If you come across the vast array of materials on slavery and the treatment of the slaves in the United States, these are replete with events depicting the determination of the slaves and the free Black population to get out of the rut of the inhumane system and better their living conditions. Negro education and the struggles against all odds occupy an important chapter in the history of slavery in the US.

Let alone the white people who burnt down schools teaching Blacks, many States passed laws making it illegal to provide education to black students. The vagrancy law against Black students provided that boys and girls caught attending schools could be given up to ten lashes of the whip. In 1834, for example, the headmistress of a school in Connecticut, having defied the law, was arrested and imprisoned. She was compelled to close down the school when an angry White mob threatened to blow it up with all the children.

In some cases, the blacks retaliated with the support of White benefactors by suing the States. The city of Boston in 1849, for example, was sued for refusing to admit Black children to its schools, although it was known beforehand such cases were bound to be lost. The Constitution of the newly formed US in 1789 guaranteed free speech and a fair trial, but no right to be taught to read and write. It was not education as such but under pressure religious instruction started to be promoted. The church stepped in with a mission ? to moralise the Blacks into becoming obedient servants, cultivate good habits, know to respect their masters and place their trust in God in the hope of seeing better days ahead.

The conditions in the British Colonies were no different from those prevailing in the US. True, slaves had no right to learn even the rudiments of education nor to attend the church. What to do with them when they would be emancipated? The British Government feared a social explosion in its Colonies. Forewarned is to be forearmed, it is said. In the House of Commons in 1833, the secretary of state for the Colonies, Stanley, put forward a resolution pledging the government to ?defray any such expenses in aiding local legislatures in providing for the religious and moral instructions of the Negro population to be emancipated.?

But Stanley?s more liberal plan which included the creation of school districts under the responsibility of a multi-denominational Board of Education was destined mostly to West Indies Colonies and it seemed Mauritius, then a predominantly ?catholic? island, was left out of consideration.

It was the Reverend John Sterling who pleaded the cause of those catholic islands at the colonial office. The Negro education grant launched by the home government catered for financial subsidies towards the education of apprentices in the Colonies immediately after the abolition of slavery. It became effective in 1835 and was phased out in 1845. Stanley having resigned shortly after, his successor, Gladstone, devised a new educational strategy. The educational curriculum, in order to qualify for financial aid, was to consist basically of religious and moral instruction and was to be administered by the Church of England.

From the outset, it can be argued that the British policy of providing education to emancipated slaves though it sounded like an epoch making event was nothing more than attempt to soften the pressures mounted by the Anti-Slavery Society and appease the Blacks. The uprising and bloodshed at St Domingo where slaves went on a killing spree was a stark reminder of the feeling of anger and revolt harboured by the slaves.

The education plan of the British Government was merely geared towards the propagation of religious and moral instruction with the sole aim taming the emancipated slaves and instilling good character in them as was done in the US. That was what education of the free Black slaves meant. Though the Negro education grant provided funds for the opening of schools for emancipated slaves and salaries of teachers, more importantly the concept of literacy promotion, the imparting of knowledge of basic things like reading, writing and the elements of arithmetic hardly figured on the agenda of the British Government. Some historians have argued that the British and Foreign School Society?s ( BFSS) method which was adopted in the Crown Colonies could be interpreted as including these elements.

As regards Mauritius, the Mico Charity on behalf of the British authorities undertook to manage the funds allocated under the Negro education grant and then shifted the responsibility to the London Missionary Society. The services of Jean Lebrun who had already opened a few schools for the teaching of the coloured population was sought. The schools to be attended by the freed Black population had to be run on the lines prescribed by the Mico Charity. In other words, Lebrun could not depart from the BFSS programme which was highly restrictive to moral teaching and preaching of the Holy Scriptures.

What appeared to usher in a new era in the sordid history of the slavery turned out to be another gloomy period for the emancipated slaves in Mauritius. To start with, the White people developed cold shoulders and sank into bitter recrimination against their Black employees. They displayed a sheer indifference to any rehabilitation programme be it through education, religious, moral or otherwise. Their primary concern was to ensure continuation of their business and as such were preoccupied with the recruitment of Indian labour.

Next, the Governor, Sir William Nicolay, had an agenda distinct from the colonial office. He was doing sniper works to torpedo the plan of the Mico Charity and the works of Jean Lebrun to the point of being disavowed at some point in time by the secretary of state who showed his unflinching support for the Mico Charity.

53 230 slaves, eight schools, 764 apprentices

This body had by the 1838 established eight schools in the various parts of the island and out of a slave population of 53 230, 764 apprentices were attending these schools. Sir William set on the heels of Lebrun a tough rival by the name of Reverend Denny to graze in the same pasture. Denny fought Lebrun with a missionary (!) zeal.

Sir William was all in favour of a more liberal education system and went about encouraging individuals to join hands together to open up private schools where the teaching of the English language would figure prominently. He was of the view that the management of education should be left to the government and not to religious organizations. The Governor was able to garner support from the Church and wrote to the secretary of state to inform him that the activities of the Mico Charity were badly perceived by the catholic clergymen of French origin. In that climate of confusion and tension, schools opened for the Blacks had to be closed down after a while for want of resources, opposition and threats. Furthermore, the teaching method of the BFSS was by 1841 undergoing changes with the introduction of Dr Stow?s training system.

This shift in the method of teaching was considered a sign of ?progress? by the secretary of state, Lord Russell. The latter was also informed that improvement had taken place in the social conditions of the emancipated population and that they were now ?deriving substantial advantages?. Such being the case, the colonial office decided that as from 1845 the Negro Education Act was not to be applicable to Mauritius and financial support was not to be given anymore to Mauritius. The home government tip-toed its way out by the back door. There ended the moral responsibility of the British government towards the emancipated slaves. The local government with the complicity of the church seized the opportunity to take control of education in Mauritius.

To a large extent, Sir William Nicolay and the Catholic Church succeeded in their game plan. Hope to enter the firmament of knowledge for the emancipated slaves, to better their social position, vanished in the thin air and that community was again left to its own fate. The ?education? policy of emancipated slaves announced with a silver lining was the first bitter experience of deceit perpetrated against a long suffering people who believed that the abolition of slavery was going to end their miseries.

References

? A. C. Kalla, ?The Negro Education Grant 1835-1845?. Its inception in England and Working in Mauritius

? L. Rivaltz Quenette, ?L?Oeuvre du Révérend Jean Lebrun a l?ile Maurice?

?The Colonial office decided that as from 1845 the Negro Education Act was not to be applicable to Mauritius and financial support was not to be given anymore there. The home government tip-toed its way out by the backdoor.?