Outline
Thesis:
Although some scholars have argued that slavery was largely benign and accepted by
African-American slaves, many faced poor education, slaves were faced with a wide range of punishments, and how slaves banded together to have the privilege to get themselves an education and to be successful.

Section I. Many slaves faced poor education
a. most African American’s couldn’t read or write
b. slave narrative
c. weren’t allowed because some whites feel black literacy would prove a threat to the slave system Section II. Slaves were face with a wide range of punishments
a. the law of the era (had no rights)
b. punishments for breaking the laws

Section III. Slaves banded together to have the privilege to get themselves an education and to be successful.
a. slaves worked together to learn how to read and write (in secret)
b. how some slave owners allowed slave to learn
c. brave white teachers taught slaves
e. Prudence Crandall

1

Imagine this. A little girl at the age of 5 was excited to start in school, for her first time.
She told her Mom about all the hopes and dreams she had for herself of becoming a ballerina, the first female president, maybe even a teacher. But then the President sets out laws that demand all blacks to be prohibited from being able to read or write, to even have an education at all. In all fairness, should a little girl at the age of 5 with such hopes and dreams be forbidden from pursing them? During slavery, most black slaves were deprived of having the opportunity to have an education and in fact many laws were passed in the South ruling out slave literacy due to the aftermath of various slave rebellions. Even free blacks before and after the Civil War were limited in their access. This limited education and training meant that, for the most part, blacks were shut out of professional occupations and restricted to working in industries that seemed acceptable for them, such as domestic services, some manual trades, and agriculture.
And created a growth of slavery in North Carolina. Nevertheless an insignificant amount of remarkable gifted blacks were able to gain an education and, through their life's work, make significant contributions to American life that kept them going for centuries. Blacks never gave up, they wanted an education. Those who juggled with fulfilling their education were still slaves working and in advance working towards their goal of having a better life did it for their own beliefs.
Although some scholars have argued that slavery was largely benign and accepted by
African-American slaves, many faced poor education, slaves were faced with a wide range of punishments, and how slaves banded together to have the privilege to get themselves an education and to be successful.

2

Edmund S. Morgan, a historian, once wrote that “ the rise of liberty and equality in
America was accompanied by slavery”
. There is a truth in that statement. The rise of America in general was accompanied by slavery and the settlers learned early on that slavery would be an effective way to build a country and create free labour. But the truth is they were wrong. For many slaves, the ability to read or write was sought to be seen as as way of freedom. For those who managed to become literate and was able to escape to freedom, the ability to write would cause a growth of a powerful genre of literature known as "the slave narrative". For the abolitionist movement, slave narratives. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, a slave narrative, is an account of the life, or a major portion of the life, of a fugitive or former slave, either written or orally related by the slave personally
. The slave narrative was seen to become effective weapons in attacking the institution of slavery and that is what the blacks had aimed for. Despite the danger of physical punishment and the threat of capture for the authors of slave narratives, these men and women took great risks to empower themselves. Many