Conference: Teaching Race & Slavery in the American Classroom - Gilder Lehrman Center 2022 Annual Conference
Concluding roundtable: Why Do We Teach US History?
Books recommended: Heather Andrea Williams > Self-Taught: African American Education in Slavery and Freedom (The John Hope Franklin Series in African American History and Culture); David Walker's Appeal
*We have a history of resistance, resilience and reform in the United States, and I think that’s a story that we can draw upon and draw in the various histories of many people, not just the colonialists who are resisting the British. The story I want to tell today of resistance is through law governing the education of enslaved peoples.
*The other thing I think is often overlooked and that my work really tries to do is to help people understand how inequality is just baked into our American education system, and as we educate this generation about that, they are then empowered with the information to seek to change it.
*So, one of the things I try to make sure people think about, including in history is why are we even here, why do we have public schools, what are we doing.
*One of the things that I do in my class, I teach a class of race, education, and law at the University of Virginia. Again, like so many people I’ve heard this weekend, my students are like “why have I never learned this in school?” I’m teaching graduate students, so they’ve already gone through K-12, succeeded, they’ve done well in college, and they’re at one of the top Law Schools in the country. And they acknowledge that they’ve hot heard most of what we are talking about.
*So, first, when we talk about understanding enslaved people and education, it’s important to understand not only that slavery was a system of compulsory ignorance, but also that there was a long history of resistance to that compulsory ignorance.
*I’m over 50 and, you know, the story of slavery, when it was told at all, was a very distorted, inaccurate picture. But when you understand really the reality of what slaves were doing to resist their enslavement, you help students understand that sense of agency, that was not just the Colonials who are resisting the British, it’s also the enslaves who are resisting those who are enslaving them.
*And, so, what you see is that not only were those who were enslaved seeking to escape through the Underground Railroad. Slaves were teaching each others to read, they were creating schools to learn to read, often those were hidden. Some masters actually taught their slaves to read to assist them with work, and the Mistresses, also out of Christian obligation would teach those who were enslaved to read, and the children of slave owners, often, as they were learning to read, they were teaching those who were caring for them to learn to read.
*In addition to those who were enslaved, you also had free Africans who were not only running schools, but also doing Sabbath schools, apprenticeships, other things to teach each other to learn to read. So, what’s critical to understand, is that the law was one of the key mechanisms used to deny enslaved people how to read.
*What you see is that so early in the 1700s, you have Spain encouraging rebellion in the English colonies among the slaves. Why? Not because they care about those who are enslaved. Because it’s a power struggle for the colonies. And, so, what you see is that those in Spain would grant freedom to slaves who escaped and got to Florida.
*In 1738, the Spanish produced an edict that encouraged interaction basically to undermine and destabilize the economy. So, there was the Stono Rebellion, in 1739, and there was a large group of slaves. It originally began as two people, and grew to as many as between 60 to 100, and they engaged in rebellion against their masters, they secured firearms, and definitely killed 20 settlers at least, and they were seeking to establish their freedom. They were then eventually defeated by the militia the next day.
*But what you see in response to that rebellion is - this is in South Carolina – they immediately pass a law about Reading. Why is that? Because illiteracy is a tool of oppression and literacy is a tool of freedom. And they understood that by keeping the population that was enslaved without the ability to read, they could better control what they were doing. So this symbol of racial and cultural superiority was that ability to read.
*SOUTH CAROLINA LAWS PROHIBITING TEACHING ENSLAVED PERSONS TO READ
SC 1740
PROHIBITIONS: “all and every person and persons whatsoever” who shall teach a slave to write
REASON: Teaching them to write “may be attended with great inconveniences”
PUNISHMENTS: Forfeit the sum of 100 pounds current money
SC 1800
PROHIBITIONS: All assemblies and congregations of slaves, free negroes, ….for the purpose of mental instruction is unlawful. Unlawful to meet together and assemble, for the purpose of mental instruction, or religious worship, either before the rising of the sun, or after the going down of the same”
REASON: Prior law insufficient for keeping slaves, Free negroes, etc “in due subordination”
PUNISHMENTS: Not to exceed 20 lashes
*And I give students the actual text of the laws throughout the colonies that prohibited teaching slaves to read. And I can recommend you a wonderful book about this – Heather Andrea Williams > Self-Taught: African American Education in Slavery and Freedom (The John Hope Franklin Series in African American History and Culture). I highly recommend this book, it’s a wonderful read. What do you see in this table is that numerous states have multiple places for their passing laws prohibiting teaching slaves to read. Why do you need more than one? Why is there more than one? Because of the resistance that was happening to these laws.
*But, notice at first, in 1740, right after this rebellion, there is a law enacted to prohibit all and every person who shall teach a slave to write. There’s a financial punishment, and that is the initial Act. But then notice 60 years later, they then brought in the coverage of this law, and they say any mental instruction whatsoever. Notice it’s beyond reading, it is saying, not only can you not teach them to read, any mental instruction. So that included reading, writing, memorizing, arithmetic and more. Notice that then you get corporal punishment, not to exceed 20 lashes. It was clear that they had to increase coverage of what you could not do and they had to make the punishment more severe. Why? Because those who were enslaved were still resisting and seeking to gain that very mental instruction.
*And then here’s one of my favorites – I just want to highlight this trajectory - in 1834, notice they specifically say you cannot have schools
SC 1834
PROHIBITIONS: If any persons shall hereafter teach any slave to read or write will be subject to punishment…..If any free person of color or slave, shall keep any SCHOOL or other place of instruction, for teaching any slave or free person of color to read or write, same punishment as imposed for teaching a slave to read or write
REASON: Enslaved people had begun to form schools
PUNISHMENTS: Whites: fine not to exceed $100 and imprisonment not more than 6 months. Free person of color: whipped not exceeding 50 lashes, and fine not exceeding $ 50. Slave: shall be whipped at the discretion of the court not exceeding 50 lashes, the informer to be entitled to one half of the find, and to be a competent witness
*Why is that? Because not only were they resisting those laws that you can’t teach them to read, but they were creating schools in the face of that resistance, to teach each other how to read. The other things that you see in this story is that the punishments continue to get worse. Why? Because the colonies realize this population is growing and in some places they are outnumbered, and so they’re seeking to not only keep this compulsory ignorance happening, but they are seeking to control this population through ignorance, and if not that, then through lashes and imprisonment. So, what’s important about this is the agency that you see in the enslaved people and how they are seeking to resist those who are enslaving them.
*Another thing that you can share with them is something called David Walker’s Appeal. He actually wrote a document in 1829 that called for not only resistance to their slave owners, but violent resistance. That if you were sought to be killed, what is it for you to seek to kill as well? And so, he not only calls for that, but he says, “America is more our country than it is the whites's. We have enriched it with our blood and tears.” He then asked, “will they drive us from our property and homes, which we have earned with our blood?” What he’s partly resisting is "we shall all just go back to Africa. No, this is our land, this is land that we have worked and our blood, sweat and tears are in this land, and it is important that we stake our claim to this land."
*And what do you see in response? You see multiple laws saying, not only do we not want this pamphlet distributed, so this distributor found its way all the way through the South and, for example, in Georgia, when they seized about 60 copies of the document. Ten days later the legislature passes a law saying, not only can you not distribute documents that incite people to resist, but also prohibiting allowing slaves to read so that they can never read such a document that says, essentially, overthrow those who are enslaving you.
*And so, I just think it’s important that we understand, and the laws really tell the story of this repeated resistance but also resilience. The resilience that it takes to teach someone to read at the threat of lashes is a resistance that we really frankly need today. That same resilience in the face of the laws that are seeking to suppress information and suppress the teaching of a more inclusive understanding of our nation’s history, is a resilience that we need to draw upon from those who were enslaved, and then, finally, I’ll just end with this point.
*There is a thorough line from what is happening with the compulsory ignorance during our nation’s earliest history, and the deprivation that we see in our public schools today, particularly in the resources that are provided to black and brown children. So I’ll give you a statistic that always sticks with people. EdBuild, an organization that does education research, found that there is a 23 billion dollar gap between schools that were 75 percent school districts, there were 75 percent white or more, and 75 percent non-white. This is a recent study. And so what you see in America today is that too often we are relegating black and brown children to schools that are seeking to build on this legacy of compulsory ignorance. And it is that framing of education that I think we need to help all of our children understand, so that we may dismantle it together and build a more perfect union.
Main ideas selected by Sorina Georgescu
You may see the entire panel here
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