Into the struggling life of the pioneers of America came the first
Negroes landed in this country; brought out of African savagery and sold
in Virginia as slaves; set down side by side with indentured bondmen
from England, whose lot was little better, to be taught civilization.
How soon they learned to talk the English language; to copy the kindlier
manners of their new neighbors; to fulfill the duties laid on them; to
put their mind upon their tasks; and to lose their native traits in the
happier faith of Christianity. It was all as unlike the valley of the
Congo from which they came as one could well imagine. People were
clothed instead of going naked; they could not live on uncultivated
fruits; but had to dig that they might enjoy the harvest; there were
better enterprises to undertake than to hunt for men and to fight with
other tribes on the chance of catching slaves from them or being caught
themselves; it was a condition of order and of law, of homes and
housekeeping, or community life and neighborly usages, with prizes of a
hundred kinds for good behavior and the habit of fidelity. Of course,
there was a great deal that was rough and hard; sometimes there were
cuffs and blows, curses and the driver’s lash for any lagging in the
work required; often injustice and cruelty; but in contrast with Africa,
it was a land of golden opportunity.
In the two hundred years and more that preceded the great emancipation,
the number of people of African descent grew to be about 4,000,000. The
processes of these 200 years are profoundly significant as a preparation
for the responsibilities of freedom that came so suddenly at the close
of the war. The training of the Negro during this period, and the
attitude of the thoughtful people of the country toward his training,
are deserving of treatment separate from that given to the development
of the school system as it is known today. The difference in attitude
brought on by the fear of so-called slave uprising and by the pre-Civil
War debates, divides this period rather clearly into two parts.
The first extends from the landing of the slaves in 1619, to about 1830;
the second, the pre-Civil War period, extending from about 1830 to 1860.