The Impact Of Abolition Through Education In Colonial America

Fredrick Douglass asserted that, “Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave,” (“Abolition Through Education,” 2016). The truth in this statement posed a huge threat to the way of life of colonial Americans. Deprivation of education was used to assist in the enslavement of African Americans in developing America; in fact, prohibiting the education of African Americans quickly became the standard, as laws were increasingly put in place to oppress and limit colonial African Americans. During this time there was a widespread belief that if you were African American, then you were not fully a person which led to many basic rights being withheld, including the ability to get an education.
In precolonial times, the Spanish conquistadors introduced

For example, African Americans were not allowed to own firearms or signaling devices, to meet in groups larger than three unsupervised, to receive military training, vote, inherit land, break curfew, marry someone who was white, testify against someone who was white, etc. (“The Black Past,” 2016). Many slave owners also worried that reading and writing would aid slaves in escaping, and this fear was merited because slaves who could read or write were held in high esteem in the African American community, for they could use literacy as a tool to escape or help others

In 1636, a Dutch minister Everadus Bogardus brought a teacher to the island of Manhattan in order to teach Dutch and African children how to read and write so that they may be effective members of Christianity. He was the first white settler to take an active intrest in educating African American students both free and enslaved (“The Black Past,” 2016). Others soon followed his lead, and in 1695, Anglican reverend Samuel Thomas opened the first colonial school for African Americans. However, many slave owners refused to send their slaves to school because it was a widespread belief that Christians should not own other Christians, until of course slaves started converting to Christianity, so laws were passed to nullify the previous held belief (“The Black Past,” 2016). In addition, educating African Americans was unpopular because, “…they [slave owners] worried that the slaves would see themselves as their masters’ equal, at least in the eyes of god,” (Reiss, 1997, p. 222). South Carolina even went as far as outlawing the education of slaves in 1740, but schools in other states continued to open in order provide African American children with an education (“The Black Past,”