Discussion: U.S. Founding Through Progressive Movement
Chapter 11-Question 8: Trace the development of Historically Black Colleges and
their role in the advancement of African Americans.
The fundamental right for education has been a centuries-long battle for African
Americans in the United States, a struggle filled with challenges rooted in racism. Prior
to the Civil War, there was no formal education for slaves or freed African Americans in
addition, anti-literacy laws prohibited slaves from learning to read or write as literacy
was a threat to the institution of slavery. The Reconstruction era created a sense of
hope for the newly emancipated slaves with the landmark legislation of Amendments
13, 14, and 15. Being able to get an education and having the possibility of earning a
college degree was the path to a professional career and improved economic status.
Amendment 14 granted equal protection under the law and in theory, provided African
Americans with the right to education however, the challenges and combined forces of
racial discrimination under Jim Crow laws solidified by the Supreme Court ruling of
“separate but equal” in the Plessy vs. Ferguson case (Goluboff, 2012) made access to
