African Americans, Education of

History of African American Education

After emancipation, African Americans fought to exercise their right to an education and went to [Page 55]great lengths to attain the kind of schooling they had been denied during enslavement. Although free Blacks had attended schools in small numbers before the Civil War, the vast majority of African Americans were enslaved and denied access to any kind of schooling. Even under the unfathomable conditions of enslavement, Black Americans viewed education as a path toward liberation and often risked their lives to learn. Literacy among slaves was strictly prohibited, and in some instances punishable by death. Still, many courageous Black men, women, and children found clandestine ways to learn how to read.

The zeal African Americans had for education during enslavement increased rapidly after slavery ended. Newly freed Blacks were eager to assert their humanity within society and recognized education as intimately tied to citizenship and person-hood. Although the formal system of schooling was largely restricted to wealthy Whites, Blacks founded and built private elementary and secondary schools to provide educational opportunities to formerly enslaved African Americans. While resources were extremely limited, the ferocity with which Blacks pursued education sparked a national debate that shaped the educational trajectory of Blacks within the United States and gave rise to the national system of universal schooling for all students.