History 101: Week 3 Annotated Bibliography on Slavery and Education

This annotated bibliography explores the historical relationship between slavery and education, focusing on the incompatibility of the two. The assignment includes a thesis statement arguing that slavery and education were fundamentally at odds, significantly impacting African Americans. The annotations analyze two key sources: a paper by Bertocchi discussing the link between slavery, racial inequality, and education attainment, and an autobiography by Frederick Douglass, highlighting his personal struggle to acquire education under the constraints of slavery. The Bertocchi paper emphasizes the lasting effects of historical slavery on educational and income inequality, while Douglass's narrative illustrates the emotional and psychological toll of the denial of education. The bibliography underscores the persistent impact of slavery on education and the ongoing struggle for equality.

Week 3 Annotations 1
Week 3: Annotated Bibliography
Student Name
Course
Professor McCarthy
Date
Thesis- 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. 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. People in the past have suffered from
the serious problem of slavery, and the compatibility between Slavery and Education
has been poor.

Week 3 Annotations 2
Annotation 1:
Author’s name and publication detail-
Bertocchi, G., 2015. Slavery, racial inequality, and education. IZA World of Labor. Vol 301.
Pp. 221-228
Annotation detail-
In this paper, the author has talked about the relation between income inequality, education
attainment, and slavery. According to him, the attainment of education is a key factor of
continuing inequality because, with this, the human capital gets accumulated and thus, the
unequal distribution of income happens. 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 (p. 12). This 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. The
main message that the author wants to spread based on his research is that 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. From
this paper, it is certain that the compatibility between education and slavery is poor.

Week 3 Annotations 3
Annotation 2:
Author’s name and publication detail-
Douglass, F., 2000. Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave. Random
House Digital, Inc.
Annotation detail-
This is an autobiography where Douglas has lapsed his assertions that for the slaves, the
condition of slavery and education are not compatible. He has related the topic with his own
life. He has mentioned clearly that the slavery and education are incompatible with each other
(p. 3). All his life, Douglas has wanted to gain education but he did not have hope to get that.
So, he started feeling that he was cursed because he kept a desire that cannot be fulfilled. His
wish was also a curse. His slavery did not allow him to attain education and each time he
thought of becoming literate, his wretched condition came into picture and reminded him of
the dreams that cannot be fulfilled. In the book, he has described his feelings as; ‘been fallen
into a pit and couldn’t find the ladder to come out of it’ (p. 50). He continuously fought the
battle for education and he had to fight those who were not slaves and getting education for
them was easy. Even when he got educated somehow, he continued to fell miserable because
his literacy made him understand that the condition of hopeless and felt the pain of other
slaves too. This again shows that slavery and education are incompatible, even if they are
made compatible somehow, the result is not satisfactory. Education/knowledge does bring
pain and misery to all of us! Yet, ignorance and its "bliss" are not acceptable