You are here

UCF Digital Collections ยป ETD Collection

"SET A LIGHT IN A DARK PLACE": TEACHERS OF FREEDMEN IN FLORIDA, 1863-1874

Download pdf | Full Screen View

Date Issued:
2004
Abstract/Description:
As the Civil War closed and Reconstruction began, a small army of teachers arrived in Florida. Under the auspices of northern aid societies, churches, and educational associations, they proposed to educate the newly emancipated slaves, believing that education would prepare African Americans for citizenship. Teachers found Florida's freedmen determined to acquire literacy by whatever means they could, but they faced a white populace resistant to outsiders. Reformers, politicians, literate blacks, and Yankee businessmen intent on socially, politically, and economically transforming Florida joined educators in reconstructing Florida. Florida's educational system transformed during Reconstruction, and an examination of the reciprocity between Reconstruction-era teachers and Florida's freedmen provides a window into how Florida's learning community changed. Teachers exerted a profound influence on Florida's freedmen and on the development of Florida's educational system. But it was not simply a matter of outsiders transforming freedmen. While previous writers have emphasized the teachers' limitations, conservatism, or sacrifice, this study examines the complex interplay, and at times mutual dependence, between northern reformers and freedmen. Teachers partnered with Florida's black community, which was determined to seize education by whatever means available; they joined with the state's white community, struggling to come to terms with radical social changes; and they worked with Yankee strangers, who saw education of freedmen as an opportunity to transform the state politically. The reciprocal process of social change created a new politically charged educational system in Florida.
Title: "SET A LIGHT IN A DARK PLACE": TEACHERS OF FREEDMEN IN FLORIDA, 1863-1874.
31 views
10 downloads
Name(s): Wakefield, Laura, Author
Adams, Sean , Committee Chair
University of Central Florida, Degree Grantor
Type of Resource: text
Date Issued: 2004
Publisher: University of Central Florida
Language(s): English
Abstract/Description: As the Civil War closed and Reconstruction began, a small army of teachers arrived in Florida. Under the auspices of northern aid societies, churches, and educational associations, they proposed to educate the newly emancipated slaves, believing that education would prepare African Americans for citizenship. Teachers found Florida's freedmen determined to acquire literacy by whatever means they could, but they faced a white populace resistant to outsiders. Reformers, politicians, literate blacks, and Yankee businessmen intent on socially, politically, and economically transforming Florida joined educators in reconstructing Florida. Florida's educational system transformed during Reconstruction, and an examination of the reciprocity between Reconstruction-era teachers and Florida's freedmen provides a window into how Florida's learning community changed. Teachers exerted a profound influence on Florida's freedmen and on the development of Florida's educational system. But it was not simply a matter of outsiders transforming freedmen. While previous writers have emphasized the teachers' limitations, conservatism, or sacrifice, this study examines the complex interplay, and at times mutual dependence, between northern reformers and freedmen. Teachers partnered with Florida's black community, which was determined to seize education by whatever means available; they joined with the state's white community, struggling to come to terms with radical social changes; and they worked with Yankee strangers, who saw education of freedmen as an opportunity to transform the state politically. The reciprocal process of social change created a new politically charged educational system in Florida.
Identifier: CFE0000199 (IID), ucf:46164 (fedora)
Note(s): 2004-12-01
M.A.
Arts and Sciences, Department of History
Masters
This record was generated from author submitted information.
Subject(s): Freedmen
Florida education
Reconstruction
Florida history
teachers
northern reformers
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000199
Restrictions on Access: public
Host Institution: UCF

In Collections