The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861 - A History of the Education of the Colored People of the - United States from the Beginning of Slavery to the Civil War by Carter Godwin Woodson
page 43 of 461 (09%)
page 43 of 461 (09%)
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166, 180, 198, and 204. _Special Report of the U.S. Com. of Ed_.,
1871, p. 391.] The settlers of North Carolina followed the same procedure to check the influence of Quakers, who spoke there in behalf of the man of color as fearlessly as they had in Virginia. The apprehension of the dominating element was such that Governor Tryon had to be instructed to prohibit from teaching in that colony any person who had not a license from the Bishop of London.[1] Although this order was seemingly intended to protect the faith and doctrine of the Anglican Church, rather than to prevent the education of Negroes, it operated to lessen their chances for enlightenment, since missionaries from the Established Church did not reach all parts of the colony.[2] The Quakers of North Carolina, however, had local schools and actually taught slaves. Some of these could read and write as early as 1731. Thereafter, household servants were generally given the rudiments of an English education. [Footnote 1: Ashe, _History of North Carolina_, vol. i., p. 389. The same instructions were given to Governor Francis Nicholson.] [Footnote 2: _Ibid_., pp. 389, 390.] It was in the settlements of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York that the Quakers encountered less opposition in carrying out their policy of cultivating the minds of colored people. Among these Friends the education of Negroes became the handmaiden of the emancipation movement. While John Hepburn, William Burling, Elihu Coleman, and Ralph Sandiford largely confined their attacks to the injustice of keeping slaves, Benjamin Lay was working for their improvement as a |
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