made +by his scholars, and says, that the Negroes themselves were highly +pleased with their own acquirements. But it is supposed that on a +parochial establishment being made in Charlestown by government, this +excellent institution was dropt; for after the year 1751, no further +mention is made of it in the minutes of the society. From what little +we know of it, however, we may justly conceive the most pleasing +hopes from a similar foundation at Barbadoes."--_The Works of Bishop +Porteus_, vi., pp., 171-179. + + +EXTRACT FROM "THE ACTS OF DR. BRAY'S VISITATION HELD AT ANNAPOLIS IN +MARYLAND, MAY 23, 24, 25, ANNO 1700" + +_Words of Dr. Bray_ + +"I think, my REVEREND BRETHREN, that we are now gone through such +measures as may be necessary to be considered for the more universal +as well as successful Catechising, and Instruction of Youth. And I +heartily thank you for your so ready Concurrence in every thing that +I have offered to you: And which, I hope, will appear no less in the +Execution, than it has been to the Proposals. + +"And that proper Books may not be wanting for the several Classes of +Catechumens, there is care taken for the several sorts, which may be +all had in this Town. And it may be necessary to acquaint you, +that for the poor Children and Servants, they shall be given +Gratis."--Hawks's _Ecclesiastical History of the United States_, vol. +ii., pp. 503-504. + + +EXTRACTS FROM THE MINUTES OF THE MEETINGS OF THE SOCIETY OF +FRIENDS.... + +FROM THE MINUTES OF THE YEARLY MEETING OF THE FRIENDS OF PENNSYLVANIA +AND NEW JERSEY, 1774 + +"And having grounds to conclude that there are some brethren who have +these poor captives under their care, and are desirous to be wisely +directed in the restoring them to liberty: Friends who may be +appointed by quarterly and monthly meetings on the service now +proposed, are earnestly desired to give their weighty and solid +attention for the assistance of such who are thus honestly and +religiously concerned for their own relief, and the essential benefit +of the negro. And in such families where there are young ones, or +others of suitable age, that they excite the masters, or those who +have them, to give them sufficient instruction and learning, in order +to qualify them for the enjoyment of liberty intended, and that they +may be instructed by themselves, or placed out to such masters and +mistresses who will be careful of their religious education, to serve +for such time, and no longer, as is prescribed by law and custom, for +white people."--_A Brief Statement of the Rise and Progress of the +Testimony of the Religious Society of Friends against Slavery and the +Slave Trade_. Published by direction of the Yearly Meeting, held in +Philadelphia, in the Fourth Month, 1843, p. 38. + + +FROM THE MINUTES OF THE YEARLY MEETING OF THE FRIENDS OF PHILADELPHIA +AND NEW JERSEY, 1779 + +"A tender Christian sympathy appears to be awakened in the minds of +many who are not in religious profession with us, who have seriously +considered the oppressions and disadvantages under which those people +have long laboured; and whether a pious care extended to their +offspring is not justly due from us to them, is a consideration worthy +of our serious and deep attention; or if this obligation did not +weightily lay upon us, can benevolent minds be directed to any object +more worthy of their liberality and encouragement, than that of laving +a foundation in the rising generation for their becoming good and +useful men? remembering what was formerly enjoined, 'If thy brethren +be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee, then thou shalt relieve +him; yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live +with thee.'"--_Ibid_., p. 38. + + +FROM THE MINUTES OF THE QUARTERLY MEETING OF THE FRIENDS OF CHESTER + +"The consideration of the temporal and spiritual welfare of the +Africans, and the necessary instruction of their offspring now being +resumed, and after some time spent thereon, it is closely recommended +to our several monthly meetings to pay due attention to the advice of +the Yearly Meeting on this subject, and proceed as strength may be +afforded, in looking after them in their several habitations by a +religious visit; giving them such counsel as their situation may +require."--_Ibid_., p. 39. + + +FROM THE MINUTES OF THE HADDONFIELD QUARTERLY MEETING + +"In Haddonfield Quarterly Meeting, a committee was kept steadily under +appointment for several years to assist in manumissions, and in the +education of the negro children. Religious meetings were frequently +held for the people of color; and Haddonfield Monthly Meeting raised +on one occasion 131 pounds, for the education of negro children. + +"In Salem Monthly Meeting, frequent meetings of worship for the people +of color were held by direction of the monthly meeting; funds were +raised for the education of their children, and committees appointed +in the different meetings to provide books, place the children +at school, to visit the schools, and inspect their conduct and +improvement. + +"Meetings for Divine worship were regularly held for people of color, +at least once in three months, under the direction of the monthly +meetings of Friends in Philadelphia; and schools were also established +at which their children were gratuitously instructed in useful +learning. One of these, originally instituted by Anthony Benezet, is +now in operation in the city of Philadelphia, and has been continued +under the care of one of the monthly meetings of Friends of that city, +and supported by funds derived from voluntary contributions of the +members, and from legacies and bequests, yielding an income of about +$1000 per annum. The average number of pupils is about sixty-eight of +both sexes."--_Ibid_., pp. 40-41. + + +FROM THE MINUTES OF THE RHODE ISLAND QUARTERLY MEETING OF THE FRIENDS, +1769 + +A committee reported "that having met, and entered into a solemn +consideration of the subject, they were of the mind that a useful +alteration might be made in the query referred to; yet apprehending +some further Christian endeavors in labouring with such who continue +in possession of slaves should be first promoted, by which means the +eyes of Friends may be more clearly opened to behold the iniquity +of the practice of detaining our fellow creatures in bondage, and a +disposition to set such free who are arrived to mature age; and when +the labour is performed and report made to the meeting, the meeting +may be better capable of determining what further step to take in this +affair, which hath given so much concern to faithful Friends, and that +in the meantime it should be enforced upon Friends that have them in +possession, to treat them with tenderness; impress God's fear on their +minds; promote their attending places of religious worship; and give +such as are young, so much learning, that they may be capable of +reading. + +"Are Friends clear of importing, buying, or any ways disposing of +negroes or slaves; and do they use those well who are under their +care, and not in circumstances, through nonage or incapacity, to +be set at liberty? And do they give those that are young such an +education as becomes Christians; and are the others encouraged in a +religious and virtuous life? Are all set at liberty that are of age, +capacity, and ability suitable for freedom?"--_Ibid_., pp. 45,46. + + +FROM THE MINUTES OF THE YEARLY MEETING OF THE FRIENDS OF VIRGINIA IN +1757 AND 1773 + +"Are Friends clear of importing or buying negroes to trade on; and +do they use those well which they are possessed of by inheritance +or otherwise, endeavoring to train them in the principles of the +Christian religion?" + +The meeting of 1773 recommended to Friends, "seriously to consider the +circumstances of these poor people, and the obligation we are under to +discharge our religious duties to them, which being disinterestedly +pursued, will lead the professor to Truth, to advise and assist them +on all occasions, particularly in promoting their instruction in the +principles of the Christian religion, and the pious education of their +children; also to advise them in their worldly concerns, as occasions +offer; and it advised that Friends of judgment and experience may be +nominated for this necessary service, it being the solid sense of +this meeting, that we, of the present generation, are under strong +obligations to express our love and concern for the offspring of those +people, who, by their labours, have greatly contributed toward the +cultivation of these colonies, under the afflictive disadvantage of +enduring a hard bondage; and many amongst us are enjoying the benefit +of their toil."--_Ibid._, pp. 51, 52, and 54. + + +EXTRACT FROM THE MINUTES OF THE METHODIST CONFERENCE, 1785 + +"Q. What directions shall we give for the promotion of the spiritual +welfare of the colored people? + +"A. We conjure all our ministers and preachers, by the love of God and +the salvation of souls, and do require them, by all the authority that +is invested in us, to leave nothing undone for the spiritual benefit +and salvation of them, within their respective circuits or districts; +and for this purpose to embrace every opportunity of inquiring into +the state of their souls, and to unite in society those who appear to +have a real desire of fleeing from the wrath to come, to meet such a +class, and to exercise the whole Methodist Discipline among them." + +"Q. What can be done in order to instruct poor children, white and +black to read? + +"A. Let us labor, as the heart of one man, to establish Sunday +schools, in or near the place of public worship. Let persons be +appointed by the bishop, elders, deacons, or preachers, to teach +gratis all that will attend or have the capacity to learn, from six +o'clock in the morning till ten, and from two o'clock in the afternoon +till six, where it does not interfere with public worship. The +council shall compile a proper school book to teach them learning and +piety."--Rev. Charles Elliott's _History of the Great Secession front +the Methodist Episcopal Church_, etc., p. 35. + + +A PORTION OF AN ACT OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH +IN 1800. + +The Assembly recommended: + +"2. The instruction of Negroes, the poor and those who are destitute +of the means of grace in various parts of this extensive country; +whoever contemplates the situation of this numerous class of persons +in the United States, their gross ignorance of the plainest principles +of religion, their immorality and profaneness, their vices and +dissoluteness of manners, must be filled with anxiety for their +present welfare, and above all for their future and eternal happiness. + +"3. The purchasing and disposing of Bibles and also of books and short +essays on the great principles of religion and morality, calculated +to impress the minds of those to whom they are given with a sense of +their duty both to God and man, and consequently of such a nature as +to arrest the attention, interest the curiosity and touch the feelings +of those to whom they are given."--_Act and Proceedings of the General +Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. in the Year 1800_, +Philadelphia. + + +AN ACT OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN 1801 + +"The Assembly resumed the consideration of the communication from the +Trustees of the General Assembly and having gone through the same, +thereupon resolved, + +"5. That there be made a purchase of so many cheap and pious books as +a due regard to the other objects of the Assembly's funds will admit, +with a view of distributing them not only among the frontiers of these +States, but also among the poorer classes of people, and the blacks, +or wherever it is thought useful; which books shall be given away, or +lent, at the discretion of the distributor; and that there be received +from Mr. Robert Aitken, toward the discharge of his debt, books to +such amount as shall appear proper to the Trustees of the Assembly, +who are hereby requested to take proper measures for the distribution +of same."--_Act and Proceedings of the General Assembly of the +Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A._ + + +PLAN FOR IMPROVING THE CONDITION OF THE FREE BLACKS + +The business relative to free blacks shall be transacted by a +committee of twenty-four persons, annually elected by ballot at a +meeting of this Society, in the month called April, and in order to +perform the different services with expedition, regularity and energy +this committee shall resolve itself into the following sub-committees, +viz.: + +I. A Committee of Inspection, who shall superintend the morals, +general conduct, and ordinary situation of the free negroes, and +afford them advice and instruction, protection from wrongs, and other +friendly offices. + +II. A Committee of Guardians, who shall place out children and young +people with suitable persons, that they may (during a moderate time +of apprenticeship or servitude) learn some trade or other business +of subsistence. The committee may effect this partly by a persuasive +influence on parents and the persons concerned, and partly by +coöperating with the laws, which are or may be enacted for this +and similar purposes. In forming contracts of these occasions, the +committee shall secure to the Society as far as may be practicable the +right of guardianship over the person so bound. + +III. A Committee of Education, who shall superintend the school +instruction of the children and youth of the free blacks. They +may either influence them to attend regularly the schools already +established in this city, or form others with this view; they shall, +in either case, provide, that the pupils may receive such learning as +is necessary for their future situation in life, and especially a deep +impression of the most important and generally acknowledged moral and +religious principles. They shall also procure and preserve a regular +record of the marriages, births, and manumissions of all free blacks. + +IV. The Committee of Employ, who shall endeavor to procure constant +employment for those free negroes who are able to work; as the want of +this would occasion poverty, idleness, and many vicious habits. This +committee will by sedulous inquiry be enabled to find common labor for +a great number; they will also provide that such as indicate proper +talents may learn various trades, which may be done by prevailing upon +them to bind themselves for such a term of years as shall compensate +their masters for the expense and trouble of instruction and +maintenance. The committee may attempt the institution of some simple +and useful manufactures which will require but little skill, and also +may assist, in commencing business, such as appear to be qualified for +it. + +Whenever the Committee of Inspection shall find persons of any +particular description requiring attention, they shall immediately +direct them to the committee of whose care they are the proper +objects. + +In matters of a mixed nature, the committee shall confer, and, if +necessary, act in concert. Affairs of great importance shall be +referred to the whole committee. + +The expense incurred by the prosecution of this plan, shall be +defrayed by a fund, to be formed by donations or subscriptions for +these particular purposes, and to be kept separate from the other +funds of the Society. + +The Committee shall make a report on their proceedings, and of the +state of their stock, to the Society, at their quarterly meetings, in +the months called April and October.--Smyth's _Writings of Benjamin +Franklin_, vol. x, p. 127. + + +EXTRACT FROM THE "ADDRESS OF THE AMERICAN CONVENTION OF DELEGATES FROM +THE ABOLITION SOCIETIES, 1795" + +"We cannot forbear expressing to you our earnest desire, that you will +continue, without ceasing, to endeavor, by every method in your power +which can promise any success, to procure, either an absolute repeal +of all the laws in your state, which countenance slavery, or such an +amelioration of them as will gradually produce an entire abolition. +Yet, even should that great end be happily attained, it cannot put +a period to the necessity of further labor. The education of the +emancipated, the noblest and most arduous task which we have to +perform, will require all our wisdom and virtue, and the constant +exercise of the greatest skill and discretion. When we have broken his +chains, and restored the African to the enjoyment of his rights, the +great work of justice and benevolence is not accomplished--The new +born citizen must receive that instruction, and those powerful +impressions of moral and religious truths, which will render him +capable and desirous of fulfilling the various duties he owes to +himself and to his country. By educating some in the higher branches +of science, and all the useful parts of learning, and in the precepts +of religion and morality, we shall not only do away with the reproach +and calumny so unjustly lavished upon us, but confound the enemies of +truth, by evincing that the unhappy sons of Africa, in spite of the +degrading influence of slavery, are in no wise inferior to the more +fortunate inhabitants of Europe and America. + +"As a means of effectuating, in some degree, a design so virtuous and +laudable, we recommend to you to appoint a committee, annually, or +for any other more convenient period, to execute such plans, for the +improvement of the condition and moral character of the free blacks +in your state, as you may think best adapted to your particular +situation."--_Minutes of the Proceedings of the Second Convention of +Delegates, 1795._ + + +A PORTION OF THE "ADDRESS OF THE AMERICAN CONVENTION OF DELEGATES TO +THE FREE AFRICANS AND OTHER FREE PEOPLE OF COLOR, 1796" + +"In the first place, We earnestly recommend to you, a regular +attention to the duty of public worship; by which means you will +evince gratitude to your CREATOR, and, at the same time, promote +knowledge, union, friendship, and proper conduct among yourselves. + +"Secondly, we advise such of you, as have not been taught reading, +writing, and the first principles of arithmetic, to acquire them +as early as possible. Carefully attend to the instruction of your +children in the same simple and useful branches of education. Cause +them, likewise, early and frequently to read the holy Scriptures. They +contain, among other great discoveries, the precious record of the +original equality of mankind, and of the obligations of universal +justice and benevolence, which are derived from the relation of the +human race to each other in a COMMON FATHER. + +"Thirdly, Teach your children useful trades, or to labor with their +hands in cultivating the earth. These employments are favorable to +health and virtue. In the choice of masters, who are to instruct them +in the above branches of business, prefer those who will work with +them; by this means they will acquire habits of industry, and be +better preserved from vice, than if they worked alone, or under the +eye of persons less interested in their welfare. In forming contracts +for yourselves or children, with masters, it may be useful to consult +such persons as are capable of giving you the best advice, who are +known to be your friends, in order to prevent advantages being taken +of your ignorance of the laws and customs of your country."_--Minutes +of the Proceedings of the Third Convention of Delegates, 1796. +American Convention of Abolition Societies, Minutes, 1795-1804_ + + +A PORTION OF THE ADDRESS TO THE FREE PEOPLE OF COLOR BY THE AMERICAN +CONVENTION FOR PROMOTING THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY, 1819 + +"The great work of emancipation is not to be accomplished in a +day;--it must be the result of time, of long and continued exertions: +it is for you to show by an orderly and worthy deportment that you are +deserving of the rank which you have attained. Endeavor as much as +possible to use economy in your expenses, so that you may be enabled +to save from your earnings, something for the education of your +children, and for your support in time of sickness and in old age: and +let all those who by attending to this admonition, have acquired the +means, send their children to school as soon as they are old enough, +where their morals will be the object of attention, as well as their +improvement in school learning; and when they arrive at a suitable +age, let it be your especial care to have them instructed in some +mechanical art suited to their capacities, or in agricultural +pursuits; by which they may afterwards be enabled to support +themselves and a family. Encourage also, those among you who are +qualified as teachers of schools, and when you are of ability to pay, +never send your children to free schools; this may be considered as +robbing the poor, of the opportunities which were intended for them +alone." + + +THE WILL OF KOSCIUSZKO + +I, Thaddeus Kosciuszko, being just on my departure from America, do +hereby declare and direct, that, should I make no other testamentary +disposition of my property in the United States, I hereby authorize my +friend, Thomas Jefferson, to employ the whole thereof in purchasing +Negroes from his own or any others, and giving them liberty in my +name, in giving them an education in trade or otherwise, and in having +them instructed for their new condition in the duties of morality, +which may make them good neighbors, good fathers or mothers, husbands +or wives in their duties as citizens, teaching them to be defenders of +their liberty and country, and of the good order of society, and in +whatsoever may make them happy and useful. And I make the said Thomas +Jefferson my executor of this. + +(Signed) T. KOSCIUSZKO. May 5, 1798. [See _African Repository_, vol. +xi., p. 294.] + + +FROM WASHINGTON'S WILL + +"Upon the decease of my wife, it is my will and desire that all the +slaves whom I now hold in my own right shall receive their freedom.... +And whereas among those who will receive freedom according to this +devise, there may be some who, from old age or bodily infirmities, +and others who on account of their infancy will be unable to support +themselves, it is my will and desire that all who come under the first +and second description, shall be comfortably clothed and fed by my +heirs while they live; and that such of the latter description as have +no parents living, or if living are unable or unwilling to provide for +them, shall be bound by the court until they shall arrive at the age +of twenty-five years; and in cases where no record can be produced, +whereby their ages can be ascertained, the judgement of court upon its +own view of the subject shall be adequate and final. The negroes thus +bound are (by their masters or mistresses) to be taught to read and +write, and to be brought up to some useful occupation, agreeable to +the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, providing for the support of +orphan and other poor children."--Benson J. Lossing's _Life of George +Washington_, vol. iii., p. 537. + + +THIS INTERESTING DIALOGUE WAS WRITTEN BY AN AMERICAN ABOUT 1800 + +The following dialogue took place between Mr. Jackson the master of a +family, and the slave of one of his neighbors who lived adjoining the +town, on this occasion. Mr. Jackson was walking through the common and +came to a field of this person's farm. He there saw the slave leaning +against the fence with a book in his hand, which he seemed to be very +intent upon; after a little time he closed the book, and clasping it +in both his hands, looked upwards as if engaged in mental prayer; +after this, he put the book in his bosom, and walked along the fence +near where Mr. Jackson was standing. Surprised at seeing a person of +his color engaged with a book, and still more by the animation and +delight that he observed in his countenance; he determines to enquire +about it, and calls to him as he passes. + +_Mr. J_. So I see you have been reading, my lad? + +_Slave_. Yes, sir. + +_Mr. J_. Well, I have a great curiosity to see what you were reading +so earnestly; will you show me the book? + +_Slave_. To be sure, sir. (And he presented it to him very +respectfully.) + +_Mr. J_. The Bible!--Pray when did you get this book? And who taught +you to read it? + +_Slave_. I thank God, sir, for the book. I do not know the good +gentleman who gave it to me, but I am sure God sent it to me. I was +learning to read in town at nights, and one morning a gentleman met me +in the road as I had my spelling book open in my hand: he asked me if +I could read, I told him a little, and he gave me this book and told +me to make haste and learn to read it, and to ask God to help me, and +that it would make me as happy as any body in the world. + +_Mr. J_. Well did you do so? + +_Slave_. I thought about it for some time, and I wondered that any +body should give me a book or care about me; and I wondered what that +could be which could make a poor slave like me so happy; and so I +thought more and more of it, and I said I would try and do as the +gentleman bid me, and blessed be God! he told me nothing but the +truth. + +_Mr. J_. Who is your master? + +_Slave_. Mr. Wilkins, sir, who lives in that house. + +_Mr. J_. I know him; he is a very good man; but what does he say to +your leaving his work to read your book in the field? + +_Slave_. I was not leaving his work, sir. This book does not teach me +to neglect my master's work. I could not be happy if I did that.--I +have done my breakfast, sir, and am waiting till the horses are done +eating. + +_Mr. J_. Well, what does that book teach you? + +_Slave_. Oh, sir! every thing that I want to know--all I am to do, +this book tells me, and so plain. It shew me first that I was a +wretched, ruined sinner, and what would become of me if I died in that +state, and then when I was day and night in dread of God's calling me +to account for my wickedness, and did not know which way to look for +my deliverance, reading over and over again those dreadful words, +"depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire," then it revealed to +me how Jesus Christ had consented to come and suffer punishment for +us in our stead, and bought pardon for us by his blood, and how by +believing on him and serving him, I might become a child of God, so +that I need be no more terrified by the thoughts of God's anger but +sure of his forgiveness and love.... + +(Here Mr. J. pursued his walk; but soon reflecting on what he had +heard, he resolved to walk by Mr. Wilkins's house and enquire into +this affair from him. This he did, and finding him the following +conversation took place between them.) + +_Mr. J_. Sir, I have been talking with a man of yours in that field, +who was engaged, while his horses were eating, in reading a book; +which I asked him to shew me and found it was the Bible; thereupon I +asked him some questions and his answers, and the account he gave of +himself, have surprised me greatly. + +_Mr. W_. I presume it was Will--and though I do not know what he +may have told you, yet I will undertake to say that he has told you +nothing but the truth. I am always safe in believing him, and do +not believe he would tell me an untruth for any thing that could be +offered him.... + +_Mr. J_. Well, sir, you have seen I trust in your family, good fruits +from the beginning. + +_Mr. W_. Yes indeed, sir, and that man was most instrumental in +reconciling and encouraging all my people in the change. From that +time I have regarded him as more a friend and assistant, than a slave. +He has taught the younger ones to read, and by his kindness and +example, has been a great benefit to all. I have told them that I +would do what I could to instruct and improve them; and that if I +found any so vicious, that they would not receive it and strive to +amend, I would not keep them; that I hoped to have a religious, +praying family, and that none would be obstinately bent on their own +ruin. And from time to time, I endeavored to convince them that I was +aiming at their own good. I cannot tell you all the happiness of the +change, that God has been pleased to make among us, all by these +means. And I have been benefited both temporally and spiritually by +it; for my work is better done, and my people are more faithful, +contented, and obedient than before; and I have the comfort of +thinking that when my Lord and master shall call me to account for +those committed to my charge, I shall not be ashamed to present +them.--Bishop William Meade's "Tracts and Dialogues," etc., in +the Appendix of Thomas Bacon's _Sermons Addressed to Masters and +Servants_. + + +A TRUE ACCOUNT OF A PIOUS NEGRO + +(Written about 1800) + +Some years ago an English gentleman had occasion to be in North +America, where, among other adventures, the following circumstances +occurred to him which are related in his own words. + +"Every day's observation convinces me that the children of God, viz. +those who believe in him, and on such terms are accepted by him +through Jesus Christ, are made so by his own especial grace and power +inclining them to what is good, and, assisting them when they endeavor +to be and continue so. + +"In one of my excursions, while I was in the province of New York, I +was walking by myself over a considerable plantation, amused with its +husbandry, and comparing it with that of my own country, till I came +within a little distance of a middle aged negro, who was tilling the +ground. I felt a strong inclination to converse with him. After asking +him some little questions about his work, which he answered very +sensibly, I wished him to tell me, whether his state of slavery was +not disagreeable to him, and whether he would not gladly exchange it +for his liberty?" + +"Massah," said he, looking seriously upon me, "I have wife and +children; my massah takes care of them, and I have no care to provide +anything; I have a good massah, who teach me to read; and I read good +book, that makes me happy." "I am glad," replied I, "to hear you say +so; and pray what is the good book you read?" "The Bible, massah, +God's own good book." "Do you understand, friend, as well as read this +book? for many can read the words well, who cannot get hold of the +true and good sense." "O massah," says he, "I read the book much +before I understand; but at last I found things in the book which made +me very uneasy." "Aye," said I, "and what things were they?" "Why +massah, I found that I was a sinner, massah, a very great sinner, +I feared that God would destroy me, because I was wicked, and done +nothing as I should do. God was holy, and I was very vile and naughty; +so I could have nothing from him but fire and brimstone in hell, if I +continued in this state." In short, he fully convinced me that he was +thoroughly sensible of his errors, and he told me what scriptures came +to his mind, which he had read, that both probed him to the bottom of +his sinful heart, and were made the means of light and comfort to his +soul. I then inquired of him, what ministry or means he made use of +and found that his master was a Quaker, a plain sort of man who had +taught his slaves to read, and had thus afforded him some means of +obtaining religious knowledge, though he had not ever conversed with +this negro upon the state of his soul. I asked him likewise, how he +got comfort under all his trials? "O massah," said he, "it was God +gave me comfort by his word. He bade me come unto him, and he would +give me rest, for I was very weary and heavy laden." And here he went +through a line of the most striking texts in the Bible, showing me, by +his artless comment upon them as he went along, what great things God +had done in the course of some years for his soul....--Bishop William +Meade's "Tracts, Dialogues," etc., in the Appendix of Thomas Bacon's +_Sermons Addressed to Masters and Servants_. + + +LETTER TO ABBÉ GRÉGOIRE, OF PARIS, 1809 + +I have received the favor of your letter of August 19th, and with +it the volume you were so kind as to send me on the Literature of +Negroes. Be assured that no person living wishes more sincerely than +I do to see a complete refutation of the doubts I have myself +entertained and expressed on the grade of understanding allotted to +them by nature and to find that in this respect they are on par with +ourselves. My doubts were the result of personal observation in the +limited sphere of my own state, where the opportunities for the +development of their genius were not favorable, and those of +exercising it still less so. I expressed them therefore with great +hesitation; but whatever be their degree of talent it is no measure +of their rights. Because Sir Isaac Newton was superior to others in +understanding, he was not therefore lord of the person and property +of others. On this subject they are gaining daily in the opinions +of nations, and hopeful advances are making towards their +re-establishment on an equal footing with the other colors of the +human family. I pray you therefore to accept my thanks for the many +instances you have enabled me to observe of respectable intelligence +in that race of men, which cannot fail to have effect in hastening the +day of their relief; and to be sure of the sentiments of the high and +just esteem and consideration which I tender to yourself with all +sincerity.--_Writings of Thomas Jefferson_, Memorial Edition, 1904, +vol. xii., p. 252. + + +PORTION OF JEFFERSON'S LETTER TO M.A. JULIEN, JULY 23, 1818 + +Referring to Kosciuszko, Jefferson said: + +"On his departure from the United States in 1798 he left in my hands +an instrument appropriating after his death all the property he had +in our public funds, the price of his military services here, to the +education and emancipation of as many of the children of bondage +in this country as this should be adequate to. I am now too old to +undertake a business _de si longue haleine_; but I am taking measures +to place it in such hands as will ensure a faithful discharge of the +philanthropic intentions of the donor. I learn with pleasure your +continued efforts for the instruction of the future generations of +men, and, believing it the only means of effectuating their rights, I +wish them all possible success, and to yourself the eternal gratitude +of those who will feel their benefits, and beg leave to add the +assurance of my high esteem and respect."--_Writings of Thomas +Jefferson_, Memorial Edition. 1904, vol. xv., pp. 173-174. + + +FROM MADISON'S LETTER TO MISS FRANCES WRIGHT, SEPTEMBER 1, 1825 + +"Supposing these conditions to be duly provided for, particularly the +removal of the emancipated blacks, the remaining questions relate to +the aptitude and adequacy of the process by which the slaves are at +the same time to earn funds, entire or supplemental, required for +their emancipation and removal; and to be sufficiently educated for a +life of freedom and of social order.... + +"With respect to the proper course of education, no serious +difficulties present themselves. As they are to continue in a state +of bondage during the preparatory period, and to be within the +jurisdiction of States recognizing ample authority over them, a +competent discipline cannot be impracticable. The degree in which this +discipline will enforce the needed labour, and in which a voluntary +industry will supply the defect of compulsory labour, are vital +points, on which it may not be safe to be very positive without some +light from actual experiment. + +"Considering the probable composition of the labourers, and the known +fact that, where the labour is compulsory, the greater the number of +labourers brought together (unless, indeed, where co-operation of +many hands is rendered essential by a particular kind of work or of +machinery) the less are the proportional profits, it may be doubted +whether the surplus from that source merely, beyond the support of the +establishment, would sufficiently accumulate in five, or even more +years, for the objects in view. And candor obliges me to say that I am +not satisfied either that the prospect of emancipation at a future +day will sufficiently overcome the natural and habitual repugnance to +labour, or that there is such an advantage of united over individual +labour as is taken for granted. + +"In cases where portions of time have been allotted to slaves, as +among the Spaniards, with a view to their working out their freedom, +it is believed that but few have availed themselves of the opportunity +by a voluntary industry; and such a result could be less relied on +in a case where each individual would feel that the fruits of his +exertions would be shared by others, whether equally or unequally +making them, and that the exertions of others would equally avail him, +notwithstanding a deficiency in his own. Skilful arrangements might +palliate this tendency, but it would be difficult to counteract it +effectually. + +"The examples of the Moravians, the Harmonites, and the Shakers, +in which the united labours of many for a common object have been +successful, have, no doubt, an imposing character. But it must be +recollected that in all these establishments there is a religious +impulse in the members, and a religious authority in the head, for +which there will be no substitutes of equivalent efficacy in the +emancipating establishment. The code of rules by which Mr. Rapp +manages his conscientious and devoted flock, and enriches a common +treasury, must be little applicable to the dissimilar assemblage +in question. His experience may afford valuable aid in its general +organization, and in the distribution of details of the work to be +performed. But an efficient administration must, as is judiciously +proposed, be in hands practically acquainted with the propensities and +habits of the members of the new community." + + +FROM FREDERICK DOUGLASS'S PAPER, 1853: "LEARN TRADES OR STARVE" + +These are the obvious alternatives sternly presented to the free +colored people of the United States. It is idle, yea even ruinous, to +disguise the matter for a single hour longer; every day begins and +ends with the impressive lesson that free negroes must learn trades, +or die. + +The old avocations, by which colored men obtained a livelihood, are +rapidly, unceasingly and inevitably passing into other hands; every +hour sees the black man elbowed out of employment by some newly +arrived emigrant, whose hunger and whose color are thought to give him +a better title to the place; and so we believe it will continue to be +until the last prop is levelled beneath us. + +As a black man, we say if we cannot stand up, let us fall down. We +desire to be a man among men while we do live; and when we cannot, +we wish to die. It is evident, painfully evident to every reflecting +mind, that the means of living, for colored men, are becoming more +and more precarious and limited. Employments and callings formerly +monopolized by us, are so no longer. + +White men are becoming house-servants, cooks and stewards on +vessels--at hotels.--They are becoming porters, stevedores, +wood-sawers, hod-carriers, brick-makers, white-washers and barbers, +so that the blacks can scarcely find the means of subsistence--a few +years ago, a _white_ barber would have been a curiosity--now their +poles stand on every street. Formerly blacks were almost the exclusive +coachmen in wealthy families: this is so no longer; white men are now +employed, and for aught we see, they fill their servile station with +an obsequiousness as profound as that of the blacks. The readiness and +ease with which they adapt themselves to these conditions ought not to +be lost sight of by the colored people. The meaning is very important, +and we should learn it. We are taught our insecurity by it. Without +the means of living, life is a curse, and leaves us at the mercy of +the oppressor to become his debased slaves. Now, colored men, what do +you mean to do, for you must do something? The American Colonization +Society tells you to go to Liberia. Mr. Bibb tells you to go to +Canada. Others tell you to go to school. We tell you to go to work; +and to work you must go or die. Men are not valued in this country, or +in any country, for what they are; they are valued for what they can +_do_. It is in vain that we talk of being men, if we do not the work +of men. We must become valuable to society in other departments of +industry than those servile ones from which we are rapidly being +excluded. We must show that we can _do_ as well as be; and to this end +we must learn trades. When we can build as well as live in houses; +when we can _make_ as well as _wear_ shoes; when we can produce as +well as consume wheat, corn and rye--then we shall become valuable to +society. Society is a hard-hearted affair.--With it the helpless may +expect no higher dignity than that of paupers. The individual must lay +society under obligation to him, or society will honor him only as a +stranger and sojourner. _How_ shall this be done? In this manner; use +every means, strain every nerve to master some important mechanical +art. At present, the facilities for doing so are few--institutions of +learning are more readily opened to you than the work-shop; but the +Lord helps them who will help themselves, and we have no doubt that +new facilities will be presented as we press forward. + +If the alternative were presented to us of learning a trade or of +getting an education, we would learn the trade, for the reason, that +with the trade we could get the education while with the education we +could not get the trade. What we, as a people, most need, is the means +for our own elevation.--An educated colored man, in the United States, +unless he has within him the heart of a hero, and is willing to engage +in a lifelong battle for his rights, as a man, finds few inducements +to remain in this country. He is isolated in the land of his +birth--debarred by his color from congenial association with whites; +he is equally cast out by the ignorance of the _blacks_. The remedy +for this must comprehend the elevation of the masses; and this can +only be done by putting the mechanic arts within the reach of colored +men. + +We have now stated pretty strongly the case of our colored countrymen; +perhaps some will say, _too_ strongly, but we know whereof we affirm. + +In view of this state of things, we appeal to the abolitionists. +What Boss anti-slavery mechanic will take a black boy into his +wheelwright's shop, his blacksmith's shop, his joiner's shop, his +cabinet shop? Here is something _practical_; where are the whites +and where are the blacks that will respond to it? Where are the +antislavery milliners and seamstresses that will take colored girls +and teach them trades, by which they can obtain an honorable living? +The fact that we have made good cooks, good waiters, good barbers, and +white-washers, induces the belief that we may excel in higher branches +of industry. _One thing is certain; we must find new methods of +obtaining a livelihood, for the old ones are failing us very fast_. + +We, therefore, call upon the intelligent and thinking ones amongst +us, to urge upon the colored people within their reach, in all +seriousness, the duty and the necessity of giving their children +useful and lucrative trades, by which they may commence the battle +of life with weapons, commensurate with the exigencies of +conflict.--_African Repository_, vol. xxix., pp. 136, 137. + + +EDUCATION OF COLORED PEOPLE + +(_Written by a highly respectable gentleman of the South in_ 1854) + +Several years ago I saw in the _Repository_, copied from the +_Colonization Herald_, a proposal to establish a college for the +education of young colored men in this country. Since that time I have +neither seen nor heard anything more of it, and I should be glad to +hear whether the proposed plan was ever carried into execution. + +Four years ago I conversed with one of the officers of the +Colonization Society on the subject of educating in this country +colored persons intending to emigrate to Liberia, and expressed my +firm conviction of the paramount importance of high moral and mental +training as a fit preparation for such emigrants. + +To my great regret the gentleman stated that under existing +circumstances the project, all important as he confessed it to be, was +almost impracticable; so strong being the influence of the enemies of +colonization that they would dissuade any colored persons so educated +from leaving the United States. + +I know that he was thoroughly acquainted with the subject in all its +bearings, and therefore felt that he must have good reasons for what +he said; still I hoped the case was not so bad as he thought, and, +at any rate, I looked forward with strong hope to the time when the +colored race would, as a body, open their eyes to the miserable, +unnatural position they occupy in America; when they would see who +were their true friends, those who offered them real and complete +freedom, social and political, in a land where there is no white race +to keep them in subjection, where they govern themselves by their own +laws; or those pretended friends who would keep the African where he +can never be aught but a serf and bondsman of a despised caste, and +who, by every act of their pretended philanthropy, make the colored +man's condition worse. + +Most happily, since that time, the colored race has been aroused to a +degree never before known, and the conviction has become general among +them that they must go to Liberia if they would be free and happy. + +Under these circumstances the better the education of the colored +man the more keenly will he feel his present situation and the more +clearly he will see the necessity of emigration. + +Assuming such to be the feelings of the colored race, I think the +immense importance of a collegiate institution for the education of +their young must be felt and acknowledged by every friend of the +race. Some time since the legislature of Liberia passed an act to +incorporate a college in Liberia, but I fear the project has failed, +as I have heard nothing more of it since. Supposing however the funds +raised for such an institution, where are the professors to come from? +They _must_ be educated in this country; and how can that be done +without establishing an institution specially for young colored men? + +There is not a college in the United States where a young man of color +could gain admission, or where, supposing him admitted, he could +escape insult and indignity. Into our Theological Seminaries a few are +admitted, and are, perhaps, treated well; but what difficulty they +find in obtaining a proper preparatory education. The cause of +religion then, no less than that of secular education, calls for such +a measure. + +I think a strong and earnest appeal ought to be made to every friend +of colonization throughout the United States to support the scheme +with heart, hand and purse. Surely there are enough friends of the +cause to subscribe at least a moderate sum for such a noble object; +and in a cause like this, wealthy colored persons ought to, and +doubtless will, subscribe according to their means. In addition to the +general appeal through the _Repository_, let each individual friend +of colonization use all his influence with his personal friends and +acquaintances, especially with such as are wealthy. I know from my own +experience how much can be done by personal application, even in cases +where success appears nearly hopeless.--I will pledge myself to use my +humble endeavors to the utmost with my personal acquaintances. A large +sum would not be _absolutely necessary_ to found the college; and it +would certainly be better to commence in the humblest way than to give +up the scheme altogether. + +Buildings for instance might be purchased in many places for a very +moderate sum that would answer every purpose, or they might be built +in the cheapest manner; in short, everything might be commenced on the +most economical scale and afterwards enlarged as funds increased. + +Those who are themselves engaged in teaching, such as the faculties of +colleges, etc., would, of course, be most competent to prepare a +plan for the proposed institution, and the ablest of them should be +consulted; meantime almost anyone interested in the cause may offer +some useful hint. In that spirit, I would myself offer a few brief +suggestions, in case this appeal should be favorably received. + +Probably few men of my time of life have studied the character and +condition of the African race more attentively than I have, with what +success I cannot presume to say, but the opinion of any one devoting +so much of his time to the subject ought to be of _some_ value. + +My opinion of their capacity has been much raised during my attempts +at instructing them, but at the same time, I am convinced that they +require a _totally different mode of training from whites_, and that +any attempt to educate the two races together must prove a failure. +I now close these desultory remarks with the hope that some one more +competent than myself will take up the cause and urge it until some +definite plan is formed.--_African Repository_, vol. xxx., pp. 194, +195, 196. + + +FROM A MEMORIAL TO THE LEGISLATURE OF NORTH CAROLINA, CIRCULATED AMONG +THE CITIZENS OF THAT STATE IN 1855, TO SECURE THE MODIFICATION OF +CERTAIN LAWS REGULATING SLAVES AND FREE PERSONS OF COLOR. + +ELEVATION OF THE COLORED RACE + +The Memorial is thus introduced: + +"Your memorialists are well aware of the delicate nature of the +subject to which the attention of the Legislature is called, and +of the necessity of proceeding with deliberation and caution. They +propose some radical changes in the law of slavery, demanded by our +common christianity, by public morality, and by the common weal of +the whole South. At the same time they have no wish or purpose +inconsistent with the best interests of the slaveholder, and suggest +no reform which may impair the efficiency of slave labor. On the +contrary, they believe that the much desired modifications of our +slave code will redound to the welfare of all classes, and to the +honor and character of the State throughout the civilized world." + +The attention of the Legislature was then asked to the following +propositions: "1. That it behooves us as christian people to establish +the institution of matrimony among our slaves, with all its legal +obligations and guarantees as to its duration between the parties. 2. +That under no circumstances should masters be permitted to disregard +these natural and sacred ties of relationship among their slaves, or +between slaves belonging to different masters. 3. That the parental +relation to be acknowledged by law; and that the separation of parents +from their young children, say of twelve years and under, be strictly +forbidden, under heavy pains and penalties. 4. That the laws which +prohibit the instruction of slaves and free colored persons, +by teaching them to read the Bible and other good books, be +repealed."--_African Repository_, vol. xxxi., pp. 117, 118. + + +A LAWYER FOR LIBERIA + +On the sailing of almost every expedition we have had occasion to +chronicle the departure of missionaries, teachers, or a physician, but +not until the present time, that of a lawyer. The souls and bodies of +the emigrants have been well cared for; now, it is no doubt supposed, +they require assistance in guarding their money, civil rights, etc. +Most professional emissaries have been educated at public expense, +either by Missionary or the Colonization Societies, but the first +lawyer goes out independent of any associated aid. Mr. Garrison +Draper, a colored man of high respectability, and long a resident of +Old Town, early determined on educating his only son for Africa. He +kept him at some good public school in Pennsylvania till fitted for +college, then sent him to Dartmouth where he remained four years and +graduated, maintaining always a very respectable standing, socially, +and in his class. After much consultation with friends, he determined +upon the study of law. Mr. Charles Gilman, a retired member of the +Baltimore Bar, very kindly consented to give young Draper professional +instruction, and for two years he remained under his tuition. Not +having any opportunities for acquiring a knowledge of the routine of +professional practice, the rules, habits, and courtesy of the Bar, +in Baltimore, Mr. Draper spent some few months in the office of a +distinguished lawyer in Boston. On returning to the city to embark +for Liberia, he underwent an examination by Judge Lee of the Superior +Court, and obtained from him a certificate of his fitness to practice +the profession of law, a copy of which we append hereto. + +We consider the settlement of Mr. Draper in the Republic as an event +of no little importance. It seemed necessary that there should be one +regularly educated lawyer in a community of several thousand people, +in a Republic of freemen. True, there are many very intelligent, well +informed men now in the practice of law in Liberia, but they have not +been educated to the profession, and we believe, no one makes that his +exclusive business. We doubt not that they will welcome Mr. Draper as +one of their fraternity. To our Liberia friends we commend him as a +well-educated, intelligent man, of good habits and principles; one in +whom they may place the fullest confidence, and we bespeak for him, at +their hands, kind considerations and patronage. + + +STATE OF MARYLAND, + +CITY OF BALTIMORE, + +October 29, 1857. + +Upon the application of Charles Gilman, Esq., of the Baltimore Bar, +I have examined Edward G. Draper, a young man of color, who has been +reading law under the direction of Mr. Gilman, with the view of +pursuing its practice in Liberia, Africa. And I have found him +most intelligent and well informed in his answers to the questions +propounded by me, and qualified in all respects to be admitted to the +Bar in Maryland, if he was a free white citizen of this State. Mr. +Gilman, in whom I have the highest confidence, has also testified to +his good moral character. + +This certificate is therefore furnished to him by me, with a view to +promote his establishment and success in Liberia at the Bar there. + +Z. COLLINS LEE, + +Judge of Superior Court, Balt., Md. + +_African Repository_, vol. xxxiv., pp. 26 and 27. + + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHY + + +There is no helpful bibliography on the early education of the +American Negro. A few books treating the recent problems of education +in this country give facts about the enlightenment of the colored +people before their general emancipation, but the investigator has to +depend on promiscuous sources for adequate information of this kind. +With the exception of a survey of the _Legal Status of the Colored +Population in Respect to Schools and Education in the Different +States_, published in the Report of the United States Commissioner of +Education in 1871, there has been no attempt at a general treatment +of this phase of our history. This treatise, however, is too brief to +inculcate an appreciation of the extensive efforts to enlighten the +ante-bellum Negro. + +Considered as a local problem this question has received more +attention. A few writers have undertaken to sketch the movement to +educate the colored people of certain communities before the Civil +War. Their objective point, however, has been rather to treat of later +periods. The books mentioned below give some information with respect +to the period treated in this monograph. + + +BOOKS ON EDUCATION + +Andrews, C.C. _The history of the New York African Free Schools from +their Establishment in 1787 to the Present Time_. (New York, 1830.) +Embraces a period of more than forty years, also a brief account of +the successful labors of the New York Manumission Society, with an +appendix containing specimens of original composition, both in +prose and verse, by several of the pupils; pieces spoken at public +examinations; an interesting dialogue between Doctor Samuel L. +Mitchell, of New York, and a little boy of ten years old, and lines +illustrative of the Lancastrian system of instruction. Andrews was +a white man who was for a long time the head of this colored school +system. + +Boese, Thomas. _Public Education in the City of New York, Its History, +Condition, and Statistics, an Official Report of the Board of +Education_. (New York, 1869.) While serving as clerk of the Board of +Education Boese had an opportunity to learn much about the New York +African Free Schools. + +Boone, R.G. _A History of Education in Indiana._ (New York, 1892.) +Contains a brief account of the work of the Abolitionists in behalf of +the education of the Negroes of that commonwealth. + +BUTLER, N.M. _Education in the United States_. A series of monographs. +(New York, 1910.) + +FOOTE, J.P. _The Schools of Cincinnati and Its Vicinity_. (Cincinnati, +1855.) A few pages of this book are devoted to the establishment and +the development of colored schools in that city. + +GOODWIN, M.B. "History of Schools for the Colored Population in the +District of Columbia." (Published in the Report of the United States +Commissioner of Education in 1871.) This is the most thorough research +hitherto made in this field. The same system has been briefly treated +by W.S. Montgomery in his _Historical Sketch of Education for the +Colored Race in the District of Columbia_, 1807-1907. (Washington, +D.C., 1907.) A less detailed account of the same is found in James +Storum's "_The Colored Public Schools of Washington,--Their Origin, +Growth, and Present Condition." (A.M.E. Church Review_, vol. v., p. +279.) + +JONES, C.C. _The Religious Instruction of the Negroes in the United +States_. (Savannah, 1842.) In trying to depict the spiritual condition +of the colored people the writer tells also what he thought about +their intellectual status. + +MERIWETHER, C. _History of Higher Education in South Carolina, with +a Sketch of the Free School System_. (Washington, 1889.) The author +accounts for the early education of the colored people in that +commonwealth but gives no details. + +MILLER, KELLY. "_The Education of the Negro_." Constitutes Chapter +XVI. of the Report of the United States Commissioner of Education for +the year 1901. Contains a brief sketch of the early education of the +Negro race in this country. + +ORR, GUSTAVUS. _The Need of Education in the South_. (Atlanta, 1880.) +An address delivered before the Department of Superintendence of the +National Educational Association in 1879. Mr. Orr referred to the +first efforts to educate the Negroes of the South. + +PLUMER, W.S. _Thoughts on the Religious Instruction of Negroes_. +Reference is made here to the early work of the Moravians among the +colored people. + +RANDALL, SAMUEL SIDWELL. _The Common School System of the State of New +York_. (New York, 1851.) Comprises the several laws relating to common +schools, together with full expositions, instructions, and forms, to +which is prefixed an historical sketch of the system. Prepared in +pursuance of an act of the legislature, under the direction of the +Honorable Christopher Morgan, Superintendent of Common Schools. + +STOCKWELL, THOMAS B. _A History of Public Education in Rhode Island +from 1636 to 1876_. (Providence, 1876.) Compiled by authority of the +Board of Education of Providence. Takes into account the various +measures enacted to educate the Negroes of that commonwealth. + +WICKERSHAM, J.P. _A History of Education in Pennsylvania, Private and +Public, Elementary and Higher, from the Time the Swedes Settled on the +Delaware to the Present Day_. (Lancaster, Pa., 1886.) Considerable +space is given to the education of the Negroes. + +WRIGHT, R.R., SR. _A Brief Historical Sketch of Negro Education in +Georgia_. (Savannah, 1894.) The movement during the early period in +that State is here disposed of in a few pages. + +_A Brief Sketch of the Schools for the Black People and their +Descendants, Established by the Society of Friends_, etc. +(Philadelphia, 1824.) + + +BOOKS OF TRAVEL BY FOREIGNERS + +ABDY, E.S. _Journal of a Residence and Tour in the United States from +April, 1833, to October, 1834_. Three volumes. (London, 1835.) Abdy +was a fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge. + +ALLIOT, PAUL. _Réflexions historiques et politigues sur la Louisiane_. +(Cleveland, 1911.) Good for economic conditions. Valuable for +information concerning New Orleans about the beginning of the +nineteenth century. + +ARFWEDSON, C.D. _The United States and Canada in 1833 and 1834_. Two +volumes. (London, 1834.) Somewhat helpful. + +BREMER, FREDERIKA. _The Homes of the New World; Impressions of +America_. Translated by M. Howitt. Two volumes. (London, 1853.) The +teaching of Negroes in the South is mentioned in several places. + +BRISSOT DE WARVILLE, J.P. _New Travels in the United States of +America: including the Commerce of America with Europe, particularly +with Great Britain and France_. Two volumes. (London, 1794.) Gives +general impressions, few details. + +BUCKINGHAM, J.S. _America, Historical, Statistical, and Descriptive_. +Two volumes. (New York, 1841.) + +---- _Eastern and Western States of America_. Three volumes. (London +and Paris, 1842.) Contains useful information. + +BULLOCK, W. _Sketch of a Journey through the Western States of North +America from New Orleans by the Mississippi, Ohio, City of Cincinnati, +and Falls of Niagara to New York_. (London, 1827.) The author makes +mention of the condition of the Negroes. + +COKE, THOMAS. _Extracts from the Journals of the Rev. Dr. Coke's Three +Visits to America_. (London, 1790.) Contains general information. + +---- _A Journal of the Reverend Doctor Coke's Fourth Tour on the +Continent of America_. (London, 1792.) Brings out the interest of this +churchman in the elevation of the Negroes. + +CUMING, F. _Sketches of a Tour to the Western Country through the +States of Kentucky and Ohio; a Voyage down the Ohio and Mississippi +Rivers and a Trip through the Mississippi Territory and Part of West +Florida, Commenced at Philadelphia in the Winter of 1807 and Concluded +in 1809_. (Pittsburg, 1810.) Gives a few facts. + +FAUX, W. _Venerable Days in America_. (London, 1823.) A "journal of +a tour in the United States principally undertaken to ascertain by +positive evidence, the condition and probable prospects of British +emigrants, including accounts of Mr. Kirkbeck's settlement in Illinois +and intended to show men and things as they are in America." The +Negroes are casually mentioned. + +HUMBOLDT, FRIEDRICH HEINRICH ALEXANDER, FREIHERR VON. _The Travels and +Researches of Friedrich Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt._ (London, +1833.) The author gives a "condensed narrative of his journeys in +the equinoctial regions in America and in Asiatic Russia." The work +contains also analyses of his important investigations. He throws +a little light on the condition of the mixed breeds of the Western +Hemisphere. + +KEMBLE, FRANCES ANNE. _Journal of a Residence on a Plantation in +1838-1839._ (New York, 1863.) This diary is quoted extensively as one +of the best sources for Southern conditions before the Civil War. + +LAMBERT, JOHN. _Travels through Canada and the United States, in the +Years 1806, 1807, and 1808._ Two volumes. (London, 1813.) To this +journal are added notices and anecdotes of some of the leading +characters in the United States. This traveler saw the Negroes. + +PONS, FRANÇOIS RAYMOND DE. _Travels in Parts of South America, during +the Years 1801, 1802, 1803, and 1804._ (London, 1806.) Contains a +description of Caracas; an account of the laws, commerce, and natural +productions of that country; and a view of the customs and manners of +the Spaniards and native Indians. Negroes are mentioned. + +PRIEST, WILLIAM. _Travels in the United States Commencing in the Year +1793 and ending in the Year 1797._ (London, 1802.) Priest made two +voyages across the Atlantic to appear at the theaters of Baltimore, +Boston, and Philadelphia. He had something to say about the condition +of the Negroes. + +ROCHEFOUCAULD-LIANCOURT, DUC DE. _Travels through the United States of +America, the Country of the Iroquois, and Upper Canada in the Years +1795, 1796, and 1797._ (London, 1799.) The author discusses the +attitude of the people toward the uplift of the Negroes. + +SCHOEPF, JOHANN DAVID. _Reise durch der Mittlern und Sudlichen +Vereinigten Nordamerikanischen Staaten nach Ost-Florida und den Bahama +Inseln unternommen in den Jahren 1783 und 1784._ (Cincinnati, 1812.) +A translation of this work was published by Alfred J. Morrison at +Philadelphia in 1911. Gives general impressions. + +SMYTH, J.F.D. _A Tour in the United States_. (London, 1848.) This +writer incidentally mentions the people of color. + +SUTCLIFF, ROBERT. _Travels in Some Parts of North America in the Years +1804, 1805, and 1806_. (Philadelphia, 1812.) While traveling in slave +territory Sutcliff studied the mental condition of the colored people. + +BOOKS OF TRAVEL BY AMERICANS + +BROWN, DAVID. _The Planter, or Thirteen Years in the South_. +(Philadelphia, 1853.) Here we get a Northern white man's view of the +heathenism of the Negroes. + +BURKE, EMILY. _Reminiscences of Georgia_. (Oberlin, Ohio, 1850.) +Presents the views of a woman who was interested in the uplift of the +Negro race. + +EVANS, ESTWICK. _A Pedestrious Tour of Four Thousand Miles through the +Western States and Territories during the Winter and Spring of 1818_. +(Concord, N.H., 1819.) Among the many topics treated is the +author's contention that the Negro is capable of the highest mental +development. + +OLMSTED, FREDERICK LAW. _A Journey in the Seaboard Slave States, with +Remarks on their Economy_. (New York, 1859.) + +---- _A Journey in the Back Country_. (London, i860.) + +---- _Journeys and Explorations in the Cotton Kingdom_. (London, +1861.) Olmsted was a New York farmer. He recorded a few important +facts about the education of the Negroes immediately before the Civil +War. + +PARSONS, E.G. _Inside View of Slavery, or a Tour among the Planters_. +(Boston, 1855.) The introduction was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. +It was published to aid the antislavery cause, but in describing the +condition of Negroes the author gave some educational statistics. + +REDPATH, JAMES. _The Roving Editor, or Talks with Slaves in Southern +States_. (New York 1859.) The slaves are here said to be telling their +own story. + +SMEDES, MRS. SUSAN (DABNEY). _Memorials of a Southern Planter_. +(Baltimore, 1887.) The benevolence of those masters who had their +slaves taught in spite of public opinion and the law, is well brought +out in this volume. + +TOWER, REVEREND PHILO. _Slavery Unmasked_. (Rochester, 1856.) Valuable +chiefly for the author's arraignment of the so-called religious +instruction of the Negroes after the reactionary period. + +WOOLMAN, JOHN. _Journal of John Woolman, with an Introduction by John +G. Whittier_. (Boston, 1873.) Woolman traveled so extensively in the +colonies that he probably knew more about the mental state of the +Negroes than any other Quaker of his time. + + +LETTERS + +JEFFERSON, THOMAS. Letters of Thomas Jefferson to Abbé Grégoire, +M.A. Julien, and Benjamin Banneker. In _Jefferson's Works_, Memorial +Edition, xii. and xv. He comments on Negroes' talents. + +MADISON, JAMES. Letter to Prances Wright. _In Madison's Works_, vol. +iii., p. 396. The training of Negroes is discussed. + +MAY, SAMUEL JOSEPH. _The Right of the Colored People to Education_. +(Brooklyn, 1883.) A collection of public letters addressed to Andrew +T. Judson, remonstrating on the unjust procedure relative to Miss +Prudence Crandall. + +MCDONOGH, JOHN. "A Letter of John McDonogh on African Colonization +addressed to the Editor of _The New Orleans Commercial Bulletin_," +McDonogh was interested in the betterment of the colored people and +did much to promote their mental development. + +SHARPE, H. ED. _The Abolition of Negro Apprenticeship_. A letter to +Lord Brougham. (London, 1838.) + +_A Southern Spy, or Curiosities of Negro Slavery in the South. Letters +from a Southern to a Northern Gentleman_. The comment of a passer-by. + +_A Letter to an American Planter from his Friend in London in 1781_. +The writer discussed the instruction of Negroes. + + +BIOGRAPHIES + +BIRNEY, CATHERINE H. _The Grimké Sisters; Sara and Angelina Grimké, +the First American Women Advocates of Abolition and Woman's Rights_. +(Boston, 1885.) Mentions the part these workers played in the secret +education of Negroes in the South. + +BIRNEY, WILLIAM. _James G. Birney and His Times_. (New York, 1890.) A +sketch of an advocate of Negro education. + +BOWEN, CLARENCE W. _Arthur and Lewis Tappan_. A paper read at the +fiftieth anniversary of the New York Anti-Slavery Society, at the +Broadway Tabernacle, New York City, October 2, 1883. An honorable +mention of two promoters of the colored manual labor schools. + +CHILD, LYDIA MARIA. _Isaac T. Hopper: A True Life_. (Boston and +Cleveland, 1853.) + +CONWAY, MONCURE DANIEL. _Benjamin Banneker, the Negro Astronomer_. +(London, 1864.) + +(COOPER, JAMES F.) _Notions of the Americans Picked up by a Traveling +Bachelor_. (Philadelphia, 1828.) General. + +DREW, BENJAMIN. _A North-side View of Slavery. The Refugee: or the +Narratives of Fugitive Slaves in Canada_. Related by themselves, with +an Account of the History and Condition of the Colored Population of +Upper Canada. (New York and Boston, 1856.) + +GARRISON, FRANCIS AND WENDELL P. _William Lloyd Garrison, 1805-1879. +The Story of his Life told by his Children_. Four volumes. (Boston +and New York, 1894.) Includes a brief account of what he did for the +education of the colored people. + +HALLOWELL, A.D. _James and Lucretia Mott; Life and Letters_. (Boston, +1884.) These were ardent abolitionists who advocated the education of +the colored people. + +JOHNSON, OLIVER. _William Lloyd Garrison and his Times_. (Boston, +1880. New edition, revised and enlarged, Boston, 1881.) + +LOSSING, BENSON J. _Life of George Washington, a Biography, Military +and Political_. Three volumes. (New York, 1860.) Gives the will of +George Washington, who provided that at the stipulated time his slaves +should be freed and that their children should be taught to read. + +MATHER, COTTON. _The Life and Death of the Reverend John Elliot who +was the First Preacher of the Gospel to the Indians in America_. The +third edition carefully corrected. (London, 1694.) Sets forth the +attitude of John Elliot toward the teaching of slaves. + +MOTT, A. _Biographical Sketches and Interesting Anecdotes of Persons +of Color; with a Selection of Pieces of Poetry_. (New York, 1826.) +Some of these sketches show how ambitious Negroes learned to read and +write in spite of opposition. + +SIMMONS, W.J. _Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive, and Rising, with +an Introductory Sketch of the Author by Reverend Henry M. Turner_. +(Cleveland, Ohio, 1891.) Accounts for the adverse circumstances under +which many ante-bellum Negroes acquired knowledge. + +SNOWDEN, T.B. _The Autobiography of John B. Snowden_. (Huntington, W. +Va., 1900.) + +WIGHTMAN, WILLIAM MAY. _Life of William Capers, one of the Bishops of +the Methodist Episcopal Church South; including an Autobiography_. +(Nashville, Tenn., 1858.) Shows what Capers did for the religious +instruction of the colored people. + + +AUTOBIOGRAPHIES + +ASBURY, BISHOP FRANCIS. _The Journal of the Reverend Francis Asbury, +Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, from August 7, 1781, to +December 7, 1815_. Three volumes. (New York, 1821.) + +COFFIN, LEVI. _Reminiscences of Levi Coffin, reputed President of the +Under Ground Railroad_. (Second edition, Cincinnati, 1880.) Mentions +the teaching of slaves. + +DOUGLASS, FREDERICK. _Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, as +an American Slave_. Written by himself. (Boston, 1845.) Gives several +cases of secret Negro schools. + +---- _The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass from 1817 to 1882_. +Written by himself. Illustrated. With an Introduction by the Right +Honorable John Bright, M.P. Edited by John Loeb, F.R.G.S., of the +_Christian Age_, Editor of _Uncle Tom's Story of his Life_. (London, +1882.) Contains Douglass's appeal in behalf of vocational training. + +FLINT, TIMOTHY. _Recollections of the last Ten Years_. A series of +letters to the Reverend James Flint of Salem, Massachusetts, by T. +Flint, Principal of the Seminary of Rapide, Louisiana. (Boston, 1826.) +Mentions the teaching of Negroes. + + +GENERAL HISTORIES + +BANCROFT, GEORGE. _History of the United States_. Ten volumes. +(Boston, 1857-1864.) + +HART, A.B., Editor. _American History told by Contemporaries_. Four +volumes. (New York, 1898.) + +---- _The American Nation; A history, etc_. Twenty-seven volumes. (New +York, 1904-1908.) The volumes which have a bearing on the subject +treated in this monograph are Bourne's _Spain in America_, Edward +Channing's _Jeffersonian System_, F.J. Turner's _Rise of the New +West_, and Hart's _Slavery and Abolition_. + +HERRERA Y TORDESILLAS, ANTONIO DE. _Historia General de los hechos de +los Castellanos en las islas i tierra firme del mar oceano. Escrito +por Antonio herrera coronista mayor de Sr. M. de las Indias y si +coronista de Castilla. En Quatro decadas desde el año de 1492 hasta el +de 1554. Decada primera del rey Nuro Señor_. (En Madrid en la Imprenta +real de Nicolas Rodriguez Franco, año 1726-1727.) + +MCMASTER, JOHN B. _History of the United States_. Six volumes. (New +York, 1900.) + +RHODES, J.F. _History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850 +to the Final Restoration of Home Rule in the South_. (New York and +London, Macmillan & Company, 1892-1906.) + + +VON HOLST, HERMAN. _The Constitutional and Political History of the +United States of America_. (Seven volumes. Chicago, 1877.) + + +STATE HISTORIES + +ASHE, S.A. _History of North Carolina_. (Greensboro, 1908.) + +BANCROFT, HUBERT HOWE. _History of Arizona and New Mexico, 1530-1888_. +(San Francisco, 1890.) + +BEARSE, AUSTIN. _Reminiscences of Fugitive Slave Days in Boston_. +(Boston, 1880.) + +BETTLE, EDWARD. "Notices of Negro Slavery as Connected with +Pennsylvania." Read before the Historical Society of + +Pennsylvania, 8th Mo., 7th, 1826. _Memoirs of Historical Society of +Pennsylvania_. + +BRACKETT, JEFFREY R. _The Negro in Maryland_. Johns Hopkins University +Studies. (Baltimore, 1889.) + +COLLINS, LEWIS. _Historical Sketches of Kentucky_. (Maysville, Ky., +and Cincinnati, Ohio, 1847.) + +JONES, CHARLES COLCOCK, JR. _History of Georgia_. (Boston, 1883.) + +MCCRADY, EDWARD. _The History of South Carolina under the Royal +Government, 1719-1776_, by Edward McCrady, a Member of the Bar of +South Carolina and President of the Historical Society of South +Carolina, Author of _A History of South Carolina under the Proprietary +Government_. (New York and London, 1899.) + +STEINER, B.C. _History of Slavery in Connecticut_. (Johns Hopkins +University Studies, 1893.) + +STUVÉ, BERNARD, and Alexander Davidson. _A Complete History of +Illinois from 1673 to 1783_. (Springfield, 1874.) + +TREMAIN, MARY M.A. _Slavery in the District of Columbia_. (University +of Nebraska Seminary Papers, April, 1892.) + +_History of Brown County, Ohio_. (Chicago, 1883.) + +"_Slavery in Illinois, 1818-1824." (Massachusetts Historical Society +Collections_, volume x.) + + +CHURCH HISTORIES + +BANGS, NATHAN. _A History of the Methodist Episcopal Church_. Four +volumes. (New York, 1845.) + +BENEDICT, DAVID. _A General History of the Baptist Denomination in +America and in Other Parts of the World_. (Boston, 1813.) + +---- _Fifty Years among the Baptists_. (New York, 1860.) + +DALCHO, FREDERICK. _An Historical Account of the Protestant Episcopal +Church in South Carolina, from the First Settlement of the Province to +the War of the Revolution_; with notices of the present State of the +Church in each Parish: and some Accounts of the early Civil History of +Carolina never before published. To which are added: the Laws relating +to Religious Worship, the Journal and Rules of the Convention of South +Carolina; the Constitution and Canons of the Protestant Episcopal +Church and the Course of Ecclesiastical Studies. (Charleston, 1820.) + +DAVIDSON, REV. ROBERT. _History of the Presbyterian Church in the +State of Kentucky; with a Preliminary Sketch of the Churches in the +Valley of Virginia._ (New York, Pittsburgh, and Lexington, Kentucky, +1847.) + +HAMILTON, JOHN T. _A History of the Church Known as the Moravian +Church, or the Unitas Fratrum, or the Unity of Brethren during the +Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries._ (Bethlehem, Pa., 1900.) + +HAWKS, FRANCIS L. _Ecclesiastical History of the United States._ (New +York, 1836.) + +JAMES, CHARLES P. _Documentary History of the Struggle for Religious +Liberty in Virginia._ (Lynchburg, Va., 1900.) + +MATLACK, LUCIUS. _The History of American Slavery and Methodism from +1780 to 1849: and History of the Wesleyan Methodist Connection of +America. In Two Parts with an Appendix._ (New York, 1849.) + +MCTYEIRE, HOLLAND N. _A History of Methodism; comprising a View of the +Rise of the Revival of Spiritual Religion in the First Half of the +Eighteenth Century, and the Principal Agents by whom it was promoted +in Europe and America, with some Account of the Doctrine and Polity of +Episcopal Methodism in the United States and the Means and Manner of +its Extension down to 1884._ (Nashville, Tenn., 1884.) McTyeire was +one of the bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. + +REICHEL, L.T. _The Early History of the Church of the United Brethren +(Unitas Fratrum) commonly Called Moravians in North America, from 1734 +to 1748._ (Nazareth, Pa., 1888.) + +RUSH, CHRISTOPHER. _A Short Account of the African Methodist Episcopal +Church in America._ Written by the aid of George Collins. Also a view +of the Church Order or Government from Scripture and from some of the +best Authors relative to Episcopacy. (New York, 1843.) + +SEMPLE, R.B. _History of the Rise and Progress of the Baptists in +Virginia._ (Richmond, 1810.) + + +SERMONS, ORATIONS, ADDRESSES + +BACON, THOMAS. _Sermons Addressed to Masters and Servants._ Published +in 1743. Republished with other tracts by Rev. William Meade. +(Winchester, Va., 1805.) + +BOUCHER, JONATHAN. "American Education." This address is found in the +author's volume entitled _A View of the Causes and Consequences of +the American Revolution_; in thirteen discourses, preached in North +America between the years 1763 and 1775: with an historical preface. +(London, 1797.) + +BUCHANAN, GEORGE. _An Oration upon the Moral and Political Evil of +Slavery_. Delivered at a Public Meeting of the Maryland Society for +Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, and Relief of Free Negroes +and others unlawfully held in Bondage. Baltimore, July 4, 1791. +(Baltimore, 1793.) + +CATTO, WILLIAM T. _A Semicentenary Discourse Delivered in the First +African Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, on the 4th Sabbath of May, +1857_: with a History of the Church from its first organization; +including a brief Notice of Reverend John Gloucester, its First +Pastor. Also an appendix containing sketches of all the Colored +Churches in Philadelphia. (Philadelphia, 1857.) The author was then +pastor of this church. + +DANA, JAMES. _The African Slave Trade_. A Discourse delivered in the +City of New Haven, September 9, 1790, before the Connecticut Society +for the Promotion of Freedom. (New Haven, 1790.) Dr. Dana was at that +time the pastor of the First Congregational Church of New Haven. + +FAWCETT, BENJAMIN. _A Compassionate Address to the Christian Negroes +in Virginia, and other British Colonies in North America_. With +an appendix containing some account of the rise and progress of +Christianity among that poor people. (The second edition, Salop, +printed by F. Edwards and F. Cotton.) + +GARRISON, WILLIAM LLOYD. _An Address Delivered before the Free People +of Color in Philadelphia, New York, and other Cities during the Month +of June, 1831_. (Boston, 1831.) + +GRIFFIN, EDWARD DORR. _A Plea for Africa_. A Sermon preached October +26, 1817, in the First Presbyterian Church in the City of New York +before the Synod of New York and New Jersey at the Request of the +Board of Directors of the African School established by the Synod. +(New York, 1817.) The aim was to arouse interest in this school. + +JONES, CHARLES COLCOCK. _The Religious Instruction of Negroes_. A +Sermon delivered before the Association of the Planters in Liberty and +McIntosh Counties, Georgia. (Princeton, N.J., 1832.) Jones was then +engaged in the work which he was discussing. + +MAYO, A.D. "Address on Negro Education." (_Springfield Republican_, +July 9, 1897; and the _New England Magazine_, October, 1898.) + +RUSH, BENJAMIN. _An Address to the Inhabitants of the British +Settlements in America upon Slave Keeping_. The second edition with +observations on a pamphlet entitled _Slavery not Forbidden by +the Scripture or a Defense of the West Indian Planters by a +Pennsylvanian_. (Philadelphia, 1773.) The Negroes' need of education +is pointed out. + +SECKER, THOMAS, Archbishop of Canterbury. _A Sermon Preached before +the Incorporated Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign +Parts_; at their Anniversary Meeting in the Parish Church of St. +Mary-le-Bow, on Friday, February 20, 1741. (London 1741.) In this +discourse Secker set forth his plan of teaching the Negroes to elevate +themselves. + +SIDNEY, JOSEPH. _An Oration Commemorative of the Abolition of the +Slave Trade in the United States Delivered before the Wilberforce +Philanthropic Association in the City of New York on January 2, 1809_. +(New York, 1809.) The speaker did not forget the duty of all men to +uplift those unfortunates who had already been degraded. + +SMITH, THOMAS P. _An Address before the Colored Citizens of Boston in +Opposition to the Abolition of Colored Schools, 1849_. (Boston, 1850.) + +WARBURTON, WILLIAM, Bishop of Gloucester. _A Sermon Preached before +the Incorporated Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign +Parts_; at their Anniversary Meeting in the Parish Church of St. +Mary-le-Bow on Friday, February 21, 1766. (London, 1766.) The speaker +urged his hearers to enlighten the Indians and Negroes. + + +REPORTS ON THE EDUCATION OF THE COLORED PEOPLE + +_Report of the Proceedings at the Formation of the African Education +Society_; instituted at Washington, December 28, 1829. With an Address +to the Public by the Board of Managers. (Washington, 1830.) + +_Report of the Minority of the Committee of the Primary School Board +on the Caste Schools of the City of Boston._ With some remarks on the +City Solicitor's Opinion, by Wendell Phillips. (Boston, 1846.) + +_Report of a Special Committee of the Grammar School Board of Boston, +Massachusetts._ Abolition of the Smith Colored School. (Boston, 1849.) + +_Report of the Primary School Committee, Boston, Massachusetts._ +Abolition of the Colored Schools. (Boston, 1846.) + +_Report of the Minority of the Committee upon the Petition of J.T. +Hilton and other Colored Citizens of Boston, Praying for the Abolition +of the Smith Colored School._ (Boston, 1849.) + +_Opinion of Honorable Richard Fletcher as to whether Colored Children +can be Lawfully Excluded from Free Public Schools._ (Boston, 1846.) + +_Special Report of the Commissioner of Education on the Improvement +of the Public Schools in the District of Columbia_, containing M.B. +Goodwin's "History of Schools for the Colored Population in the +District of Columbia." (Washington, 1871.) + +_Thirty-Seventh Annual Report of the New York Public School Society, +1842._ (New York, 1842.) + + +STATISTICS + +CLARKE, J.F. _Present Condition of the Free Colored People of the +United States._ (New York and Boston, the American Antislavery +Society, 1859.) Published also in the March number of the _Christian +Examiner_. + +_Condition of the Free People of Color in Ohio._ With interesting +anecdotes. (Boston, 1839.) + +_Institute for Colored Youth._ (Philadelphia, 1860-1865.) Contains a +list of the officers and students. + +_Report of the Condition of the Colored People of Cincinnati, 1835._ +(Cincinnati, 1835.) + +_Report of a Committee of the Pennsylvania Society of Abolition on +Present Condition of the Colored People, etc._, 1838. (Philadelphia, +1838.) + +_Statistical Inquiry into the Condition of the People of Color of the +City and Districts of Philadelphia._ (Philadelphia, 1849.) _Statistics +of the Colored People of Philadelphia in 1859_, compiled by Benj. C. +Bacon. (Philadelphia, 1859.) + +_Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1898._ Prepared by the +Bureau of Statistics. (Washington, D.C., 1899.) + +_Statistical View of the Population of the United States, A_, +1790-1830. (Published by the Department of State in 1835.) + +_The Present State and Condition of the Free People of Color of the +city of Philadelphia and adjoining districts as exhibited by the +Report of a Committee of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting +the Abolition of Slavery._ Read First Month (January), 5th, 1838. +(Philadelphia, 1838.) + +_Trades of the Colored People._ (Philadelphia, 1838.) + +United States Censuses of 1790, 1800, 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, +and 1860. + +VARLE, CHARLES. _A Complete View of Baltimore_; with a Statistical +Sketch of all the Commercial, Mercantile, Manufacturing, Literary, +Scientific Institutions and Establishments in the same Vicinity ... +derived from personal Observation and Research. (Baltimore, 1833.) + + +CHURCH REPORTS + +_A Brief Statement of the Rise and Progress of the Testimony of +Friends against Slavery and the Slave Trade._ Published by direction +of the Yearly Meeting held in Philadelphia in the Fourth Month, 1843. +Shows the action taken by various Friends to educate the Negroes. + +_A Collection of the Acts, Deliverances, and Testimonies of the +Supreme Judicatory of the Presbyterian Church, from its Origin in +America to the Present Time._ By Samuel J. Baird. (Philadelphia, +1856.) + +_Acts and Proceedings of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian +Church in the United States of America in the Year 1800._ +(Philadelphia, 1800.) The question of instructing the Negroes came up +in this meeting. + +PASCOE, C.F. _Classified Digest of the Records of the Society for +the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, 1701-1892, with much +Supplementary Information._ (London, 1893.) A good source for the +accounts of the efforts of this organization among Negroes. + +"Minutes of the Methodist Conference, 1785." Found in Rev. Charles +Elliott's _History of the Great Secession from the Methodist Episcopal +Church_, etc. This conference discussed the education of the colored +people. + + +REPORTS OF THE AMERICAN CONVENTION, 1794-1831 + +American Convention of Abolition Societies. _Minutes of the +Proceedings of a Convention of Delegates from the Abolition Societies +established in different Parts of the United States, assembled at +Philadelphia on the first Day of January, one thousand seven hundred +and ninety-four, and continued by Adjournments, until the seventh Day +of the same Month, inclusive._ (Philadelphia, 1794.) + +--_Minutes of the Proceedings of the Second Convention of Delegates +from the Abolition Societies established in different Parts of the +United States, assembled at Philadelphia on the seventh Day of +January, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-five, and continued by +Adjournments until the fourteenth Day of the same Month, inclusive._ +(Philadelphia, 1795.) + +--_Minutes of the Proceedings of the Third Convention of Delegates +from the Abolition Societies established in different Parts of the +United States, assembled at Philadelphia on the first Day of January, +one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six, and continued, by +Adjournments, until the seventh Day of the same Month, inclusive._ +(Philadelphia, 1796.) + +--_Address to Free Africans and other Free People of Colour in the +United States._ (1796.) + +--_Minutes of the Proceedings of the Fourth Convention of Delegates +from the Abolition Societies established in different Parts of the +United States, assembled at Philadelphia on the third Day of May, +one thousand seven hundred and ninety-seven, and continued by +Adjournments, until the ninth Day of the same Month, inclusive._ +(Philadelphia, 1797.) + +--_Minutes of the Proceedings of the Fifth Convention of Delegates +from the Abolition Societies established in different Parts of the +United States, assembled at Philadelphia on the first Day of June, +one thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight, and continued, by +Adjournments, until the sixth Day of the same Month, inclusive._ +(Philadelphia, 1798.) + +American Convention of Abolition Societies. _Minutes of the +Proceedings of the Sixth Convention of Delegates from the Abolition +Societies established in different parts of the United States, +assembled at Philadelphia, on the fourth Day of June, one thousand +eight hundred, and continued by Adjournments, until the sixth Day of +the same Month, inclusive._ (Philadelphia, 1800.) + +--_Minutes of the Proceedings of the Seventh Convention of Delegates +from the Abolition Societies established in different parts of the +United States, assembled at Philadelphia on the third Day of June, one +thousand eight hundred and one, and continued by Adjournments until +the sixth Day of the same Month, inclusive._ (Philadelphia, 1801.) + +--_Minutes of the Proceedings of the Eighth Convention of Delegates +from the Abolition Societies established in different parts of the +United States, assembled at Philadelphia, on the tenth Day of January, +one thousand eight hundred and three, and continued by Adjournments +until the fourteenth Day of the same Month, inclusive._ (Philadelphia, +1803.) + +--_Minutes of the Proceedings of the Ninth American Convention for +promoting the Abolition of Slavery and improving the Condition of the +African Race; assembled at Philadelphia on the ninth Day of January, +one thousand eight hundred and four, and continued by Adjournments +until the thirteenth Day of the same Month, inclusive._ (Philadelphia, +1804.) + +--_Address of the American Convention for promoting the Abolition of +Slavery and improving the Condition of the African Race, assembled at +Philadelphia, in January, 1804, to the People of the United States._ +(Philadelphia, 1804.) + +--_Minutes of the Proceedings of the Tenth American Convention for +promoting the Abolition of Slavery and improving the Condition of +the African Race; assembled at Philadelphia on the fourteenth Day +of January, one thousand eight hundred and five, and continued by +Adjournments until the seventeenth Day of the same Month, inclusive._ +(Philadelphia, 1805.) + +--_Minutes of the Proceedings of the Eleventh American Convention for +promoting the Abolition of Slavery and improving the Condition of the +African Race; assembled at Philadelphia, on the thirteenth Day +of January, one thousand eight hundred and six, and continued by +Adjournments until the fifteenth Day of the same Month, inclusive._ +(Philadelphia, 1806.) + +--_Minutes of the Proceedings of a Special Meeting of the Fifteenth +American Convention for promoting the Abolition of Slavery and +improving the Condition of the African Race; assembled at Philadelphia +on the tenth Day of December, 1818, and continued by Adjournments +until the fifteenth Day of the same Month, inclusive._ (Philadelphia, +1818.) + +--_Constitution of the American Convention for promoting the Abolition +of Slavery, and improving the Condition of the African Race. Adopted +on the eleventh Day of December, 1818, to take effect on the fifth Day +of October, 1819._ (Philadelphia, 1819.) + +--_Minutes of the Eighteenth Session of the American Convention for +promoting the Abolition of Slavery, and improving the Condition of the +African Race. Convened at Philadelphia, on the seventh Day of October, +1823._ (Philadelphia, 1823.) + +--_To the Clergy and Pastors throughout the United States._ (Dated +Philadelphia, September 18, 1826.) + +--_Minutes of the Adjourned Session of the Twentieth Biennial American +Convention for promoting the Abolition of Slavery. Held at Baltimore, +November 28._ (Philadelphia, 1828.) + + +REPORTS OF ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETIES + +_The Annual Report of the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery +Societies, presented at New York, May 6, 1847, with the Addresses and +Resolutions._ (New York, 1847.) + +_The Annual Report of the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Societies, +with the Addresses and Resolutions._ (New York, 1851.) + +_The First Annual Report of the American Anti-Slavery Society, with +the Speeches Delivered at the Anniversary Meeting held in Chatham +Street Chapel in the City of New York, on the sixth Day of May by +Adjournment on the eighth, in the Rev. Dr. Lansing's Church, and the +Minutes of the Society for Business._ (New York, 1834.) + +_The Second Annual Report of the American Anti-Slavery Society, held +in the City of New York, on the twelfth of May, 1835, and the Minutes +and Proceedings of the Society for Business._ (New York, 1835.) + +_The Third Annual Report of the American Anti-Slavery Society, with +the Speeches delivered at the Anniversary Meeting held in the City of +New York on May the tenth, 1836, and Minutes of the Meetings of the +Society for Business._ (New York, 1836.) + +_The Fourth Annual Report of the American Anti-Slavery Society, with +the Speeches delivered at the Anniversary Meeting held in the City of +New York on the ninth of May, 1837._ (New York, 1837.) + +_The Fifth Annual Report of the American Anti-Slavery Society, with +the Speeches delivered at the Anniversary Meeting and the Minutes and +Proceedings of the Society for Business._ (New York, 1838.) + +_The Sixth Annual Report of the American Anti-Slavery Society, with +the Speeches delivered at the Anniversary Meeting held in the City +of New York, on the seventh Day of May, 1839, and the Minutes of the +Meetings of the Society for Business, held on the evenings of the +three following days._ (New York, 1839.) + +_The Annual Report of the American Anti-Slavery Society by the +Executive Committee for the year ending May 1, 1859._ (New York, +1860.) + +_The Third Annual Report of the Managers of the New England +Anti-Slavery Society presented June 2, 1835_. (Boston, 1835.) + +_Annual Reports of the Massachusetts (or New England) Anti-Slavery +Society, 1831-end_. + +_Reports of the National Anti-Slavery Convention, 1833-end_. + + +REPORTS OF COLONIZATION SOCIETIES + +_Reports of the American Colonization Society, 1818-1832_. + +_Report of the New York Colonization Society, October 1, 1823_. (New +York, 1823.) + +_The Seventh Annual Report of the Colonization Society of the City of +New York_. (New York, 1839.) + +_Proceedings of the New York State Colonization Society, 1831_. +(Albany, 1831.) + +_The Eighteenth Annual Report of the Colonization Society of the State +of New York_. (New York, 1850.) + +REPORTS OF CONVENTIONS OF FREE NEGROES + +_Minutes and Proceedings of the First Annual Convention of the People +of Color. Held by Adjournment in the City of Philadelphia, from the +sixth to the eleventh of June, inclusive_, 1831. + +(Philadelphia, 1831.) + +_Minutes and Proceedings of the Second Annual Convention for the +Improvement of the Free People of Color in these United States. Held +by Adjournments in the City of Philadelphia, from the 4th to the 13th +of June, inclusive, 1832_,(Philadelphia, 1832.) + +_Minutes and Proceedings of the Third Annual Convention for the +Improvement of the Free People of Color in these United States. Held +by Adjournments in the city of Philadelphia, in 1833. (New York, +1833.)_ These proceedings were published also in the New York +Commercial Advertiser, April 27, 1833. + +_Minutes and Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Convention for the +Improvement of the Free People of Color in the United States. held by +Adjournments in the Asbury Church, New York, from the 2d to the 12th +of June, 1834._ (New York, 1834.) + +_Proceedings of the Convention of the Colored Freedmen of Ohio at +Cincinnati, January 14, 1852._ (Cincinnati, Ohio, 1852.) + + +MISCELLANEOUS BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS + +ADAMS, ALICE DANA. _The Neglected Period of Anti-Slavery in America._ +Radcliffe College Monographs No. 14. (Boston and London, 1908.) +Contains some valuable facts about the education of the Negroes during +the first three decades of the nineteenth century. + +ADAMS, JOHN. _The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United +States_; with a Life of the Author, Notes, and Illustrations by his +Grandson, Charles Francis Adams. Ten volumes. Volume x., shows the +attitude of James Otis toward the Negroes. + +ADAMS, NEHEMIAH. _A South-Side View of Slavery; or Three Months at +the South in 1854._ (Boston, 1854.) The position of the South on the +education of the colored people is well set forth. + +AGRICOLA (pseudonym). _An Impartial View of the Real State of the +Black Population in the United States._ (Philadelphia, 1824.) + +ALBERT, O.V. _The House of Bondage_; or Charlotte Brooks and other +Slaves Original and Life-like as they appeared in their Plantation +and City Slave Life; together with pen Pictures of the peculiar +Institution, with Sights and Insights into their new Relations as +Freedmen, Freemen, and Citizens, with an Introduction by Reverend +Bishop Willard Mallalieu. (New York and Cincinnati, 1890.) + +ALEXANDER, A. _A History of Colonization on the Western Continent of +Africa._ (Philadelphia, 1846.) Treats of education in "An Account of +the Endeavors used by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in +Foreign Parts, to instruct Negroes in the City of New York, together +with two of Bishop Gibson's Letters on that subject, being an Extract +from Dr. Humphrey's Historical Account of the Incorporated Society for +the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts from its Foundation in +the Year 1728." (London, 1730.) + +_An Address to the People of North Carolina on the Evils of Slavery, +by the Friends of Liberty and Equality, 1830._ (Greensborough, 1830.) + +_An Address to the Presbyterians of Kentucky proposing a Plan for the +Instruction and Emancipation of their Slaves by a Committee of the +Synod of Kentucky._ (Newburyport, 1836.) + +ANDERSON, MATTHEW._Presbylerianism--Its Relation to the Negro._ +(Philadelphia, 1897.) + +ANDREWS, E.E. _Slavery and the Domestic Slave Trade in the United +States._ In a series of letters addressed to the Executive Committee +of the American Union for the Relief and Improvement of the Colored +Race. (Boston, 1836.) + +BALDWIN, EBENEZER. _Observations on the Physical and Moral Qualities +of our Colored Population with Remarks on the Subject of Emancipation +and Colonization._ (New Haven, 1834.) + +BASSETT, J.S. _Slavery and Servitude in the Colony of North Carolina._ +(Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science. +Fourteenth Series, iv.-v. Baltimore, 1896.) + +---- _Slavery in the State of North Carolina._ (Johns Hopkins +University Studies in Historical and Political Science. Series XVII., +Nos. 7-8. Baltimore, 1899.) + +---- _Anti-Slavery Leaders of North Carolina._ (Johns Hopkins +University Studies in Historical and Political Science. Series XVI., +No. 6. Baltimore, 1898.) + +BAXTER, RICHARD. _Practical Works._ Twenty-three volumes. (London, +1830.) + +BENEZET, ANTHONY. _A Caution to Great Britain and Her Colonies in a +Short Representation of the calamitous state of the enslaved Negro in +the British Dominions._ (Philadelphia, 1784.) + +---- _The Case of our Fellow-Creatures, the Oppressed Africans, +respectfully recommended to the serious Consideration of the +Legislature of Great Britain, by the People called Quakers._ (London, +1783.) + +---- _Observations on the enslaving, importing, and purchasing of +Negroes; with some advice thereon, extracted from the Epistle of the +Yearly-Meeting of the People called Quakers, held at London in the +Year 1748._ (Germantown, 1760.) + +---- _The Potent Enemies of America laid open: being some Account of +the baneful Effects attending the Use of distilled spirituous Liquors, +and the Slavery of the Negroes._ (Philadelphia.) + +---- _A Short Account of that Part of Africa, inhabited by the +Negroes. With respect to the Fertility of the Country; the good +Disposition of many of the Natives, and the Manner by which the Slave +Trade is carried on._ (Philadelphia, 1792.) + +---- _Short Observations on Slavery, Introductory to Some Extracts +from the Writings of the Abbé Raynal, on the Important Subject._ + +---- _Some Historical Account of Guinea, its Situation, Produce, and +the General Disposition of its Inhabitants. With an Inquiry into +the Rise and Progress of the Slave Trade, its Nature and Lamentable +Effects._ (London, 1788.) + +BIRNEY, JAMES G. _The American Churches, the Bulwarks of American +Slavery, by an American._ (Newburyport, 1842.) + +BIRNEY, WILLIAM. _James G. Birney and his Times. The Genesis of the +Republican Party, with Some Account of the Abolition Movements in the +South before 1828._ (New York, 1890.) + +BOURNE, WILLIAM O. _History of the Public School Society of the City +of New York, with Portraits of the Presidents of the Society._ (New +York, 1870.) + +BRACKETT, JEFFERY R._The Negro in Maryland. A Study of the Institution +of Slavery._ (Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University, 1889). + +BRANAGAN, THOMAS. _A Preliminary Essay on the Oppression of the Exiled +Sons of Africa, Consisting of Animadversions on the Impolicy and +Barbarity of the Deleterious Commerce and Subsequent Slavery of the +Human Species_. (Philadelphia: Printed for the Author by John W. +Scott, 1804.) + +BRANAGAN, T. _Serious Remonstrances Addressed to the Citizens of the +Northern States and their Representatives, being an Appeal to their +Natural Feelings and Common Sense; Consisting of Speculations and +Animadversions, on the Recent Revival of the Slave Trade in the +American Republic_. (Philadelphia, 1805.) + +BROWN, W.W. _My Southern Home_. (Boston, 1882.) + +CHILD, LYDIA MARIA. _An Appeal in Favor of that Class of Americans +Called Africans_. (Boston: Allen & Ticknor, 1833, and New York: J.S. +Taylor, 1836.) + +CHANNING, WILLIAM E. _Slavery_. (Boston: J. Munroe & Co., 1835.) + +---- _Remarks on the Slavery Question_. (Boston: J. Munroe & Co., +1839.) + +COBB, T.R.R. _An Historical Sketch of Slavery_. (Philadelphia: T. & +J.W. Johnson, 1858.) + +---- _An Inquiry into the Law of Negro Slavery in the United States +of America. To which is Prefixed an Historical Sketch of Slavery by +Thomas R.R. Cobb of Georgia_. (Philadelphia and Savannah, 1858.) + +COFFIN, JOSHUA. _An Account of Some of the Principal Slave +Insurrections and Others which have Occurred or been attempted in +the United States and Elsewhere during the Last Two Centuries. With +Various Remarks. Collected from Various Sources_. (New York, 1860.) + +CONWAY, MONCURE DANIEL. _Testimonies Concerning Slavery_. (London: +Chapman & Hall, 1865.) The author was a native of Virginia. + +CULP, D.W. _Twentieth Century Negro Literature, or a Cyclopedia of +Thought, Vital Topics Relating to the American Negro by One Hundred of +America's Greatest Negroes_. (Toronto, Naperville, Ill., and Atlanta, +Ga., 1902.) + +DE BOW, J.D.B. _Industrial Resources of the Southern and Western +States_. (New Orleans, 1852-1853.) + +DELANY, M.R. _The Condition of the Colored People in United States_. +(Boston, 1852.) + +DRESSER, AMOS. _The Narrative of Amos Dresser with Stone's Letters +from Natchez--an Obituary Notice of the Writer and Two Letters from +Tallahassee Relating to the Treatment of Slaves_. (New York, 1836.) + +DREWERY, WILLIAM SIDNEY. _Slave Insurrections in Virginia, 1830-1865._ +(Washington, 1900.) + +DUBOIS, W.E.B. _The Philadelphia Negro._ (Philadelphia, 1896.) + +---- _The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States +of America, 1638-1870._ Harvard Historical Studies, Vol. i. (New York, +London, and Bombay, 1896.) + +---- Atlanta University Publications, _The Negro Common School._ +(Atlanta, 1901.) + +---- _The College-Bred Negro._ (Atlanta, 1900.) + +---- _The Negro Church._ (Atlanta, 1903.) + +---- and Dill, A.G. _The College-Bred Negro American._ (Atlanta, +1910.) + +---- _The Common School and the Negro American._ (Atlanta, 1911.) + +---- _The Negro American Artisan._ (Atlanta, 1912.) + +ELLIOTT, REV. CHARLES. _History of the Great Secession from the +Methodist Episcopal Church, etc._ + +_Exposition of the Object and Plan of the American Union for the +Relief and Improvement of the Colored Race._ (Boston, 1835.) + +FEE, JOHN G. _Anti-Slavery Manual._ (Maysville, 1848.) + +FISH, C.R. _Guide to the Materials for American History in Roman and +Other Italian Archives._ (Washington, D.C., Carnegie Institution, +1911.) + +FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN. _The Writings of Benjamin Franklin Collected and +Edited with a Life and Introduction by Albert Henry Smyth._ (New York, +1905-1907.) + +FROST, W.G. "Appalachian America." In vol. i. of _The Americana_ (New +York, 1912.) + +GARNETT, H.H. _The Past and Present Condition and the Destiny of the +Colored Race._ (Troy, 1848.) + +GOODLOE, D.R. _The Southern Platform._ (Boston, 1858.) + +GRÉGOIRE, BISHOP. _De la Littêrature des Nègres._ (Paris, 1808.) +Translated and published by D.B. Warden at Brooklyn, in 1810. + +HARRISON, SAMUEL ALEXANDER. _Wenlock Christison, and the Early +Friends in Talbot County, Maryland._ A Paper read before the Maryland +Historical Society, March 9, 1874. (Baltimore, 1878.) + +HENSON, JOSIAH. _The Life of Josiah Henson._ (Boston, 1849.) + +HICKOK, CHARLES THOMAS. _The Negro in Ohio_, 1802-1870. (Cleveland, +1896.) + +HODGKIN, THOMAS A. _Inquiry into the Merits of the American +Colonization Society and Reply to the Charges Brought against it, with +an Account of the British African Colonization Society_. (London, +1833.) + +HOLLAND, EDWIN C. _Refutation of Calumnies Circulated against the +Southern and Western States_. (Charleston, 1822.) + +HOWE, SAMUEL G. _The Refugees from Slavery in Canada West. Report to +the Freedmen's Inquiry Committee_. (Boston, 1864.) + +INGLE, EDWARD. _The Negro in the District of Columbia_. (Johns Hopkins +Studies in Historical and Political Sciences, vol. xi., Baltimore, +1893.) + +JAY, JOHN. _The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, First +Chief Justice of the United States and President of the Continental +Congress, Member of the Commission to Negotiate the Treaty of +Independence, Envoy to Great Britain, Governor of New York, etc_., +1782-1793. (New York and London, 1891.) Edited by Henry P. Johnson, +Professor of History in the College of the City of New York. + +JAY, WILLIAM. _An Inquiry into the Character and Tendencies of the +American Colonization and American Anti-Slavery Societies_. Second +edition. (New York, 1835.) + +JEFFERSON, THOMAS. The Writings of Thomas Jefferson. Memorial Edition. +Autobiography, Notes on Virginia, Parliamentary Manual, Official +Papers, Messages and Addresses, and Other Writings Official and +Private, etc. (Washington, 1903.) + +Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science. +H.B. Adams, Editor. (Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Press.) + +JONES, C.C. _A Catechism of Scripture, Doctrine, and Practice_. +(Philadelphia, 1852.) + +KIRK, EDWARD E. _Educated Labor, etc_. (New York, 1868.) + +LANGSTON, JOHN M. _From the Virginia Plantation to the National +Capital; or, The First and Only Negro Representative in Congress from +the Old Dominion_. (Hartford, 1894.) + +_L'Esclavage dans les États Confédérés par un missionaire_. Deuxième +édition. (Paris, 1865.) + +LOCKE, M.S. _Anti-Slavery in America, from the Introduction of African +Slaves to the Prohibition of the Slave Trade_, 1619-1808. Radcliffe +College Monographs, No. 11. (Boston, 1901.) + +LONG, J.D. _Pictures of Slavery in Church and State, Including +Personal Reminiscences, Biographical Sketches, Anecdotes, etc., with +Appendix Containing the Views of John Wesley and Richard Watson on +Slavery_. (Philadelphia, 1857.) + +LOWERY, WOODBURY. _The Spanish Settlements within the Present Limits +of the United States. Florida_, 1562-1574. (New York and London, +1905.) + +MADISON, JAMES. _Letters and Other Writings of James Madison Published +by Order of Congress_. Four volumes. (Philadelphia, 1865.) + +MALLARY, R.O. _Maybank: Some Memoirs of a Southern Christian +Household; Family Life of C.C. Jones_. + +MAY, S.J. _Some Recollections of our Anti-Slavery Conflict_. + +MCLEOD, ALEXANDER. _Negro Slavery Unjustifiable. A Discourse by the +Late Alexander McLeod, 1802, with an Appendix_. (New York, 1863.) + +MEADE, BISHOP WILLIAM. _Old Churches, Ministers, and Families, of +Virginia_. (Philadelphia, 1897.) + +MONROE, JAMES. _The Writings of James Monroe, Including a Collection +of his Public and Private Papers and Correspondence now for the First +Time Printed, Edited by S.M. Hamilton_. (Boston, 1900.) + +MOORE, GEORGE H. _Notes on the History of Slavery in Massachusetts +by George H. Moore, Librarian of the New York Historical Society and +Corresponding Member of the Massachusetts Historical Society_. (New +York, 1866.) + +MORGAN, THOMAS J. _The Negro in America_. (Philadelphia, 1898.) + +NEEDLES, EDWARD. _Ten Years' Progress, or a Comparison of the State +and Condition of the Colored People in the City and County of +Philadelphia from 1837 to 1847_. (Philadelphia, 1849.) + +OTHELLO (PSEUDONYM). "Essays on Negro Slavery." Published in _The +American Museum_ in 1788. Othello was a free Negro. + +OVINGTON, M.W. _Half-a-Man_. (New York, 1911.) Treats of the Negro in +the State of New York. A few pages are devoted to the education of the +colored people. + +PARRISH, JOHN. _Remarks on the Slavery of the Black People; Addressed +to the Citizens of the United States, Particularly to those who are in +Legislative or Executive Stations in the General or State Governments; +and also to Such Individuals as Hold them in Bondage_. (Philadelphia, +1806.) + +PLUMER, W.S. _Thoughts on the Religious Instruction of the Negroes of +this Country_. (Savannah, 1848.) + +Plymouth Colony, New. _Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New +England_. Printed by Order of the Legislature of the Commonwealth +of Massachusetts. Edited by Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Member of the +Massachusetts Historical Society, and Fellow of the Antiquarians of +London. (Boston, 1855.) + +PORTEUS, BISHOP BEILBY. _The Works of the Rev. Beilby Porteus, D.D., +Late Bishop of London, with his Life by the Rev. Robert Hodgson, +A.M., F.R.S., Rector of St. George's, Hanover Square, and One of the +Chaplains in ordinary to His Majesty_. A new edition in six volumes. +(London, 1816.) + +POWER, REV. JOHN H. _Review of the Lectures of William A. Smith, +D.D., on the Philosophy and Practice of Slavery as Exhibited in the +Institution of Domestic Slavery in the United States, with the Duties +of Masters to Slaves in a Series of Letters addressed to the Author_. +(Cincinnati, 1859.) + +Quaker Pamphlet. + +RICE, DAVID. _Slavery Inconsistent with Justice and Good Policy: +Proved by a Speech Delivered in the Convention Held at Danville, +Kentucky_. (Philadelphia, 1792, and London, 1793.) + +SCOBER, J. _Negro Apprenticeship in the Colonies_. (London, 1837.) + +SECKER, THOMAS. _The Works of the Right Reverend Thomas Seeker, +Archbishop of Canterbury with a Review of his Life and Character by B. +Porteus_. (New edition in six volumes, London, 1811.) + +SIEBERT, WILBUR H. _The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom, +by W.H. Siebert, Associate Professor of History in the Ohio State +University, with an Introduction by A.B. Hart_. (New York, 1898.) + +SMITH, WILLIAM A. _Lectures on the Philosophy and Practice of Slavery +as Exhibited in the Institution of Domestic Slavery in the United +States, with the Duties of Masters to Slaves_. (Nashville, Tenn., +1856.) Doctor Smith was the President and Professor of Moral and +Intellectual Philosophy of Randolph-Macon College. + +_Slavery and the Internal Slave Trade in the United States of America, +being Inquiries to Questions Transmitted by the Committee of the +British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society for the Abolition of Slavery +and the Slave Trade throughout the World. Presented to the General +Anti-Slavery Convention Held in London, June, 1840, by the Executive +Committee of the American Anti-Slavery Society._ (London, 1841.) + +_The Enormity of the Slave Trade and the Duty of Seeking the Moral +and Spiritual Elevation of the Colored Race._ (New York.) This work +includes speeches of Wilberforce and other documents. + +_The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, Travels, and Explorations +of the Jesuit Missionaries in New France, 1610-1791. The Original +French, Latin, and Italian Texts with English Translations and Notes; +Illustrated by Portraits, Maps, and Facsimiles. Edited by Reuben Gold +Thwaites, Secretary of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin._ +(Cleveland, 1896.) + +_The South Vindicated from the Treason and Fanaticism of the Northern +Abolitionists._ (Philadelphia, 1836.) + +THOMPSON, GEORGE. _Speech at the Meeting for the Extinction of Negro +Apprenticeship._ (London, 1838.) + +---- _The Free Church Alliance with Manstealers. Send Back the Money. +Great Anti-Slavery Meeting in the City Hall, Glasgow, Containing the +Speeches Delivered by Messrs. Wright, Douglass, and Buffum, from +America, and by George Thompson of London, with a Summary Account of +a Series of Meetings Held in Edinburgh by the Abovenamed Gentlemen._ +(Glasgow, 1846.) + +TORREY, JESSE, JR. _A Portraiture of Domestic Slavery in the United +States, with Reflections on the Practicability of Restoring the Moral +Rights of the Slave, without Impairing the Legal Privileges of the +Possessor, and a Project of a Colonial Asylum for Free Persons of +Color, Including Memoirs of Facts on the Interior Traffic in Slaves, +and on Kidnapping, Illustrated with Engravings by Jesse Torrey, Jr., +Physician, Author of a Series of Essays on Morals and the Diffusion of +Knowledge._ (Philadelphia, 1817.) + +---- _American Infernal Slave Trade; with Reflections on the Project +for forming a Colony of Blacks in Africa_. (London, 1822.) + +TOWER, PHILO. _Slavery Unmasked: Being a Truthful Narrative of Three +Years' Residence and Journeying in Eleven Southern States; to which +is Added "The Invasion of Kansas," Including the Last Chapter of her +Wrongs_. (Rochester, 1856.) + +TURNER, E.R. _The Negro in Pennsylvania_. (Washington, 1911.) + +_Tyrannical Libertymen: a Discourse upon Negro Slavery in the United +States; Composed at---- in New Hampshire; on the Late Federal +Thanksgiving Day_. (Hanover, N.H., 1795.) + +VAN EVRIE, JOHN H. _Negroes and Negro Slavery_, by J.H. Van Evrie, +M.D. _Introductory Chapter: Causes of Popular Delusion on the +Subject_. (Washington, 1853.) + +---- _White Supremacy and Negro Subordination; or, Negroes a +Subordinate Race, and So-called Slavery its Normal Condition. With an +Appendix Showing the Past and Present Condition of the Countries South +of us_. (New York, 1868.) + +WALKER, DAVID. _Walker's Appeal in Four Articles, together with a +Preamble, to the Colored Citizens of the World, but in Particular and +very Expressly to those of the United States of America. Written in +Boston, State of Massachusetts, September_ 28, 1820. Second edition. +(Boston, 1830.) Walker was a Negro who hoped to arouse his race to +self-assertion. + +WASHINGTON, B.T. _The Story of the Negro_. Two volumes (New York, +1909.) + +WASHINGTON, GEORGE. _The Writings of George Washington, being his +Correspondence, Addresses, Messages, and other Papers, Official and +Private, Selected and Published from the Original Manuscripts with +the Life of the Author, Notes and Illustrations, by Jared Sparks_. +(Boston, 1835.) + +WEEKS, STEPHEN B. _Southern Quakers and Slavery. A Study in +Institutional History_. (Baltimore, The Johns Hopkins Press, 1896.) + +---- _The Anti-Slavery Sentiment in the South; with Unpublished +Letters from John Stuart Mill and Mrs. Stowe_. (Southern History +Association Publications. Volume ii., No. 2, Washington, D. C, April, +1898.) + +WESLEY, JOHN. _Thoughts upon Slavery. In the Potent Enemies of America +Laid Open.... London, printed: Reprinted in Philadelphia with Notes, +and Sold by Joseph Cruikshank_. 1774. + +WIGHAM, ELIZA. _The Anti-Slavery Cause in America and its Martyrs_. +(London, 1863.) + +WILLIAMS, GEORGE W. _History of the Negro Race in the United States +from 1619-1880. Negroes as Slaves, as Soldiers, and as Citizens: +together with a Preliminary Consideration of the Unity of the Human +Family, an Historical Sketch of Africa and an Account of the Negro +Governments of Sierra Leone and Liberia_. (New York, 1883.) + +WOOLMAN, JOHN. _The Works of John Woolman. In two parts. Part I: a +Journal of the Life, Gospel-Labors, and Christian Experiences of that +Faithful Minister of Christ, John Woolman, Late of Mount Holly, in the +Province of New Jersey_. (London, 1775.) + +---- _Same. Part Second. Containing his Last Epistle and other +Writings_. (London, 1775.) + +---- _Some Considerations on the Keeping of Negroes. Recommended to +the Professors of Christianity of every Denomination_. (Philadelphia, +1754.) + +---- _Considerations on Keeping Negroes; Recommended to the Professors +of Christianity of every Denomination. Part Second_. (Philadelphia, +1762.) + +WRIGHT, R.R., JR. _The Negro in Pennsylvania_. (Philadelphia, 1912.) + + +MAGAZINES + +_The Abolitionist, or Record of the New England Anti-Slavery Society_. +Edited by a committee. Appeared in January, 1833. + +_The African Methodist Episcopal Church Review_. Valuable for the +following articles: + +"The Colored Public Schools of Washington," by James Storum, vol. v., +p. 279. + +"The Negro as an Inventor," by R.R. Wright, vol. ii., p. 397. "Negro +Poets," vol. iv., p. 236. + +"The Negro in Journalism," vols. vi., 309, and xx., 137. + +_The African Repository_. Published by the American Colonization +Society from 1826 to 1832. A very good source for the development of +Negro education both in this country and Liberia. Some of its most +valuable articles are: "Learn Trades or Starve," by Frederick +Douglass, vol. xxix., pp. 136 and 137. Taken from Frederick Douglass's +Paper. + +"Education of the Colored People," by a highly respectable gentleman +of the South, vol. xxx., pp. 194,195, and 196. + +"Elevation of the Colored Race," a memorial circulated in North +Carolina, vol. xxxi., pp. 117 and 118. + +"A Lawyer for Liberia," a sketch of Garrison Draper, vol. xxxiv., pp. +26 and 27. + + +Numerous articles on the religious instruction of the Negroes occur +throughout the foregoing volumes. Information about the actual +literary training of the colored people is given as news items. + +_The American Museum_, or _Repository of Ancient and Modern Fugitive +Pieces, etc., Prose and Poetical_. Vols. i.-iv. (First and second +editions, Philadelphia, 1788. Third edition, Philadelphia, 1790.) +Contains some interesting essays on the intellectual status of the +Negroes, etc., contributed by "Othello," a free Negro. + +_The Colonizationist and Journal of Freedom_. The author has been able +to find only the volume which contains the numbers for the year 1834. + +_The Crisis_. A record of the darker races published by the National +Association for the Advancement of Colored People. + +_The Maryland Journal of Colonization_. Published as the official +organ of the Maryland Colonization Society. Among its important +articles are: "The Capacities of the Negro Race," vol. iii., p. 367; +and "The Educational Facilities of Liberia," vol. vii., p. 223. + +_The Non-Slaveholder_. Two volumes of this publication are now found +in the Library of Congress. + +_The School Journal_. + +_The Southern Workman_. Volume xxxvii. contains Dr. R.R. Wright's +valuable dissertation on "Negro Rural Communities in Indiana." + + +NEWSPAPERS + + District of Columbia. + _The Daily National Intelligencer_. + + Louisiana + _The New Orleans Commercial Bulletin._ + + Maryland. + _The Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser._ + _The Maryland Gazette._ + _Dunlop's Maryland Gazette_ or _The Baltimore Advertiser._ + + Massachusetts. + _The Liberator._ + + New York. + _The New York Daily Advertiser._ + _The New York Tribune._ + + North Carolina. + _The State Gazette of North Carolina._ + _The Newbern Gazette._ + + Pennsylvania. + _The Philadelphia Gazette._ + + South Carolina. + _The City Gazette and Commercial Daily Advertiser._ + _The State Gazette of South Carolina._ + _The Charleston Courier._ + _The South Carolina Weekly Advertiser._ + _The Carolina Gazette._ + _The Columbian Herald._ + + Virginia. + _The Richmond Enquirer._ + _The Norfolk and Portsmouth Herald._ + _The Virginia Herald._ (Fredericksburg.) + _The Norfolk and Portsmouth Chronicle._ + + +LAWS, DIGESTS, CHARTERS, CONSTITUTIONS, AND REPORTS + +GENERAL + +Code Noir ou Recueil d'édits, déclarations et arrêts concernant la +Discipline et le commerce des esclaves Nègres des isles françaises de +l'Amérique (in Recueils de réglemens, édits, déclarations et arrêts, +concernant le commerce, l'administration de la justice et la police +des colonies françaises de l'Amérique, et les engagés avec le Code +Noir, et l'addition audit code). (Paris, 1745.) + +GOODELL, WILLIAM. _The American Slave Code in Theory and Practice: Its +Distinctive Features Shown by its Statutes, Judicial Decisions, and +Illustrative Facts._ (New York, 1853.) + +PETERS, RICHARD. _Condensed Reports of Cases Argued and Adjudged in +the Supreme Court of the United States._ Six volumes. (Philadelphia, +1830-1834.) + +THORPE, F.N. _Federal and State Constitution, Colonial Charters, and +Other Organic Laws of the States, Territories, and Colonies now or +heretofore Forming the United States of America. Compiled and Edited +under an Act of Congress, June 30, 1906._ (Washington, 1909.) + + +STATE + + Alabama. + _Acts of the General Assembly Passed by the State of Alabama._ + CLAY, C.C. _Digest of the Laws of the State of Alabama to + 1843._ (Tuscaloosa, 1843.) + + Connecticut. + _Public Acts Passed by the General Assembly of Connecticut._ + + Delaware. + _Laws of the State of Delaware Passed by the General Assembly._ + + District of Columbia. + BURCH, SAMUEL. _A Digest of the Laws of the Corporation of + the City of Washington, with an Appendix of the Laws of the + United States Relating to the District of Columbia._ (Washington, + 1823.) + + Florida. + _Acts of the Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida._ + _Acts and Resolutions of the General Assembly of the State of + Florida._ + + Georgia. + _Laws of the State of Georgia._ + COBB, HOWELL. _A Digest of the Statutes of Georgia in General + Use to 1846._ (New York, 1846.) + DAWSON, WILLIAM. _A Compilation of the Laws of the State + of Georgia to 1831._ (Milledgeville, 1831.) + PRINCE, O.H. _A Digest of the Laws of the State of Georgia to + 1837._ (Athens, 1837.) + + Illinois. + _Laws of the State of Illinois Passed by the General Assembly._ + STARR, M., and RUSSELL H. CURTIS. _Annotated Statutes of + Illinois in Force, January 1, 1885._ + + Indiana. + _Laws of a General Nature Passed by the State of Indiana._ + + Kentucky. + _Acts of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky._ + + Louisiana. + _Acts Passed by the Legislature of the State of Louisiana._ + BULLARD, HENRY A., and THOMAS CURRY. _A New Digest of + the Statute Laws of the State of Louisiana to 1842._ (New + Orleans, 1842.) + + Maryland. + _Laws Made and Passed by the General Assembly of the State of + Maryland._ + + Massachusetts. + _Acts and Resolves Passed by the General Court of Massachusetts._ + QUINCY, JOSIAH, JR. _Reports of Cases, Superior Court of + Judicature of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, 1761-1772._ + (Boston, 1865.) + + Mississippi. + _Laws of the State of Mississippi Passed at the Regular Sessions + of the Legislature._ + POINDEXTER, GEORGE. _Revised Code of the Laws of Mississippi._ + (Natchez, 1824.) + HUTCHINSON, A. _Code of Mississippi._ (Jackson, 1848.) + + Missouri. + _Acts of the General Assembly of the State of Missouri._ + + New Jersey. + _Acts of the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey._ + + New York. + _Laws of the State of New York._ + + Ohio. + _Acts of a General Nature Passed by the General Assembly of + the State of Ohio._ + _Acts of a Local Nature Passed by the General Assembly of the + State of Ohio._ + + Pennsylvania. + _Laws of the General Assembly of the State of Pennsylvania._ + BRIGHTLY, FRANK F. _A Digest of the Laws of Pennsylvania._ + STROUD, G.M. _Purdon's Digest of the Laws of Pennsylvania + from 1700 to 1851._ (Philadelphia, 1852.) + + Rhode Island. + _Acts and Resolves Passed by the General Assembly of the State + of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations._ + + South Carolina. + _Acts and Resolutions of the General Assembly of the State of + South Carolina._ + BREVARD, JOSEPH. _An Alphabetical Digest of the Public + Statute Laws of South Carolina from 1692 to 1813._ Three + volumes. (Charleston, 1814.) + + Tennessee. + _Acts of the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee._ + + Virginia. + _Acts of the General Assembly of Virginia._ + HENING, W.W. _Statutes at Large: A Collection of all the Laws + of Virginia from the First Session of the Legislature in the + Year 1816._ (Richmond, 1819 to 1823.) Published pursuant + to an act of the General Assembly of Virginia, + passed on the 5th of February, 1808. The work was extended + by S. Shepherd who published three additional + volumes in 1836. Chief source of historical material for + the history of Virginia. + TATE, Joseph. _A Digest of the Laws of Virginia._ (Richmond, + 1841.) + + + + +INDEX + + + Abdy, E.S., learned that slaves were taught + Abolitionists, interested in the enlightenment of Negroes + Account of a pious Negro + Actual education after the revolutionary period + Adams, Rev. Henry, teacher at Louisville + Adams, John, report of James Otis's argument on the Writs of + Assistance; views on slavery + Address of the American Convention of Abolition Societies + African Benevolent Society of Rhode Island, school of + African Episcopalians of Philadelphia, school of + African Free School of Baltimore + African Free Schools of New York + African Methodist Episcopal Church, established Union Seminary; + purchased Wilberforce + Agricultural Convention of Georgia recommended that slaves be taught to + read + Alabama, law of 1832; provision for teaching Negroes at Mobile; + Presbyterians of, interested + Albany Normal School, colored student admitted + Alexandria, Virginia Quakers of, instructed Negroes; Benjamin Davis, a + teacher of + Allen, Richard, organized A.M.E. Church; author + Allen, W.H., teacher of Negroes + Ambush, James E., teacher in the District of Columbia + American Colonization Society, The, efforts of, to educate Negroes + American Convention of Abolition Societies, The, interested in the + education of Negroes; recommended industrial education; addresses of + American Union, The, organized; names of its promoters (see note 1 on + page 142) + Amherstburg, Canada, opened a colored school; established a mission + school + Anderson, John G., musician + Andrew, one of the first two colored teachers in Carolina + Andrews, C.C. principal of New York African Free Schools + Andrews, E.A., student of the needs of the Negroes + Anti-slavery agitation, effect of, on education in cities + Appalachian Mountains, settled by people favorable to Negroes + Appo, William, musician + Arnett, B.W., teacher in Pennsylvania + Ashmun Institute, founded; names of the trustees + Athens College, admitted colored students + Attainments of Negroes at the close of the eighteenth century + Auchmutty, Reverend, connected with the school established by Elias + Neau + Augusta, Dr. A.T., learned to read in Virginia + Avery College, established + Avery, Rev. Charles, donor of $300,000 for the education + and Christianization of the African race + + Bacon, Rev. Thomas, sermons on the instruction of Negroes + Baldwin County, Alabama, provision for teaching Negroes + Baltimore, several colored churches; colored schools of; an adult + school of 180 pupils; Sunday-schools; day and night school; Bible + Society; African Free School; donation of Wells; donation of + Crane; school tax paid by Negroes, note on page---- + Banks, Henry, learned to read in Virginia + Banneker, Benjamin, studied in Maryland; made a clock; took up + astronomy; + encouraged by Ellicott; corresponded with Thomas Jefferson + Baptist preacher, taught Negroes in South Carolina + Baptists, aided the education of Negroes; established school at + Bexley, Liberia; changed attitude toward the uplift of Negroes + Barclay, David, gave money to build school-house + Barclay, Reverend, instructed Negroes in New York + Barr, John W., taught M.W. Taylor in Kentucky + Baxter, Richard, instructed masters to enlighten their slaves + Beard, Simeon, had a school in Charleston + Becraft, Maria, established a school in the District of Columbia + Bell family, progress of + Bell, George, built first colored school-house in District of Columbia + Bell School established + Benezet, Anthony, advocated the education of Negroes; taught Negroes; + believed in western colonization; opinion on Negro intellect; + bequeathed wealth to educate Negroes; school-house built + with the fund;(see note giving sketch of his career) + Berea College, founded + Berkshire Medical School had trouble admitting Negroes; graduated + colored physicians + Berry's portraiture of the Negroes' condition after the reaction + Bibb, Mary E., taught at Windsor, Canada + Billings, Maria, taught in the District of Columbia + Birney, James G., criticized the church; helped Negroes on free soil + Bishop, Josiah, preached to white congregation in Portsmouth, Virginia + Bishop of London, declared that the conversion of slaves did not work + manumission + "Black Friday," Portsmouth, Ohio, Negroes driven out + Blackstone, studied to justify the struggle for the rights of man; his + idea of the body politic forgotten + Bleecker, John, interested in the New York African Free Schools + Boone, R.G., sketch of education in Indiana + Boston, Massachusetts, colored school opened; opened its first primary + school; school in African Church; several colored churches; struggle + for democratic education; (see also Massachusetts) + Boucher, Jonathan, interested in the uplift of Negroes; an advocate of + education; (see note on, 56); extract from address of + Boulder, J.F., student in a mixed school in Delaware + Bowditch, H.J., asked that Negroes be admitted to Boston public schools + Bowdoin College, admitted a Negro + Bradford, James T., studied at Pittsburgh + Branagan advocated colonization of the Negroes in the West + Bray, Dr. Thomas, a promoter of the education of Negroes; "Associates + of Dr. Bray,"; plan of, for the instruction of Negroes + Brearcroft, Dr., alluded to the plan for the enlightenment of Negroes + Breckenridge, John, contributed to the education of the colored people + of Baltimore + Bremer, Fredrika, found colored schools in the South; observed the + teaching of slaves + British American Manual Labor Institute, established at Dawn, Canada + Brown, a graduate of Harvard College, taught colored children in Boston + Brown County, Ohio, colored schools of, established + Brown, Jeremiah H., studied at Pittsburgh + Brown, J.M., attended school in Delaware + Brown, William Wells, author; leader and educator + Browning family, progress of + Bruce, B.K., learned to read, + Bryan, Andrew, preacher in Georgia + Buchanan, George, on mental capacity of Negroes + Buffalo, colored Methodist and Baptist churches of, lost + members + Burke, E.P., found enlightened Negroes in the South + mentioned case of a very intelligent Negro + Burlington, New Jersey, Quakers of, interested in the uplift + of the colored people + Butler, Bishop, urged the instruction of Negroes + Buxton, Canada, separate schools established in + + Caesar, a Negro poet of North Carolina + Calvert, Mr., an Englishman who taught Negroes in the + District of Columbia + Camden Insurrection, effect of + Cameron, Paul C., sketch of John Chavis + Canaan, New Hampshire, academy broken up + Canada, education of Negroes in; names of settlements with schools; + difficulties of races; separate schools; mission schools; results + obtained; (see Drew's note on condition of) + Capers, Bishop William, opinion on reconstructing the policy of Negro + education; plan of, to instruct Negroes; work of, among the colored + people; catechism of + Cardozo, F.L., entered school in Charleston + Carey, Lott, educated himself + Cass County, Michigan, school facilities in the colored settlement of + Castleton Medical School, admitted Negroes + Catholics, interested in the education of Negroes + Catto, Rev. William T., author and preacher + Cephas, Uncle, learned from white children + Chandler, solicitor, of Boston, opinion on the segregation of + colored pupils + Channing, William, criticized the church for its lack of interest + in the uplift of the Negroes + Charleston, colored members of church of; Minor Society of; + colored schools of, attended by Bishop Daniel A. Payne; + insurrection of; theological seminary of, admitted a Negro + Charlton, Reverend, friend of Negroes in New York + Chatham, Canada, colored schools of + Chavis, John, educated at Princeton; a teacher of white youths + in North Carolina + Chester, T. Morris, student at Pittsburgh + Chicago, separate schools of; disestablished + Child, M.E., teacher in Canada + Churches, aided education through Sabbath-schools + Christians not to be held as slaves + Cincinnati, colored schools of; Negroes of; sought public support + for their schools; a teacher of, excluded a colored boy from a + public school; law of + City, the influences of, on the education of Negroes; attitude of + anti-slavery societies of, toward the education of the Negroes + Clapp, Margaret, aided Myrtilla Miner in the District of Columbia; (see + note 2) + Clarkson Hall Schools of Philadelphia + Clarkson, Matthew, a supporter of the New York African Free Schools + Cleveland, C.F., Argument of, in favor of Connecticut law against + colored schools + Cleveland, colored schools of + Code Noir, referred to; (see note, 23) + Co-education of the races + Coffin, Levi, taught Negroes in North Carolina; promoted the migration + of Negroes to free soil; traveled in Canada + Coffin, Vestal, assistant of his father in North Carolina + Cogswell, James, aided the New York African Free Schools + Coker, Daniel, a teacher in Baltimore + Colbura, Zerah, a calculator who tested Thomas Fuller + Colchester, Canada, mission school at + Cole, Edward, made settlement of Negroes in Illinois + Colgan, Reverend; connected with Neau's school in New York + College of West Africa established + Colleges, Negroes not admitted; manual labor idea of; change in + attitude of + Colonization scheme, influence of, on education + Colonizationists, interest of, in the education of Negroes + Colored mechanics, prejudice against; slight increase in + Columbia, Pennsylvania, Quakers of, interested in the uplift of Negroes + Columbian Institute established in the District of Columbia + Columbus, Ohio, colored schools of + Condition of Negroes, in the eighteenth century; at the close of the + reaction + Connecticut, defeated the proposed Manual Labor College at New Haven; + spoken of as place for a colored school of the American Colonization + Society; allowed separate schools at Hartford; inadequately supported + colored schools; struggle against separate schools of; + disestablishment of separate schools of + Convention of free people of color, effort to establish a college + Convent of Oblate Sisters of Providence, educated colored girls in + academy of + Cook, John F., teacher in the District of Columbia; forced by the Snow + Riot to go to Pennsylvania + Corbin, J.C. student at Chillicothe, Ohio + Cornish, Alexander, teacher in the District of Columbia + Costin, Louisa Parke, teacher in the District of Columbia + Cox, Ann, teacher in New York African Free Schools + Coxe, Eliza J., teacher in the New York African Free Schools + Coxe, General, of Fluvanna County, Virginia, taught his slaves to read + the Bible + Coxe, R.S., a supporter of Hays's school in the District of Columbia + Crandall, Prudence, admitted colored girls to her academy; opposed by + whites; law against her enacted; arrested, imprisoned, and tried; + abandoned her school + Crane, William, erected a building for the education of Negroes in + Baltimore + Crummell, Alexander, sought admission to the academy at Canaan, New + Hampshire + Cuffee, Paul, author + + D'Alone, contributor to a fund for the education of Negroes + Dartmouth, theological school of, admitted Negroes + Davies, Reverend, teacher of Negroes in Virginia + Davis, Benjamin, taught Negroes in Alexandria, Virginia + Davis, Cornelius, teacher of New York African Free Schools + Davis, Rev. Daniel, interest of, in the uplift of the people of color + Dawn, Canada, colored schools of + Dawson, Joseph, aided colored schools + Dean, Rev. Philotas, principal of Avery College + De Baptiste, Richard, student in a school at his father's home in + Fredericksburg + De Grasse, Dr. John V., educated for Liberia + Delany, M.R., attended school at Pittsburgh + Delaware, abolition Society of, provided for the education of the + Negroes; law of 1831; law of 1863 + Detroit, African Baptist Church of; separate schools of + Dialogue on the enlightenment of Negroes about 1800 + District of Columbia, separate schools of; churches of, contributed to + education of Negroes + Douglass, Mrs., a white teacher of Negroes in Norfolk + Douglass, Frederick, learned to read; leader and advocate of education; + author; opinion of, on vocational education; extract from paper of + Douglass, Sarah, teacher of Philadelphia + Dove, Dr., owner of Dr. James Durham + Dow, Dr. Jesse E., co-worker of Charles Middleton of the District of + Columbia + Draper, Garrison, studied law after getting education at Dartmouth; an + account of + Drew, Benjamin, note of, on Canada; found prejudice in schools of + Canada + Duncan, Benedict, taught by his father + Durham, James, a colored physician of New Orleans + Dwight, Sarah, teacher of colored girls + + _Édit du'roi_, + _Education of Colored People_, + Education of colored children at public expense, + (see also Chapter XIII,) + Edwards, Mrs. Haig, interest of, in the uplift of slaves, + Eliot, Rev. John, appeal in behalf of the conversion of slaves, + Ellis, Harrison, educated blacksmith, + Ellsworth, W.W., argument of, against the constitutionality of the + Connecticut law prohibiting the establishment of colored schools, + Emancipation of slaves, effects of, on education, + Emlen Institute established in Ohio, + Emlen, Samuel, philanthropist, + England, ministers of the Church of, maintained a school for colored + children at Newport, + English Colonial Church established mission schools in Canada, + English High School established at Monrovia, + Essay of Bishop Porteus, + Established Church of England directed attention to the uplift of the + slaves, + Everly, mentioned resolutions bearing on the instruction of slaves, + Evidences of the development of the intellect of Negroes, + + Falmouth colored Sunday-school broken up, + Fawcett, Benjamin, address to Negroes of Virginia, + extract from, + Fee, Rev. John G., criticized church because it neglected the Negroes, + founded Berea College, + Fleet, Dr. John, educated for Liberia, + teacher in the District of Columbia, + Fleetwood, Bishop, urged that Negroes be instructed, + (see note on p.) + Fletcher, Mr. and Mrs., teachers in the District of Columbia, + Flint, Rev. James, received letters bearing on the teaching of Negroes, + Florida, law of, unfavorable to the enlightenment of Negroes, + a more stringent law of, + Foote, John P., praised the colored schools of Cincinnati, + Ford, George, a Virginia lady who taught pupils of color in the + District of Columbia, + Fort Maiden, Canada, schools of, + Fortie, John, teacher in Baltimore, + Fothergill, on colonization, + Fox, George, urged Quakers to instruct the colored people, + Franklin College, New Athens, Ohio, admitted colored students, + Franklin, Benjamin, aided the teachers of Negroes, + Franklin, Nicholas, helped to build first schoolhouse for colored + children in the District of Columbia, + Frederic, Francis, taught by his master, + Free schools not sought at first by Negroes, + Freeman, M.H., teacher; principal of Avery College + French, the language of, taught in colored schools; educated Negroes + Friends, minutes of the meetings of, bearing on the instruction of + Negroes + Fugitive Slave Law, effects of + Fuller, James C, left a large sum for the education of Negroes + Fuller, Thomas, noted colored mathematician + + Gabriel's insurrection, effect of + Gaines, John I., led the fight for colored trustees in Cincinnati, Ohio + Gallia County, Ohio, school of + Gardner, Newport, teacher in Rhode Island + Garnett, H.H., was to be a student at Canaan, New Hampshire; author; + president of Avery College + Garrison, Wm. Lloyd, appeal of, in behalf of the education of Negroes; + speech of, on education; solicited funds for colored manual + labor school + Geneva College, change in attitude of + Georgetown, teachers and schools of + Georgia, prohibitive legislation of; objections of the people of, + to the education of Negroes; colored mechanics of, opposed; + Presbyterians of, taught Negroes; slaveholders of, + in Agricultural Convention urged the enlightenment of Negroes + Gettysburg Theological Seminary, admitted a Negro + Gibson, Bishop, of London, appeal in behalf of the neglected Negroes; + letters of + Giles County, Tennessee, colored preacher of, pastor of a white church + Gilmore, Rev. H., established a high school in Cincinnati + Gist, Samuel, made settlement of Negroes + Gloucester, New Jersey, Quakers of, interested in teaching Negroes + Gloucester, John, preacher in Philadelphia + Goddard, Calvin, argument of, against the constitutionality + of the law prohibiting colored schools in Connecticut + Goodwyn, Morgan, urged that Negroes be elevated + Grant, Nancy, teacher in the District of Columbia + Green, Charles Henry, studied in Delaware + Greenfield, Eliza, musician + Gregg of Virginia, settled his slaves on free soil + Grégoire, H., on the mental capacity of Negroes + Grimké brothers, students in Charleston + + Haddonfield, New Jersey, Quakers of, instructed Negroes + Haiti and Santo Domingo, influence of the revolution of + Halgy, Mrs., teacher in the District of Columbia + Hall, + a graduate of Harvard University, teacher in the Boston colored + school, + Hall, Anna Maria, student in Alexandria, + teacher, + Hall, Primus, established a colored school at his home in Boston, + Hamilton, Alexander, advocate of the rights of man, + Hampton, Fannie, teacher in District of Columbia, + Hancock, Richard M., studied at Newberne, + Hanover College, Indiana, accepted colored students, + Harlan, Robert, learned to read in Kentucky, + Harper, Chancellor, views of, on the instruction of Negroes, + Harper, Frances E.W., poet, + Harper, John, took his slaves from North Carolina to Ohio and liberated + them, + Harry, one of the first two colored teachers in Carolina, + Hartford, + separate schools of, + dissatisfaction of the Negroes of, + with poor school facilities, + struggle of some citizens of, + against caste in education, + separate schools of, disestablished, + Haviland, Laura A., teacher in Canada, + Hays, Alexander, teacher in District of Columbia, + Haynes, Lemuel, pastor of a white church, + Heathenism, Negroes reduced to, + Henry, Patrick, views of, on the rights of man, + Henson, Rev. Josiah, leader and educator, + Higher education of Negroes urged by free people of color, + change in the attitude of some Negroes toward, + promoted in the District of Columbia, + in Pennsylvania, + in Ohio, + Hildreth, connected with Neau's school in New York, + Hill, Margaret, teacher in the District of Columbia, + Hillsborough, North Carolina, influence of the insurrection of, + Homeopathic College, Cleveland, admitted colored students, + Horton, George, poet, + Huddlestone, connected with Neau's school, + Humphreys, Richard, gave $10,000 to educate Negroes, + Hunter, John A., attended a mixed school, + + Illinois, schools of, for benefits of whites, + separate schools of, a failure, + unfavorable legislation of, + separate schools of, disestablished, + Indiana, schools in colored settlements of, + attitude of, toward the education of the colored people, + prohibitive legislation of, + Industrial education recommended, + Industrial revolution, effect of, on education, + Inman, Anna, assistant of Myrtilla Miner, + Institute for Colored Youth established at Philadelphia, + Institute of Easton, Pennsylvania, admitted a Negro, + Instruction, change in meaning of the word + Inventions of Negroes; (see note 1) + Insurrections, slave, effect of + Iowa, Negroes of, had good school privileges + + Jackson, Edmund, demanded the admission of colored pupils to Boston + schools + Jackson, Stonewall, teacher in a colored Sunday-school + Jackson, William, musician + Jay, John, a friend of the Negroes + Jay, William, criticized the Church for its failure to elevate the + Negroes; + attacked the policy of the colonizationists + Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, admitted Negroes + Jefferson, Thomas, views of, on the education of Negroes; (see note); + letter of, to Abbé H. Grégoire; letter to M.A. Julien; failed to + act as Kosciuszko's executor; corresponded with Banneker + Jesuits, French, instructed slaves + Jesuits, Spanish, teachers of Negroes + Johnson, Harriet C., assistant at Avery College + Johnson, John Thomas, teacher in the District of Columbia; + teacher in Pittsburgh + Jones, Alfred T., learned to read in Kentucky + Jones, Anna, aided Myrtilla Miner + Jones, Arabella, teacher in the District of Columbia + Jones, Rev. C.C., a white preacher among Negroes of Georgia; + Argument of, + for the religious instruction of Negroes; catechism of, for religious + instruction; estimate of those able to read + Jones, Matilda, supported Myrtilla Miner + Journalistic efforts of Negroes; (see note) + Judson, A.T., denounced Prudence Crandall's policy; upheld the law + prohibiting the establishment of colored schools in Connecticut + + Keith, George, advocated religious training for the Negroes + Kemble, Frances Anne, discovered that the Negroes of some masters + were taught to read; (see note 4) + Kentucky, Negroes of, learned the rudiments of education; work of the + Emancipating Labor Society of; work of the Presbyterians of; + public opinion of; colored schools of + Kinkaid, J.B., taught M.W. Taylor of Kentucky + Knoxville, people of, favorable to the uplift of the colored race + Kosciuszko, T., plan of, to educate Negroes; (see note); + will of; fund of + + Lafayette, Marquis de, visited New York African Free Schools; + said to be interested in a colored school in the West + Lancastrian method of instruction, effect of + Lane Seminary, students of, taught Negroes + Langston, J.M., student at Chillicothe and Oberlin + Latin, taught in a colored school + Law, Rev. Josiah, instructed Negroes in Georgia; (see note 1) + Lawrence, Nathaniel, supporter of New York colored schools + _Lawyer for Liberia_, a document + Lawyers, colored, recognized in the North; (see note 2) + Lay, Benjamin, advocate of the instruction of slaves + Leary, John S., went to private school + Lee, Thomas, a teacher in the District of Columbia + Leile, George, preacher in Georgia and Jamaica + Le Jeune, taught a little Negro in Canada + Le Petit instructed Negroes + Lewis, R.B., author + Lexington, Kentucky, colored school of; (see note 1, p. 223) + Liberia, education of Negroes for; education of Negroes in + Liberia College, founded + Liberty County, Georgia, instruction of Negroes in + Liverpool, Moses, one of the founders of the first colored school in + the District of Columbia + Livingston, W., teacher in Baltimore + Locke, John, influence of + Lockhart, Daniel J., instructed by white boys + London, Bishop of, formal declarations of, abrogating the law that a + Christian could not be held a slave + London, Canada, private school; mission school + Longworth, Nicholas, built a school-house for Negroes + Louisiana, education of Negroes in; hostile legislation of; Bishop Polk + of, on instruction of Negroes + Louisville, Kentucky, colored schools of + L'Ouverture, Toussaint, influence of + Lowell, Massachusetts, colored schools of; disestablished + Lowry, Rev. Samuel, taught by Rev. Talbot of Franklin College + Lowth, Bishop, interested in the uplift of the heathen + Lucas, Eliza, teacher of slaves + Lundy, Benjamin, helped Negroes on free soil + Lunenburg County, Virginia, colored congregation of + + Madison, James, on the education of Negroes; letter of + Maine, separate school of + Malone, Rev. J.W., educated in Indiana + Malvin, John, organized schools in Ohio cities + Mangum, P.H., and W.P., pupils of John Chavis, a colored teacher + Manly, Gov. Charles, of North Carolina, taught by John Chavis + Mann, Lydia, aided Myrtilla Miner, + Manual Labor College, demand for, + Manumission, effect of the laws of, + Martin, Martha, sent to Cincinnati to be educated, + sister sent to a southern town to learn a trade, + Maréchal, Rev. Ambrose, helped to maintain colored schools, + Maryland, Abolition Society of, to establish an academy for Negroes, + favorable conditions, + public opinion against the education of Negroes, + law of, against colored mechanics, + Maryville Theological Seminary, students of, interested in the uplift + of Negroes, + Mason, Joseph T. and Thomas H., teachers in the District of Columbia, + Massachusetts, schools of, + struggles for democratic education, + disestablishment of separate schools, + Mather, Cotton, on the instruction of Negroes, + resolutions of, + Matlock, White, interest of, in Negroes, + Maule, Ebenezer, helped to found a colored school in Virginia, + May, Rev. Samuel, defender of Prudence Crandall, + McCoy, Benjamin, teacher in the District of Columbia, + McDonogh, John, had educated slaves, + McIntosh County, Georgia, religious instruction of Negroes, + McLeod, Dr., criticized the inhumanity of men to Negroes, + Meade, Bishop William, interested in the elevation of Negroes, + work of, in Virginia, + followed Bacon's policy, + collected literature on the instruction of Negroes, + Means, supported Myrtilla Miner, + Mechanics, opposed colored artisans, + Medical School of Harvard University open to colored students, + Medical School of the University of New York admitted colored students, + Memorial to Legislature of North Carolina, the education of slaves + urged, + Methodist preacher in South Carolina, work of, stopped by the people, + Methodists, enlightened Negroes, + change in attitude of, + founded Wilberforce, + Michigan, Negroes admitted to schools of, + Middleton, Charles, teacher in the District of Columbia, + Miles, Mary E.. assistant of Gilmore in Cincinnati, + Milton, influence of, + Miner, Myrtilla, teacher in the District of Columbia, + founded a school, + Minor Society of Charleston established a school for Negroes, + Minority report of Boston School Committee opposed segregation of + colored pupils, + Minutes of Methodist Episcopal Conference, resolution + on the instruction of Negroes + Minutes of the Meetings of Friends, + action taken to elevate the colored people + Missionaries, + English, interested in uplift of Negroes + French + Spanish + Missouri, prohibitive legislation of + Mitchell, John G., student in Indiana + Mitchell, S.T., began his education in Indiana + Mobile, provision for the education of the Negroes + Montgomery, I.T., educated under the direction of his master + Moore, Edward W., teacher, and author of an arithmetic + Moore, Helen, helped Myrtilla Miner + Moorland, Dr. J.E., an uncle of, studied medicine + Moravian Brethren, instructed colored people + Morris, Dr. E. C, instructed by his father + Morris, J., taught by his white father + Morris, J.W., student in Charleston + Morris, Robert, appointed magistrate + Murray, John, interested in the New York African Free Schools + + Nantucket, Massachusetts, colored schools of + Neau, Elias, founded a colored school in New York City + Negroes, + learning to read and write + free education of + learning in spite of opposition + instructing white persons + reduced to heathenism + Neill, Rev. Hugh, missionary teacher of Negroes in Pennsylvania + Nell, Wm., author + New Bedford, Massachusetts, + colored schools of + disestablished + Newbern, North Carolina, effects of insurrection of + New Castle, Presbytery of, + established Ashmun Institute + New England, + schools in Anti-Slavery Society of + planned to establish a manual labor college + sent colored students to Canaan, New Hampshire + Newhall, Isabella, excluded a colored boy from school + New Hampshire, academy of, + broken up + schools of, apparently free to all + New Haven, separate schools of + colored Manual Labor College not wanted + interested in the education of persons for Africa and Haiti + New Jersey, Quakers of, + endeavored to elevate colored people + law of, to teach slaves + Negroes of, in public schools + Presbyterians of, interested in Negroes + separate schools + caste in schools abolished + New Orleans, education of the Negroes of + Newport, Rhode Island, separate schools + New York, Quakers of, + taught Negroes + Presbyterians + of, interested in Negroes, + work of Anti-Slavery Society of, + separate schools of, + schools opened to all, + New York Central College, favorable to Negroes, + New York City, African Free Schools, + transfer to Public School Society, + transfer to Board of Education, + society of free people of color of, organized a school, + Newspapers, colored, gave evidence of intellectual progress, + (see note 1,) + North Carolina, Quakers of, instructed Negroes, + Presbyterians of, interested in the education of Negroes, + Tryon's instructions against certain teachers, + manumission societies of, promoting the education of colored people, + reactionary laws of, + memorial sent to Legislature of, for permission to teach slaves, + Northwest Territory, education of transplanted Negroes, + settlements of, with schools, + Noxon, connected with Neau's school in New York City, + Nutall, an Englishman, taught Negroes in New York, + + Oberlin grew out of Lane Seminary, + Objections to the instruction of Negroes considered and answered, + Ohio, colored schools of (see Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, and + Northwest Territory); struggle for education at public expense, + unfavorable legislation, + law of 1849, + Olmsted, P.L., found a plantation of enlightened slaves, + O'Neal of South Carolina Bar discussed with Chancellor Harper the + question of instructing Negroes, + Oneida Institute contributed to the education of Negroes, + Oregon, law of, hostile to Negroes, + Othello, a free Negro, denounced the policy of neglecting the Negroes, + Otis, James, on the rights of all men, + + Palmer, Dr., catechism of, + Pamphlet, Gowan, a preacher in Virginia, + Parry, Alfred H., successful teacher, + Parsons, C.G., observed that some Negroes were enlightened, + _Pastoral Letters of Bishop Gibson of London_, + Patterson, Edward, learned to read in a Sabbath-school, + Payne, Dr. C.H., taught by his mother to read, + Payne, Bishop Daniel, student in Charleston, + agent to purchase Wilberforce, + Payne, Mrs. Thomas, studied under her master, + Pease, W., instructed by his owner, + Penn, William, believed in emancipation to afford Negroes an + opportunity for improvement, + Pennington, J. C, writer, teacher, and preacher of influence, + Pennsylvania, work of Quakers of, + favorable legislation, + law of, + against colored mechanics, + (see also Quakers, Friends, Presbyterians, and Philadelphia) + Perry, R.L., attended school at Nashville + Peterboro School of New York established + Petersburg, Virginia, colored schools of, colored churches + Pettiford, W.A., attended private school in North + Carolina + Philadelphia, Negroes of, taught by Quakers, early + colored schools, public aid secured for the education of Negroes, + names of teachers public and private, statistics of colored schools, + (see Quakers, Presbyterians, and Pennsylvania) + Phillips, Wendell, argument against the segregation of + colored people in Boston + Physicians, colored, (see note 3, 279) + Pinchback, P.B.S., studied in the Gilmore High School in + Cincinnati + Pinkney, William, views on the mental capacity of Negroes + _Pious Negro, True Account of_, a document + Pittsburgh, colored schools of + _Plan for the Improvement of the Free Black_, a document + Plantation system, the rise of, + effects of, on the enlightenment + of the Negroes + Pleasants, Robert, founder of a colored manual labor school + Polk, Bishop, of Louisiana, advocate of the instruction + of Negroes + Porteus, Bishop, a portion of his essay on the uplift of + Negroes (see also, note 2) + Portland, Maine, colored schools of + Potter, Henry, taught Negroesin the District of Columbia + Preachers, colored, preached to Negroes (see note 4). preached + to white people + Presbyterians, taught Negroes, + struggles of, + Acts of + Synods of, a document + _Presbyterian Witness_, criticized + churchmen neglectful of the + Negroes + _Proposition for encouraging the Christian education of + Indian and Mulatto children at Lambeth, Virginia_ + Protestant Episcopal High School at Cape Palmas, Liberia + Prout, John, a teacher in the District of Columbia + Providence, Rhode Island, separate schools of + Providence Convent of Baltimore, influence of + Purcell, Jack, bearing of the confession of + Puritans, attitude of, toward the uplift of Negroes + + Quakers, educational work among Negroes, + promoting education in the Northwest Territory, + (see also Friends) + + Racial inferiority, the argument of + Randolph, John, slaves of, sent to Ohio + Raymond, Daniel, contributed to the education of Negroes + Reaction, the effect of + Reason, Chas. L., teacher in Institute for Colored Youth + Redmond, Sarah, denied admission to Boston School + Redpath, James, observation in the South + Refugees from Haiti and Santo Domingo, influence of; + bearing of, on insurrection + Refugees Home School established + Religious instruction discussed by Churchmen + Remond, C.L., lecturer and orator + Resolute Beneficial Society established a school + Revels, U.S. Senator Hiram, student in Quaker Seminary + Rhode Island, work of Quakers of; efforts of colored + people of; African Benevolent Society of; school laws of; + separate schools disestablished + Rice, Rev. David, complained that slaves were not enlightened + Rice, Rev. Isaac, mission of, in Canada + Richards, Fannie, teacher in Detroit + Riley, Mrs. Isaac, taught by master + Riots of cities, effect of + Roberts, Rev. D.R., attended school in Indiana + Rochester, Baptist Church of, lost members + Roe, Caroline, teacher in New York African Free Schools + Rush, Dr. Benjamin, desire to elevate the slaves; objections + of masters considered; interview with Dr. James Durham; + Rush Medical School admitted colored student + Russworm, John B., first colored man to graduate from college + Rutland College, Vermont, opened to colored students + + Sabbath-schools, a factor in education; separation of the races + St. Agnes Academy established in the District of Columbia + St. Frances Academy established in Baltimore + Salem, Massachusetts, colored school of + Salem, New Jersey, work of Quakers of + Sampson, B.K., assistant teacher of Avery College + Samson, Rev. Dr., aided Hays, a teacher of Washington + Sanderson, Bishop, interest in the uplift of the heathen + Sandiford, Ralph, attacked slavery + Sandoval, Alfonso, opposed keeping slaves + Sandwich, Canada, separate school of + Sandy Lake Settlement broken up + Saunders of Cabell County, West Virginia, settled his slaves + on free soil + Savannah, + colored schools of + churches of + Scarborough, President W.S., + early education of + Schoepf, Johann, found conditions favorable + Seaman, Jacob, interest of, in New York colored schools + Searing, Anna H., a supporter of Myrtilla Miner + Seaton, W.W., a supporter of Alexander Hays's School + Secker, Bishop, + plan of, for the instruction of Negroes + had Negroes educated for Africa + extract from sermon of + Settle, Josiah T., was educated in Ohio + Sewell, Chief Justice, on the instruction of Negroes + Shadd, Mary Ann, teacher in Canada + Shaffer, Bishop C.T., early education of, in Indiana + Sharp, Granville, on the colonization of Negroes + Sidney, Thomas, gave money to build school-house + Slave in Essex County, Virginia, learned to read + Slavery, ancient, contrasted with the modern + Small, Robert, student in South Carolina + Smedes, Susan Dabney, saw slaves instructed + Smith, Gerrit, + contributed money to the education of the Negro + founder of the Peterboro School + appeal in behalf of colored mechanics + Smith, Melancthon, interest of, in the New York African Free Schools + Smothers, Henry, founded a school in Washington + Snow riot, results of + Snowden, John Baptist, instructed by white children + Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, + efforts of + South Carolina, + schools of unfavorable conditions + prohibitive legislation + governor of, discussed the Vesey insurrection + Spain, King of, desired trade in enlightened slaves only + Spanish missionaries taught Negroes in America + Springfield, colored schools of + Statistics on the intellectual condition of Negroes + Stewart, Rev., a missionary in North Carolina + Stewart, T. McCants, student in Charleston + Stokes, Richard, teacher in the District of Columbia + Storrs, C.B., + advocate of free discussion + influence of + Stowe, H.B., + assisted Myrtilla Miner + interest of, in industrial education + Stratton, Lucy, taught Negroes + Sturgeon, Rev. William, work of, in Philadelphia + Sumler, Jas. W., learned to read with difficulty + Sylvester, Elisha, efforts of, in Boston + + Tabbs, Thomas, teacher in the District of Columbia + Talbot County, Maryland, the education of the Negro in + Talbot, Mr., tutor in the District of Columbia, + Talbot, Reverend, taught Samuel Lowry at Franklin College, + Tappan, Arthur, work of, in behalf of Negroes, + Tanner, Bishop Benjamin Tucker, attended school in Pennsylvania, + Tarborough, North Carolina, effect of the insurrection of, + Tatem, Isaac, instructed Negroes, + Taylor, M.W., taught by his mother, + Taylor, Dr. Wm., educated for service in Liberia, + Taylor, Reverend, interest of, in the enlightenment of Negroes, + Templeton, John N., educational efforts of, + Tennessee, education of the Negroes of, + legislation of, + Terrell, Mary Church, mother of, taught by white gentleman, + Terrell, Robert H., father of, learned to read, + Thetford Academy opened to Negroes, + Thomas, J.C. teacher of W.S. Scarborough, + Thomas, Rev. Samuel, teacher in South Carolina, + Thompson, Margaret, efforts of, in the District of Columbia, + Thornton, views of, on colonization, + Toop, Clara G., an instructor at Avery College, + Toronto, Canada, evening school organized, + Torrey, Jesse, on education and emancipation, + Trenton, New Jersey, Quakers of, interested, + Troumontaine, Julian, teacher in Savannah, + "True Bands," educational work of, in Canada, + (see also note 1,) + Trumbull, John, teacher in Philadelphia, + Tucker, Ebenezer, principal of Union Literary Institute, + Tucker, Judge St. George, discussed slave insurrections, + Turner, Bishop Henry M., early education of, + Turner, Nathaniel, the education of, + effects of the insurrection of, + + Union College admitted a Negro, + Union Literary Institute, Indiana, favorable to the instruction of + Negroes, + + Vanlomen, Father, aided Maria Becraft, + Vashon, George B., principal of Avery College, + Vermont, required practically no segregation, + Vesey, Denmark, effect of the insurrection of, + Vesey, Reverend, interest of, in Neau's school, + Virginia, question of instructing Negroes of, + education of Negroes of, given legal sanction, + colored schools of, + work of abolitionists of, + interest of Quakers of, + efforts of Presbyterians of, + prohibitive legislation of, + Vocational training emphasized by Frederick Douglass, + interest of H.B. Stowe in, + + Wagoner, H.O., taught by his parents, + Walker, David, appeal of, + Wall, Mary, teacher in the District of Columbia, + (see note 1) + Ward, S.R., attainments of, + Warren, John W., studied under white children, + Warville, Brissot de, found desirable conditions, + Washington, George, attitude of, + will of, + Waterford, Ephraim, taught by his employer, + Watkins, Wm., teacher in Baltimore, + Watrum, François Philibert, inquiry of, about instructing Negroes, + Wattles, Augustus, philanthropist and educator, + Wayman, Reverend, advocate of the instruction of Negroes, + Wayman, Rev. Dr., interest of, in free schools, + Weaver, Amanda, assisted Myrtilla Miner, + Wells, Nelson, bequeathed $10,000 to educate Negroes, + Wesley, John, opinion of, on the intellect of Negroes, + Western Reserve converted to democratic education, + Wetmore, Reverend, a worker connected with Neau's school, + Wheatley, Phyllis, education of, + poetry of, + White, j. T., attended school in Indiana, + White, Dr. Thomas J., educated for Liberia, + White, W.J., educated by his white mother, + Whitefield, Rev. George, interest in the uplift of Negroes, + plan of, to establish a school, + Whitefield, Rev. James, promoted education in Baltimore, + Whitefield, James M., poet, + Wickham, executor of Samuel Gist, + Williams, Bishop, urged the duty of converting the Negroes, + Williamson, Henry, taught by his master, + Wilmington, Delaware, educational work of abolitionists of, + Wilson, Bishop of Sodor and Man, published a pamphlet on the uplift of + the Negroes, + contributed money to educate the Negroes of Talbot County, Maryland, + Wilson, Rev. Hiram, inspector of schools in Canada, + founder of a manual labor school, + Windsor, Canada, school privileges of, + Wing, Mr., teacher in Cincinnati, + Winslow, Parson, children of, indulgent to Uncle Cephas, + Wisconsin, equal school facilities of, + Woodson, Ann, taught by her young mistress, + Woodson, Emma J., instructor at Avery College, + Woodson, Louis, teacher in Pittsburgh, + Woolman, John, interest of, + Wormley, James, efforts of, in the District of Columbia, + (see note 1) + Wormley, Mary, teacher in the District of Columbia, + Wortham, Dr. James L., pupil of John Chavis + Wright, Rev. John F., one of the founders of Wilberforce University + + Xenia, Ohio, settlement of, Wilberforce University established near + + Zane, Jonathan, gave $18,000 for the education of Negroes + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Education Of The Negro Prior To +1861, by Carter Godwin Woodson + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11089 *** |