Sam Rosenbaum American Studies Green Class Assignment 7 Precis-Education, Arts, and Culture

December 7th, 2012

Thesis: Slaves used education, art, and culture to cope with the hardships of enslavement. Argument #1: Traditional African music and spiritual songs provided recreation and hope Evidence #1: Slaves used a variety of instruments, but also enjoyed a practice called patting the juba, which was the clapping of hands in a very complex and rhythmic fashion.1 Evidence #2: Enslaved Africans often improvised spirituals to help them deal with their harsh situation. Often spirituals were sung to send secret messages that the plantation owners could not understand.2 Evidence #3: Slaves made drums, banjos, and gourds like those found in Africa. Explanation: In difficult times, people often turn to music as a means of recreation, communication, and unity Argument #2: Slaves found a way to retain their African culture and cope, while they were enslaved. Evidence #1: Folktales such as the popular Brer Rabbit adventures not only gave slaves a chance to create alternate realities in which they could experience revenge and other forbidden impulses, but they also imparted practical knowledge and survival and coping strategies to listeners. Evidence #2: Retention of African traditions were strongest during the early colonial period and in areas of high slave concentration, particularly large plantations in the South. Enslaved women made baskets with an African method of coiling in South Carolina. In Georgia enslaved women plaited rugs and mats with African designs.

1 Slavery and the Making of America . The Slave Experience: Education, Arts, & Culture |

PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/experience/education/index.html

2 Sambol-Tosco, Kimberly. "Slavery and the Making of America . The Slave Experience:

Education, Arts, & Culture | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/experience/education/history.html

Explanation: When people are faced with danger, they often cling to their traditions for comfort. Argument #3: Learning how to read and write provided some slaves with positions of greater esteem. Evidence #1: Slave members who could read and write were considered esteemed members of the slave community, but were feared by whites. Evidence #2: In 1743, an Anglican group established a school for slaves in South Carolina. Explanation: In many communities, the members who are more educated often receive greater respect Counterclaim Argument: Others might argue that educated slaves faced greater danger. Counterclaim Evidence: In 1740 South Carolina passed one of the earliest laws prohibiting slaves from learning to read or write as a response to the rebellion at Stono. Counterclaim Evidence #2: Other parts of the South saw an expansion of earlier laws forbidding the education of slaves, especially during the mideighteenth century. Counterclaim Explanation: People in power may fear that if their subjects become educated, they will eventually want their independence. Refutation Argument and Evidence: After escaping from slavery, Frederick Douglas became a leader of the abolitionist movement, gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writing. He stood as a living counter-example to slaveholders' arguments that slaves did not have the intellectual capacity to function as independent American citizens. Many Northerners also found it hard to believe that such a great orator had been a slave.3 Refutation Explanation: Fredrick Douglas became educated as a slave, escaped to freedom, and used his education to help fight the cause of slavery. Conclusion: African American slaves used their culture, music, and in some cases, education, to cope with the hardships of slavery and to fight for their freedom.

This assignment has been completed in accordance with the Newark Academy Honor Code _______________________________________X

3 Frederick Douglass - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Douglass