SCHOOLING AFRICAN AMERICANS
Reconstruction
Redemption
Booker T. Washington
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois
Political Economy
RECONSTRUCTION:
 1863-Emancipation Proclamation announced the end of slavery
 1865-Congress passed the 13th Amendment freeing four million
slaves (3.5 million in South)
 1866-14th Amendment passed giving full citizenship to slaves
upon its ratification in 1868
 1867-North increased its influence in the South with the 1st
Reconstruction Act which gave Congress more control over the
Southern political economy
 1870- 15th Amendment established right for black males to
vote-made black men the majority voters in 5 southern states
 1877-Withdrawal of federal troops for the South and the end of
Reconstruction
Political Economy cont…
REDEMPTION:
 1877-marks beginning of the Period of Redemption
 Local white supremacy laws were passed to prohibit black
people from using public facilities such as parks, buildings,
cemeteries, railroad cars, rest rooms, etc…
 1890-Mississippi established literacy and poll tax requirementsdeprived most black people from voting and other states
followed this plan
 In Louisiana black voters were cut from 130,000 to 1,300 in a
six year period
 Successfully destroyed most of the advances made by AfricanAmericans during Reconstruction
Schooling
 After Civil War there were no laws requiring equal education for African
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Americans in the constitution.
During Reconstruction freed men and women constructed laws that included
decisive wording as shall regarding education.
1867-Alabama freed men and Republicans enacted constitutional laws
providing revenue for education
1868-1870-Reconstruction laws enabled blacks to make gains in public
education. Higher percentage of blacks than whites going to school, longer
school terns, higher teacher pay
1875-White Democrats began to take control of the black belt (Redemption).
Freed men were driven out of political offices. Governance of all schools
now in the hands of whites.
Black schools still developed with some success because of 2 key factors:
– Black people could still vote—dangerous to tamper with black public
education if you wanted (needed) the black vote
– Black education was protected because of level safeguards of equal
funding that freedmen had inserted in state constitution
Schooling continued
 1877-1887-percentage of black school age children
exceeded white and still longer school year (84-86 days vs.
71-82)
 1890- Alabama’s State Superintendent of Education Solomon
Palmer devised a plan due to 2 main complaints:
– 1. Black schools received nearly all the area’s school
funds while paying virtually no taxes
– 2. Black pupils were not mentally advanced to the point
where they needed as much education as white people,
and therefore didn’t need as much money for school funds
 1890-House Bill 504 passed (Palmer’s Plan)
– Required State Superintendent to apportion the public
school fund according to the school-age population.
Authorized township trustees to apportion funds as they
deemed “JUST AND EQUITABLE”
Schooling Continued
After 1890
-1887-1897-significant decline in education of blacks
General enrollment and school terms of black children as well
as average pay of black teachers came to a standstill or
decreased
-1915 -Enrollment of white children in public schools
exceeded that of black students
-Average monthly pay of white teachers doubled that
of black teachers
-Approximately 60% of black schools were privately
owned. Large amount of money was contributed by
blacks above what they paid in taxes
Booker T. Washington
 Most prominent black leader from 1895-1915
 Founded Alabama’s Tuskegee Institute after his graduation
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from Hampton Normal School
Strong believer in education
Emphasized pragmatic (oriented toward practical thought or action)
approach to work, traditional morality. And industrial education
Believed that hard labor and the accumulation of property
were the keys to resolving all social problems
Believed that respect and citizenship would come to blacks in
proportion to their accumulation of property, education, and
good jobs
Thought that if African Americans achieved economic
success, political and social gains would automatically follow
Washington cont…
 Believed in Darwin’s theory of biological evolution
 Thought teachers at the Normal School should remain free from
politics and the discussion of the race question and he publicly
advised the general black population to abstain from voting,
running for political office, or speaking out against racial
injustices
 His “Atlanta Compromise” speech called for the advancement
of public education as a means to bring blacks into useful
employment, and economic justification for education of blacks
and an argument aligned with the human capital theory
William Edward Burghardt (W.E.B.)
Du Bois
 Born and raised in Massachusetts. He was one of 50 blacks
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living in a town of 5000. Did not experience much overt racism
Attended Fisk College (now University) in Tennessee where he
saw discrimination in forms he never dreamed of.
First African American ever to receive his Doctorate from
Harvard
Became professor at Atlanta University teaching history and
economics
Saw racism as institutionalization and oppressive in the US
Believed the race problem was one of ignorance. Wanted to
gain as much knowledge about this as possible as to form a
“cure” for color prejudice.
Thought assimilation(to take in and incorporate as one’s own)
should be achieved through self-assertion
Du Bois cont…
 Called for organized public protest, legal action against racist
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institutions and higher education for blacks
Believed in the higher education of a “Talented Tenth” who
could guide African Americans into higher civilization.
1906-1 of 25 members of the Niagara Movement. The
objectives of this group were to advocate civil justice and
abolish caste discrimination.
1909-Niagara Movement was forced down by opponents
(rumored Washington’s followers). 24 of the members merged
with some white liberals and formed the NAACP (National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People)
Became editor-in-chief for 25 years of Crisis Magazine,
distributing the news of the NAACP and policies. Only wrote of
views that he felt could “Lift the coffin lid off his people.”
Ideology
 Conservative social philosophy which accommodated white
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supremacy and racial segregation
Belief that industrial education and skilled labor would serve as
a means to overcome racial and class discrimination
Darwin’s theory of biological evolution which provided a rational
explanation of the unequal class distribution of wealth and
political power among racial groups
Oppression thought to be the natural process of moral and
cultural evolution (based on Darwin’s theory of biological
evolution)
Black people had only evolved to a cultural stage that was
thousands of years behind whites thus their inferiority position
was the natural order of social evolution