How Your Position On Society Affects Your Education

Education is very important to the blacks that were enslaved in the novel. The slaves valued education even more than the modern African Americans like Dana who had always thought they had very high standards on education. The slaves valued education so much because to them it was not only a tool to better themselves, but also a very powerful tool that could potentially lead them to freedom. With the ability

America used to thrive on its education system and that is why it became one of the greatest nations in the world. Education is the backbone of our country, and we must give high priority to improve its current condition. Unfortunately, in the past couple of decades, the education system has been regressing. It has been on the decline and not as effective. The quality of education in a country has an influence on GDP growth, social cohesion and social well being in general. In order to improve the quality of education in the U.S., the following must be taken into consideration: the structure of our education system must be reanalyzed, we must compare and contrast our education system to systems of other countries with higher rankings, and finally, there must be a solution.

However, Douglass tells us that through pseudoscience and the prevention of slaves from learning how to read and write gave the white slave-owners tangible evidence for their findings. Douglass continues saying that the inability of slaves to read and write made them dependent on their owners. Slave-owners understood that if slaves became educated, that would be the first step to dissent (Douglass 20). By controlling the slave’s education, they were able to control what the rest of America knew about slavery. Until slaves like Frederick Douglass came around, the common northerner had little to no idea what slaves actually went through.

Slave owners often would punish any slaves that tried to educate themselves. They didn't want their slaves to be educated in fear that they

knowledge would lead slaves to question the right of whites to keep slaves. Lastly, by keeping

"Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today" (Richardson 382). One of the most amazing things people have dreamt to obtain is the “American Dream”. It is so profound in all the things it can symbolize. It is freedom, justice, but most of all, it is a hope for a better way of life. The immigrants who made the long and dangerous voyage to America wanted their children to have experiences that they never got to experience, one of those things being to have an education. Education has been so important and cherished for many years now. Without it, usually meant a mediocre job was imminent. Without it, people will not be using their full potential. Without it, the American Dream is not

During slavery, most black slaves were denied proper education and many laws were passed in the South prohibiting slave literacy. Even free blacks in the century before and after the Civil War were limited in their access to quality education and career training.

This allowed blacks to be able to read and write which allowed them to understand the world. White slaveowners had originally not taught slaves fearing that they would gain too much knowledge and possibly question and challenge their authority. The education they were allowed to have proved that blacks had rights compared to the rights that existed during slavery. During Reconstruction, blacks were truly free proven by the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery, their right to run for office, and the Freedmen’s Bureau which gave them rights to

Even though the whites didn't want slaves to learn and be smart because they feel like they'll try to escape, so they punished whoever tried to learn to much. Even though Frederick Douglass knew they would punish whoever tried to learn, he didn't care because he felt if he was smart enough to learn he can do anything and have the power.

When Hugh Auld is scolding his wife for trying to teach Douglass how to read, he states that it breaks a good slave, and that a slave “should know nothing but to obey his master.” Slave holders see that literacy could encourage slaves and give them a sense of pride and self-capability. This could cause slaves to question the authority of their slave holders, realizing that slavery is unjust and that slaves should have equal rights. Primarily, slave holders realize that without literacy, slaves can’t tell the rest of America about the truth and horrors of slavery. Using ignorance as a tool of slavery, slave holders can convince slaves that slavery is just a part of society, control rebellion rates, and convince the rest of America that slavery is fair, and even benefiting, towards slaves.

In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the dehumanization of slaves often occurs, as white plantation owners view slaves as objects undeserving of humane treatment in order to uphold power and warrant their unjust practices. Limiting knowledge and prohibiting education for African Americans was one strategy common among slave owners, as “it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant” (17). Due to their lack of intellect, slaves could not recognize the injustices of the slavery system and had little chances of escaping. When Mrs. Auld attempts to teach Frederick Douglass how to read and write, Mr. Auld claims, “A n***** should know nothing but to obey

Amongst the injustice and brutality of slavery is the exclusion of education and knowledge. The slaveholder would tactically deprive the slaves of any knowledge because it would expose them of slavery’s injustice. This act dehumanized the slaves to a great extent, and at the same time forbade them to pursue any form of freedom, physically or spiritually. Hugh Auld, Douglass’s master reasoned that “it was unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read” and believed “If you have a nigger an inch, he will take an ell.” (Douglass 40, 41) Auld advocated his reasoning by calling a slave “unmanageable,” “unhappy,” and “discontented” if enlightened. Douglass however understood differently. The withdrawal of literacy and knowledge, he believed, was one of the greater factors keeping blacks inferior to whites in society. The Narrative also documents the many physiological effects of slaveholding. Douglass carefully explains the masters whipping their slaves when they least deserve it, and overlooking their deeds when they most deserve it. The killing of a slave is also considered the least of an offense or crime, and is simply gone

Slaves had little to no education during that time and being offered an education or a chance to be taught how to read, or even write was a big deal to them. I think it was a smart idea for the ex-slaves to create a system for education. But then their children were pushed into a system of industrial education that presupposed black political and economic subordination. This conception of education and social order was supported by northern industrial which conflicted with the aspirations of ex-slaves and their descendants, resulting at the turn of the century in a bitter national debate over the purposes of black education. Because African Americans lacked economic and political power, white elites were able to control the structure and content

In the passage Learning to Read by Fredrick Douglas, The situation consists of a man who educated himself while a slave. He learned to read and write, escaped, then became a speaker on slavery, and later wrote a book that told his story. In this time period (1830’s, 1840’s) this is a significant deal because slaves weren’t allowed to know how to read or write, they were not allowed to be educated. Knowledge is power, so the slave masters kept their slaves from being able to access the tools they need to become educated and enlighten themselves on their current situation.

A slave’s curiosity is ignored; his mental thirst is only quenched by insults and demands of strenuous physical tasks. Slave masters want the slave as mentally and intellectually ignorant so that their manipulation is that much easier. At its core, one of slavery’s chief objectives is to keep the slave mentally immature. (Channing pg. 34) One of the easiest ways to keep a slave ignorant and mentally immature is to deny them an education. Slavery and knowledge cannot coexist in any way. Knowledge is purely to the detriment of the institution of slavery. Slave masters knew that to truly keep the slaves under their control, they must not learn anything that didn’t come from the slave hands. The ignorance of the slaves is to the security of the slave masters; to enlighten the slave is to break his chains. (Channing pg. 67) The mental blocks set upon slaves by slave masters and the atmosphere brought on by the institution of slavery was the biggest chain the slaves were ever locked in.