Freedmen's Legacy

Freedmen's Legacy. Lucasville School. , African Americans emerged from slavery with a strong desire for literacy. These Freedmen admired those who had learned to read and write during slavery and viewed literate African Americans as social and moral leaders. They new that education would help them achieve political and economic independence and determine their own future., Illegal Reading , During the 18th and 19th centuries, many Americans believed that the nation's culture and prosperity depended on preventing enslaved people from reading and writing. The Virginia Revised Code of 1819 prohibited slaves from assembling to learn to read and write., Numerous enslaved people resisted these laws and learned to read, often with the help of white masters or their family members, other slaves, free African Americans, or Quakers and members of other religious societies. Emancipation greatly motivated people to learn to read., Education for All , After the Civil War, African-American politicians and leaders joined with Republicans to legalize public education in the former Confederate states. By 1870, every southern state had constitutional provisions to assure a state funded public school system., Prince William County established its first public school for white children in 1869. The Brown School (1870) in Manassas was the second county public school and the first of many schools for African-American children. Prince William County schools were integrated in 1966., [Quotation and photo captions:] , Few people who are not right in the midst in the scenes can form any exact idea of the intense desire which people of my race showed for education. It was a whole race trying to go to school. Few were too young, and none too old to make the attempt to learn. , Quotation: African-American educator and leader Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) used these words to describe his people's struggle for education., Above: Freedman's Village (1863-1888) gave former slaves shelter, clothing, food and medical care. Here, Village adults and children learned to read., This idealistic call for the emancipation of slaves was printed in Boston in 1861. Its words and symbolism inspired abolitionists, freedmen and enslaved people., This notice from the December 1, 1774 Alexandria Gazette offered a reward for the recovery of Gabriel, a slave who had run away from a farm in western Prince William County. Gabriel was "…fond of reading…" and may have been perceived as a danger to society for that reason.