A rebellious education: Enslaved African Americans and the fight for literacy

Terry, Charles

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/115385 Copy

Description

Title

A rebellious education: Enslaved African Americans and the fight for literacy

Author(s)

Terry, Charles

Issue Date

2022-04-08

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Anderson, James D.

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Anderson, James D.

Committee Member(s)

• Span, Christopher
• Pak, Yoon
• Trent, William T

Department of Study

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Discipline

Educational Policy Studies

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

literacy, enslaved African Americans, enslaved communities, hegemony, racial hierarchy, agency, enslaved rebellions

Abstract

Enslaved African Americans faced myriad barriers, both legal and extrajudicial, in their quest to attain literacy. These restrictions stretched from the late seventeenth century through the founding of the United States, and on past the Antebellum Period up until the eve of the Civil War in 1861. In many cases, these restrictions took the form of anti-literacy laws, which were either passed on their own or as parts of larger slave codes. Moreover, in several notable cases these anti-literacy laws were passed in the direct aftermath of major revolts, specifically the Stono Rebellion of 1739 and Nat Turner’s Rebellion in 1831. Those laws include the 1740 Negro Act, an 1832 anti-literacy measure passed in Virginia, the 1833 Alabama Slave Code, and an 1833 measure in Georgia. Consequently, this dissertation, which is entitled A Rebellious Education: Enslaved African Americans and Literacy, traces the evolution of these anti-literacy laws, historically contextualizes their passage in the wake of major revolts by enslaved African Americans, and examines the strategies many enslaved African Americans used to persevere and gain the ability to read and write. This dissertation utilizes a qualitative approach to examine the manner in which slavery became legally codified and the strategies enslaved African Americans used in the aftermath of this codification to attain literacy. This is historical research which relies heavily on primary source documents, detailed below, to examine the methods enslaved African Americans used to gain literacy. This includes a focus on early religious instruction, and other modes of learning which enslaved African Americans managed to use. Moreover, this dissertation seeks to incorporate the voices of literate enslaved African Americans through a variety of sources, including longer, published slave narratives and excerpts from former enslaved African Americans in the Works Project Administration (WPA) slave narratives. These voices are interspersed throughout the dissertation and are notably present in the last chapter. Thus, the overall goal of this dissertation is to provide the historical background, contextualize the voices of enslaved African Americans, chronicle anti-literacy laws, and examine the strategies African Americans used to overcome the barriers in place and gain literacy.

Graduation Semester

2022-05

Type of Resource

Thesis

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2022 Charles Terry

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