Devry University History: Slavery and Education Compatibility Analysis

This essay examines the complex and incompatible relationship between slavery and education, focusing on the historical experiences of African Americans. The author explores the challenges faced by enslaved people in their pursuit of education, drawing on the autobiography of Frederick Douglass and other scholarly sources. The essay discusses how slavery created barriers to literacy and educational opportunities, highlighting the constant struggle for knowledge and the impact of racial inequality. It analyzes the legacy of colonial slavery on educational outcomes, income inequality, and the ongoing fight for educational equality. The research methodology involves secondary sources, including research papers, journals, and books. The findings emphasize the negative correlation between slavery and education, underscoring the devastating effects of slavery on access to education and upward mobility. The essay concludes by reiterating the historical impact of slavery on education and its lasting consequences, emphasizing the importance of understanding this historical context.

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Essie Crawford
To Determine the Compatibility Between Slavery and Education
Introduction
The paper will help in understanding the various characteristics and features of the
slavery from which the people suffered in the past and its impact on the education that they got
or did not get. The reasons that made people suffer from slavery and lack of education will also
be discussed after reviewing the history and the literature related to this problem. Also, the level
of education that they desired and the level which they actually got (or did not get) will be
discussed in the paper. It will give an insight to the public and the other researchers about the
slavery that the people faced in the past and the way in which it was related to their education.
The research will try to find why women are generally (statistically) better at school in the
African American community than their male counterparts.
Literature Review
Frederick Douglass has written an autobiography called “The Narrative of the Life of
Frederick Douglass” (Douglass, F., 2000). In that book, he has mentioned clearly that the slavery
and education are incompatible with each other. The reason that he has given for this is that in
his entire life he has constantly been oscillating between an intense desires to become literate and
educated and giving up hope altogether. He felt that slavery was a pit in which he was fallen, and
he could not find a ladder to come out of it. Acquiring education was a constant battle for him
which was very unlike to other people for whom getting educated was no big deal because they
were not the sufferers of slavery. Not only this, the condition of African Americans was also
very

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bad in terms of slavery and education. They continuously fought for education because of
slavery in which they were living. This shows that the issue of slavery and education had a great
impact on our history and it may still be persisting in many societies. Therefore, it needs to be
examined.
According to the researchers (Bertocchi, G., 2015), if the government implements some of
the policy measures, then also the educational inequality cannot be eradicated. This is because
the roots of this problem lie in the colonial institution of the slave labor that had been widespread
in the US and Latin America until the nineteenth century. The author has found a negative
relation between slavery and the educational outcomes. In some countries, the historical slavery
has affected the level of education of people, and hence the income inequality persisted there.
Though policies had been implemented, but they aimed to remove the racial, educational
inequalities in the school but, no immediate solution was found. In this article, the writer
(Mahmood, H., 2013) has described the concept of slavery as the ownership of one man by the
other, the tearing of the families apart from each other, dehumanizing of the people, and crushing
of the will of many people. Education/knowledge does bring pain and misery to all of us! Yet,
ignorance and its "bliss" are not acceptable.
Further, the author has described the slavery as a profession in which the Blacks were
employed. The author has quoted that, ‘they were driven and ordered by their masters who had
no interest in knowing about their skills that can make them more valuable and useful for other
things. Slowly the level of education began to rise among the Blacks, and they started getting the
formal education from the Church of England. The slaves were invited to the churches for
learning about how to read and write. This improved their condition a bit. But, getting educated

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was a continuous struggle for them. This shows that the slaves had more difficulty in getting the
benefits of education than the other people and they found it incompatible to get the education
due to their condition of slavery.
One of the authors has mentioned in the article that slavery has devastating effects all
over the world. The author of this article has quoted that, ‘one of the ways in which slavery has
affected the lives of people is in the form of their inability to receive any form of education’. By
quoting this, the author wanted to show the incompatibility between the two. Further, the author
(McMillan, S.T) has described the compatibility between slavery and education from the
personal experiences. The condition of the education of the Africans during the period of their
slavery has been discussed here. When the Blacks suffered from slavery, their education was
based on three principles: the education of the ideals of the Bible and Christianity, the support of
education by the Quakers and the way to get free with the help of education. The author has
described the slavery as a profession in which the Blacks were employed. The author has quoted
that, “for climbing out of that abyss, they required to be educated so that they could get into good
jobs, settle in good houses, but, their education level remained segregated and inferior”
(Greenberg, J., 2010) . This has been quoted because he wants to tell the readers about the
benefits of education that the people can get and the way in which education can help them in
coming out of their miserable conditions. But, the inferior and segregated education did not let
them come out of their miseries.

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Research Methodology
The entire research will be based on the secondary sources that will include research
papers, journals, websites, publications, and books containing the information about the various
groups of people who suffered from the worst form of slavery like the African Americans.
Moreover, the level of education which they wished to have and what they actually got. Further,
the research will be based on the exploratory research because it will help in defining the
problem more accurately.
Findings
The finding is based on the empirical evidence. This shows that slavery and education are
not compatible with each other. The inequality pertaining to racial education can be traced to the
legacy of the colonial slavery. The income inequality and the education are affected due to the
colonial slavery. It has been understood that people move from slaves and Jim Crow desperately
seeking education, to modern-day "too cool for school" embedded in the Legacy of Slavery and
Black Identity. Therefore, the research can be treated as the evident that the compatibility
between slavery and education is very poor.
Conclusion
It can be understood from the research paper that like many others, the condition of African
Americans was very bad in terms of slavery and education. They continuously fought for
education because of slavery in which they were living. This shows that the issue of slavery and
education had a great impact on our history and it may still be persisting in many societies.

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Slavery was a pit in which people fell, and they could not find a ladder to come out of it.
Acquiring education was a constant battle for the slaves which were very unlike to other people
for whom getting educated was no big deal because they were not the sufferers of slavery. It can
be clearly said that people in the past have suffered from the serious problem of slavery, and the
compatibility between Slavery and Education has been poor.

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REFERENCES
Bertocchi, G., 2015. Slavery, racial inequality, and education. IZA World of Labor. Vol
301. Pp. 221-228
Douglass, F., 2000. Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave.
Random House Digital, Inc.
Greenberg, J., 2010. Report on Roma education today: From slavery to segregation and
beyond. Columbia Law Review,Vol. 2. pp.919-1001.
Mahmood, H., 2013. Slavery’s Effects on Education: Parallelism in the United States and
Benin.
McMillan, S.T., n.d. Slavery, Education and Upward Mobility.