Education during the slave period in the United States

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During the era of chattel slavery in the United States, the proper education of enslaved African Americans (with exception made for religious instruction) was highly discouraged, and eventually made illegal in most of the Southern states.^[1]

After 1831, the prohibition against educating enslaved persons was extended in some states to free blacks as well. Regardless of the legality of educating people of color, people in this demographic ultimately received limited access to education in both the north and south.^[2]