student life perspectives on schooling after the civil war
Once the Civil War ended in 1865, tension grew among the freedmen and their opponents. Many southern whites did not want this race to succeed and they did everything in their power to prevent them from receiving the privileges of an education through violent threats. The freed people also had trouble accessing education because they needed to work while going to school. Despite the many obstacles in their way, freed people of all ages attended school and made the effort to learn. Many adults attended class at mid-day or night because of their rigorous work schedule whereas most children studied during the day. In addition to the regular school year, the freed people sought ways to practice subjects such as mathematics and French during vacation when schools were closed and weather was drastic. No matter what hardships were taking place in the freed people’s lives, they kept the dream of equality in their mind and grew in knowledge through education.
A former slave named Lorenzo Ivy provided his account on what slavery was like and how he gradually got to experience freedom through education. His father was very loyal to their master, which forced Lorenzo to continue living on a farm and working the hardest he’s ever had to in his entire life.(11) Their master refused to cooperate with the sharecropping business, which led Lorenzo and his family to move out and suffer in poverty for a long time. Just like most freed people after 1865, Lorenzo carried a rigorous work and school schedule. He mentioned his educational experience being like this:
"I worked hard all day, and went to night-school two terms and a half, and three months to day-school. When I entered, I could read and spell a little, but did not know one figure from another, or any writing. These schools were kept by the Philadelphia Friends' Relief Association, and had very good teachers."(12)
Lizzie Gibson was another former slave who experienced a sorrowful childhood being separated from her mother and entire family. Although her master’s family favored her and taught her some religious truths, she was still required to work in the hardest conditions. Lizzie recalled the day when the Emancipation was declared and all colored people, including herself, were overcome with joy. She felt a sense of freedom and ceased the opportunity to attend school despite one particular circumstance in her life forcing her to stop for some period of time. Lizzie described her life as a student as:
"I went six months, and learned to read very well, and then went out to service again, as I thought it my duty to help my father, who was not very strong, and had six children of us. In 1870, I got a very pleasant school. This I taught one year, and then returned home for the first time in my life. In October, 1872, I came to Hampton, and will still look to God for the future."(13)
An unnamed individual from North Carolina was recorded for a brief story regarding his family’s struggles after the Civil War and how he viewed education. Due to the lack of unstable income in his family’s household, they were constantly moving to different locations. This teenage boy became frustrated with this situation and was willing to do anything just to go to school. He was required to work in an unfamiliar and unfriendly land for two years, but attended class as often as he could.(14) Despite all of the negative circumstances in his life, he pursued the life of an education. This anonymous male’s perspective on his value for school is explained like this:
"At this point, father again removed home, and I went to school a short while in the winter, and resumed my business of farming in spring, as usual, but with brighter views, looking on the dark, sarcastic sceneries of the past like unto a stamp by which
a feature was wrought in my character, which in every way made me probably more fit and ready for incidents; which rebelled against extravagance and approved economy. When I got these small opportunities to attend school, I valued them much. My father could not aid or send me to school much at the time, and it was my constant prayer to God for the time when I could go to school, and I looked to the time when I should be twenty-one."(15)
A former slave named Lorenzo Ivy provided his account on what slavery was like and how he gradually got to experience freedom through education. His father was very loyal to their master, which forced Lorenzo to continue living on a farm and working the hardest he’s ever had to in his entire life.(11) Their master refused to cooperate with the sharecropping business, which led Lorenzo and his family to move out and suffer in poverty for a long time. Just like most freed people after 1865, Lorenzo carried a rigorous work and school schedule. He mentioned his educational experience being like this:
"I worked hard all day, and went to night-school two terms and a half, and three months to day-school. When I entered, I could read and spell a little, but did not know one figure from another, or any writing. These schools were kept by the Philadelphia Friends' Relief Association, and had very good teachers."(12)
Lizzie Gibson was another former slave who experienced a sorrowful childhood being separated from her mother and entire family. Although her master’s family favored her and taught her some religious truths, she was still required to work in the hardest conditions. Lizzie recalled the day when the Emancipation was declared and all colored people, including herself, were overcome with joy. She felt a sense of freedom and ceased the opportunity to attend school despite one particular circumstance in her life forcing her to stop for some period of time. Lizzie described her life as a student as:
"I went six months, and learned to read very well, and then went out to service again, as I thought it my duty to help my father, who was not very strong, and had six children of us. In 1870, I got a very pleasant school. This I taught one year, and then returned home for the first time in my life. In October, 1872, I came to Hampton, and will still look to God for the future."(13)
An unnamed individual from North Carolina was recorded for a brief story regarding his family’s struggles after the Civil War and how he viewed education. Due to the lack of unstable income in his family’s household, they were constantly moving to different locations. This teenage boy became frustrated with this situation and was willing to do anything just to go to school. He was required to work in an unfamiliar and unfriendly land for two years, but attended class as often as he could.(14) Despite all of the negative circumstances in his life, he pursued the life of an education. This anonymous male’s perspective on his value for school is explained like this:
"At this point, father again removed home, and I went to school a short while in the winter, and resumed my business of farming in spring, as usual, but with brighter views, looking on the dark, sarcastic sceneries of the past like unto a stamp by which
a feature was wrought in my character, which in every way made me probably more fit and ready for incidents; which rebelled against extravagance and approved economy. When I got these small opportunities to attend school, I valued them much. My father could not aid or send me to school much at the time, and it was my constant prayer to God for the time when I could go to school, and I looked to the time when I should be twenty-one."(15)