Thank you for the response to my question regarding the impact of the Nat
Turner Rebellion of the laws relating to Negro people. I consider it
informative and have printed it to tuck into my history books for future
reference should I need it.
Loretta
----- Original Message -----
From: "Deborah A. Lee" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2001 1:52 PM
Subject: Re: Teaching Slaves To Read
> The laws regarding education in Virginia did change markedly over time.
> Beginning in 1631, statutes encouraged educating the poor without regard
to
> color. The most sweeping was an act, passed in 1796, "to establish public
> schools" for the good of the republic. It "enacted that certain aldermen
> shall consider the expediency of establishing schools and at every one of
> these schools there shall be taught reading, writing and common
arithmetic,
> and all the free children, male and female, shall be entitled to receive
> tuition gratis for the term of three years." (See Guild, reprint ed., p.
> 174)
>
> In 1805, legislators began constricting educational opportunities for
black
> children, first by declaring "that it shall not be lawful for the
overseers
> of the poor who may hereafter bind out any black or mulatto orphan to
> require the master to teach such an orphan reading, writing or
arithmetic."
> In 1811 each county was directed to establish "a school or schools for the
> education of the poor," but in 1818 local control was granted to determine
> how many and which children they shall educate. In 1829 a statute
> established that public schools were for "free white" children. (pp.
> 174/175)
>
> Thus the 1831 statute in the message below was the first to explicitly ban
> educating free blacks, but it was passed in April, and Nat Turner's
> insurrection did not occur until August 22, 1831. From this perspective,
it
> seems that attitudes and laws affecting African Americans were changing
for
> the worse even before Nat Turner. But keep in mind that these statutes
only
> concern education--many others restricted the rights and freedom of slaves
> and free people of color, some prior to 1800. Significant examples include
> the establishment of a free Negro registry and certification program in
> 1793 and, the same year, an act forbidding "free Negroes or mulattoes from
> migrating into the Commonwealth." (p. 95) In this light, the difference
> was less a change than an intensification of persecution.
>
> The legislative reaction to Turner's insurrection worsened conditions for
> people of color. In March of 1832 the Virginia legislature passed a rather
> convoluted "act reducing into one the several acts concerning slaves,
free
> Negroes, and mulattoes." It does not mention education in reading and
> writing but prohibited religious meetings conducted by slave or free black
> preachers. It allowed masters to have "slaves, employed or bound, and free
> Negroes to go with them to religious worship conducted by a white
minister"
> and permitted religious instruction only "in the day time by a licensed
> white minister to slaves and free Negroes." It prohibited free Negroes
from
> purchasing slaves except for husbands, wives, and children; and from
> carrying firearms except with the permission of a justice. Furthermore, it
> forbade slaves and free Negroes from selling or giving away liquor near
> public assemblies; and from writing, publishing, or publicly speaking
> anything deemed sedititious. (p. 106-7)
>
> Deborah Lee
> Doctoral Candidate, Cultural Studies
> George Mason University
> Fairfax, Virginia 22030-4444
>
>
> >Would there be a distinct difference in those laws affecting the
> >education of Negroes before 1831 and those laws beginning in 1831 and
> >later? I am thinking of the Nathaniel Turner massacre in Southampton VA
> >was in 1831, which event contributed to changed attitudes and laws
> >affecting the black people.
> >
> >Loretta
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Deborah A. Lee
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2001 8:47 AM
> > Subject: Re: Teaching Slaves To Read
> >
> >
> > Here are some statutes regarding teaching slaves to read from June
> >Purcell Guild, _Black Laws of Virginia_, originally published in 1936 and
> >reprinted in 1995 and 1996 by the Afro-American Historical Society of
> >Fauquier County, Virginia <[log in to unmask]>:
> >
> > "1831. Chapter XXXIX. All meetings of free Negroes or mulattoes at any
> >school house, church, meeting house or other place for teaching them
> >reading or writing, either in the day or the night shall be considered an
> >unlawful assembly. Warrants shall direct any sworn officer to enter and
> >disperse such Negroes and inflict corporal punishment on the offenders at
> >the discretion of the justice, not exceeding twenty lashes. Any white
> >person assembling to instruct free Negroes to read or write shall be
fined
> >not over $50.00, also be imprisoned not exceeding two months.
> > "It is further enacted that if any white person for pay shall assemble
> >with any slaves for the purpose of teaching them to read or write, he
> >shall for each offense be fined, at the discretion of the justice,
> >$10.00-$100.00." (p. 176)
> >
> > "1848. [Chapter X.] Section 39. Every assemblage of slaves or free
> >Negroes for religious worship, conducted by a slave or free Negro, and
> >every such assemblage for the purpose of instruction in reading or
writing
> >by whomsoever conducted, and every such assemblage in the night time
under
> >whatsoever pretext shall be unlawful, and the punishment of any slave or
> >free Negro not exceeding thirty-nine lashes." (p. 167)
> >
> > The Criminal Code, Chapter 120, of 1848 reiterated the above and
further
> >established that "Any white person assembling with slaves or free Negroes
> >for purpose of instructing them to read or write, or associating with
them
> >in any unlawful assembly, shall be confined in jail not exceeding six
> >months and fined not exceeding $100.00. Any such white person may be
> >required to enter a recognizance with sufficient security to appear for
> >trial, and in the meantime to keep the peace and be of good behavior."
(p.
> >179)
> >
> > Deborah A. Lee
> > Doctoral Candidate, Cultural Studies
> > George Mason University
> > Fairfax, Virginia 22030-4444
> >
> > >A colleague asked me recently when it was that Virginia, either the
colony
> > >or
> > >the Commonwealth, made it "a formal policy to prevent teaching slaves
to
> > >read." I had thought such a statute was passed in the early 1830s, but
I
> > >find no evidence to support my impression. I looked in studies of
Virginia
> > >law and slavery, but did not find an answer to my question. Of course,
the
> > >statute prescribed punishment for those who taught the slaves;
therefore,
> > >it might not have been a part of the slave code at all.
> > >
> > >I hope someone can help. Thanks.
> > >
> > >James R. Sweeney
> > >Department of History
> > >Old Dominion University
> > >Norfolk, VA 23529
> > >
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