Research Proposal

To determine the compatibility between Slavery

and Education
Student
[Pick the date]
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To determine the compatibility between Slavery and Education

Frederick Douglass has written an autobiography called “The Narrative of the Life of

Frederick Douglass”. In that book, he has mentioned clearly that the slavery and education are

incompatible with each other (Douglass, 2000 p. 3). The reason that he has given for this is, that

in his entire life, he has constantly been oscillating between an intense desire to become literate

and educated and giving up hope altogether. He felt that his desire to learn to read was a curse on

him rather than a blessing or a true wish. Each time to thought of become a literate person, his

slavery came into picture and reminded him of the wretched condition in which he was living.

This means that his literacy enabled him to know that his condition was wretched. He felt that

slavery was a pit in which he was fallen and he could not find a ladder to come out of it.

Acquiring education was a constant battle for him which was very unlike to other people for

whom getting educated was no big deal because they were not the sufferers of slavery. Even

when he continued to battle for gaining education, his miserable condition did not improve

because he started understanding the hopelessness of the situation that he was facing and he

started realizing the pain of the other slaves.

Not only this, the condition of African Americans was also very bad in terms of slavery

and education. They continuously fought for education because of slavery in which they were

living. This shows that the issue of slavery and education had a great impact on our history and it

may still be persisting in many societies. Therefore, it needs to be examined.

The paper seeks to review the literature that talks about the various characteristics and

features of the slavery from which the people suffered in the past and its impact on the education

that they got or did not get. The reasons that made people suffer from slavery and lack of
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education will also be discussed after reviewing the history and the literature related to this

problem. The entire research will be based on the secondary sources that will include research

papers, journals, websites, publications, and books containing the information about the various

groups of people who suffered from the worst form of slavery like the African Americans. Also,

the level of education that they desired and the level which they actually got (or did not get) will

be discussed in the paper. We move from slaves and Jim Crow desperately seeking education, to

modern-day "too cool f or school" embedded in the Legacy of Slavery and Black Identity

The research will give an insight to the public and the other researchers about the slavery

that the people faced in the past and the way in which it was related to their education. They

should know about how the people in the past have suffered from this serious problem and they

will also be able to determine the compatibility between Slavery and Education. The research

will try to find why women are generally (statistically) better at school in the African American

community than their male counterparts. The research can also be applied to the present scenario

where many people are the slaves and they are still living in worst of the conditions with lack of

even the basic things of life.

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Reference:

Douglass, F., 2000. Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave. Random

House Digital, Inc..