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Subject:	Teaching Slaves To Read
From:	[log in to unmask]
Reply To:	Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history <[log in to unmask]>
Date:	Thu, 26 Jul 2001 23:43:12 -0400
Content-Type:	text/plain
Parts/Attachments:	text/plain (19 lines)

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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