Free Education Models Of The Blacks In South Book Review Sample

Since the attainment of new status as free citizens of America, the black people especially in the south came up with ways through which they could earn to read and write just like their enslavers. Learning how to read and write was very essential for this community for a number of reasons. One of the most important reasons is the fact that they could draft their own constitution regarding the leadership and the freedom they had just earned. Their children would also compete with the whites and become future leaders of the country, and have better careers apart from being peasants. Due to these reasons and many more, models of learning were constructed for this community. Public and private schools were put up to facilitate their learning process.
The slaves in south had already established their own education systems. They took pride in learning how to read and write and being literate blacks. Due to this, their own efforts in educating each other were received by surprise by the missionaries from the north who had come to educate them. According to the missionaries, the slave regime was very brutal and dehumanizing and made the blacks a little more uncivilized, and needed to be taught the rules and values of the society (Anderson, 1989, p. 6). Their idea was a surprise to them since there were already associations and staffed schools that had entirely black teachers. Schooling was available to the blacks free of charge. At some point however, the bureau withdrew its support on the free education system for the ex-slaves this however, could not deter their need to learn as the freedmen took control of the education system and transformed federal schools to local free schools (Anderson 1989, p10). Armstrong’s Hampton model of education thus contradicts the model of freedman’s education because it focused more on industrial education. From Armstrong’s models of education, northern educators were used to integrate the education system of the ex-slaves and that of the whites. As a result, three primary areas of vocational training were brought about; collegiate training in applied science and technology, trade schools and academic curriculum.
I can agree with both systems of education, where the ex-slaves and the public in general are offered free education. Through such measures, it ensures that every individual in the community gets access to education and thus, boosts the economy and the wellbeing of the people. Though this strategy is good, the other system of education that focuses on Armstrong’s strategy is much better. I can agree with this system more because it focuses on ensuring that people are taught things from different professions. The system does not focus only on the curricula but also on other vocational trainings such as engineering. With this, people with education from such areas are better versed to get employed in such professions.
The freedman education system is thus different from the Anderson’s education system of education. The freedman system focused more on curricula activities and were offered free of charge for all ex-slaves and their children. On the other hand, the other system integrated the northerners and the whites together with the blacks and focused not only on the curricula activities but also on vocational training. Such training opened doors for the students to be in various professional from engineers to managers.