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African-American Education After Civil War

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After the Civil War, the African-American community had a great thirst for knowledge. As they were now freed men, African-Americans were finally able to learn to read and write. However, they still faced opposition to receiving education. In the South, especially, the education of African-Americans was opposed with unfair segregation laws and sometimes violence. Even help from the North was sometimes not enough, as northern teachers were harassed and at times attacked for trying to teach African-Americans. Despite all this opposition and many more obstacles, the African-American community was determined to receive an education. Prior to the Civil War and the freeing of African-American slaves, teaching African-Americans to read and write …show more content…

All freed-men had different reasons for wanting to learn how to read and write, including reading the Bible, being able to have a better job, and no longer having to take a white plantation owner's word for what anything meant. Some freed-men used their money to pay for a school for their children and, as almost all slaves had not been educated, themselves. These schools were segregated, as most white parents did not want their children to attend school with black children. In some cases, even African-American parents wanted the segregation, because they believed it would lead to less violence and stop any potential racism. And while it did probably save the African-American children from much harassment, it also created more opportunities for the white government to oppress the …show more content…

In some states, 5 times more was spent on the average white student as the average black student. This became a problem, as, due to money shortages, African-American schools had lower quality learning materials. In some cases the schools were meant to only teach the students enough to be able to work as maids or farmers for plantation owners. "Many whites did not want blacks to become educated, fearing they would challenge white supremacy and not be content with jobs working in the fields or in domestic service. Black schools therefore received far less financial support than did white schools. Black schools had fewer books, worse buildings, and less well paid teachers"(Virginia Museum of History and Culture). A large amount of a school's budget goes to the teachers as well. However, as the school's budget was so low, African-American teachers were paid less than their white counter-parts. "The monthly salaries of black teachers in the South in 1930 was about 60% of the white average... the meager wages of black teachers in the 1930s did not lure the most promising college graduates into rural Jim Crow schools." (Irons 33) This led to their education suffering even more, as they would often have inexperienced, sometimes poorly educated teachers. Even help from the North didn't always

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