Nat Turner

WITH EACH NEW SHIPMENT OF SLAVES, THERE WOULD HAVE TO BE CAUTION. WHY? BECAUSE THE NEW SLAVES WOULD BE LESS LIKELY TO ACCEPT SERVITUDE. THEREFORE, A CONSTANT DUMBING DOWN WOULD HAVE TO BE IN PLACE. OR ELSE, YOU COULD END UP WITH WHAT THEY HAD IN HAITI, WHERE THEY REALIZED IT WAS THE NEW SLAVES THAT WERE THE MOST THREAT FOR REVOLT AFTER SEVERAL REVOLTS ENSUED WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF NEWLY CAPTURED SLAVES.

The most oppressive limits on slave education were a reaction to Nat Turner's Revolt in Southampton County, Virginia during the summer of 1831. This event not only caused shock waves across the slave holding South, but it had a particularly far-reaching impact on education over the next three decades. The fears of slave insurrections and the spread of abolitionist materials and ideology led to radical restrictions on gatherings, travel, and—of course—literacy. The ignorance of the slaves was considered necessary to the security of the slaveholders (Albanese 1976). Not only did owners fear the spread of specifically abolitionist materials, they did not want slaves to question their lot; thus, reading and reflection were to be prevented at any cost.

Each state did not respond differently to the insurrection, a few examples are especially illustrative. While Mississippi already had laws designed to prevent slave literacy, in 1831 the state legislature passed a law that required all free African-Americans to leave the state so that they would not be able to educate or incite the slave population. The same legislation required that any black preacher would have to be given permission to speak before appearing a congregation. Delaware passed an 1831 law that prevented the meeting of a dozen or more blacks late at night; additionally, black preachers were to petition a judge or justice of the peace before speaking before any assembly.

While states like South Carolina and Georgia had not developed legislation that prohibited education for slaves, other, more moderate states responded directly to the 1831 revolt. In 1832, Alabama enacted a law that fined anyone who undertook a slave's education between $250 and $500; the law also prohibited any assembly of African-Americans—slave or free—unless five slave owners were present or an "African-American preacher" had previously been licensed by an approved denomination.

Even North Carolina, which had previously allowed free African-American children to attend schools alongside whites, eventually responded to fears of insurrection. By 1835, the public education of all African-Americans was strictly prohibited.