Educational laws of Virginia

by Margaret Crittenden Douglass

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854, by
MARGARET DOUGLASS,
in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern
District of Pennsylvania.

NARRATIVE &c.

I am perfectly aware that the public cannot be interested in my personal history previous to the occurrences which this narrative is designed to lay before them, nor am I vain enough to suppose that there would be any thing in it worth relating. It will, however, be seen necessary that I should state who and what I was, and under what circumstances I found myself suddenly placed, by the authorities of the city of Norfolk, in a position of such unenviable notoriety. This position was not one of my own seeking, nor was I the agent or representative of any association. I was not a “Northern emissary,” engaged in undermining the institutions of the South, and recklessly defying her laws, but only a weak and helpless woman, endeavoring to do what I deemed my duty to God and to humanity. In order to relate the circumstances as they occurred, so that they may be fully understood, my narrative must necessarily assume a personal character, for it was I, and I alone, who was contending for a heaven-born principle against not only the authorities of Norfolk, but against the united strength of the whole State of Virginia. The entire population of the commonwealth that claims to be the first and noblest in the land were the plaintiffs in this case, I, alone, the defendant. My story therefore must not be called egotistical.

It is necessary also that I refer to myself, in order to do away with any impression that I was or am an Abolitionist, as that term is usually understood at the South, for I am aware that a strong effort will be made to induce this belief on the part of the community, in order to weaken the effect which I hope my book is destined to produce. I deem it proper, then, to state at the outset that such is not the case, and that I was not contending against any of the Southern institutions, but only against a particular law of the State of Virginia, and of, as I believe, some of the neighboring States. Against the operations of this law, a large portion of even the inhabitants of Virginia are beginning to rebel, as contrary, not only to good morals, but to the spirit of our country’s institutions. This law, although connected with slavery as a Southern institution, has not necessarily anything to do with the abstract question of slavery itself. It is one that might exist in a free State, though, happily it does not. It is a law whose influence is felt, not only among the slave population of Virginia, but which extends even to the whites themselves. By a recent statement made to the Legislature of Virginia, the number of grown up white men and women in the State is estimated at nine hundred thousand, and of this number there are no-less than eighty thousand who can neither read nor write. The law, in concise terms, prohibits the instruction of all colored persons, by means of books or printed papers, but it does not prevent the giving of verbal or oral instruction even to slaves. In some of the Southern States a similar law exists in reference only to the slave population, but I was not aware until my arrest, that the law of Virginia was more stringent, and included in its operation the free colored people as well as the slaves. Had I known this, and had I not the constant example before me of those whom I supposed were well informed as to this matter, I should not have dared to set myself up in opposition to the laws of a State of which I was a resident.

I repeat, therefore, most emphatically, that I was not an Abolitionist, and that no person or persons had anything to do with the course I pursued, in even the most indirect manner. I am a Southern woman, by birth, education, and principles. I have been a slaveholder myself, and, if circumstances rendered it necessary or practicable, I might be such again. With the abstract question of slavery I have nothing to do in this book. I write it as a Southern woman to the people of the South. I am and always have been one of them, and still possess the same attachment for them and their institutions, that was first instilled into me in my childhood, and which has grown stronger during my whole life among them.

I was born in the city of Washington, but removed at a very early age to Charleston, South Carolina; where I was subsequently married, and resided, until the year 1845, when the painful associations connected with the death of my only son induced me to remove to Norfolk, Virginia, where I led a quiet and unobtrusive life, with my only daughter, until the month of December, 1853. Having been thrown upon my own resources, and possessed of a too independent spirit to be a burden to those who might have assisted me, I supported myself and child by the labor of my hands; my business being that of vest-making. Being a superior workwoman, I always had an abundance of the best work to do; but it was necessary for me to labor incessantly, in order to maintain myself and daughter respectably. Being blessed with good health, I was enabled to do this. We lived alone, in a retired part of the city, and our circle of acquaintances, from choice, not from necessity, was rather limited. Our habits were industrious, frugal and retiring. We were respected, and led lives that were irreproachable, as was abundantly conceded by even the Judge before whom I was tried. Our only association with society was that into which we were led by the exercise of our feelings of humanity; it being our natural disposition to share the little goods we possessed with those who were in want or affliction of any sort. We now enjoy the happy satisfaction of knowing that we have left behind us, many grateful hearts, in those whose distress we have relieved, or with whose sorrows we have sympathized.

This brief history of myself and my antecedents, seemed necessary, in order to show who and what I was, and to effectually put down the assertions of some of the Southern editors, that I was an Abolitionist in disguise, or, at least, was acting at the instigation of those who are enemies to the South and her institutions. I shall now proceed to relate, as succinctly as possible, the history of my personal contest with the great and dignified State of Virginia, as represented in the persons of a few men in power in the honorable city of Norfolk.

Being perfectly satisfied with my daughter’s society, I craved no other, and endeavored to practice the precepts which I wished to instil into her mind, and, as she grew older, we went on hand in hand in our little benevolent duties, making allowances for the faults of others, practicing mercy and charity to all who came in our way, both black and white; and, as I am a strong advocate for the religious instruction of the whole human family, it fell to our lot to become the religious and moral instructors of a few little colored free children.

There is a well known barber living in the city of Norfolk, a genteel and respectable colored man, much respected in that community. Having some business with him, I one day called at his shop, into which he politely invited me. Casting my eyes around, they fell upon two little colored boys, with spelling books in their hands, which they appeared to be very attentively engaged in studying. I inquired if they were his children, and if they went to school. His reply was, that they were his, but that they did not go to school, though he was very anxious to have them learn. I then inquired if there were no day schools for free colored children. He smiled, and said, No, madam; and he believed that there was no one who took interest enough in little colored children to keep a day school for them. I replied, that this was a pity, but that there was certainly a large Sunday school connected with Christ’s Church, to which he might send his children. His answer was, that his children did attend that school, but that they did not learn much; as they had no one to assist them in their lessons during the week; that he kept them at their books, whenever they had any spare time, and that they would occasionally pick up a little instruction from those who visited his shop. I inquired if he had any education himself. He said no, but that he indeed felt the want of it, and was very thankful to any one who would take the trouble to instruct his children. I then found that he had five children, three of whom were little girls, and that they were all very anxious to learn. Without further consideration or hesitation, I then offered to allow my daughter to teach his little boys, stating that she would do so with great pleasure. I told him to send them every day to my house, and that it need not detain them long from his business. He thanked me very kindly, and said that he would send them, although their time was very valuable to him, as they were obliged to wait upon the gentlemen who visited his shop. His eagerness for the instruction of his children deeply interested me, and, on my return home, I related the circumstance to my daughter, who readily assented to my proposal. Having no further business with this man, I saw no more of him, and had nearly forgotten the occurrence, until he called at my house with his little girls. I received him politely, and spoke kindly to his children, who were neatly dressed, and very respectful, and appeared unusually intelligent. Their father then said, “Mrs. Douglass, I have told my little girls of your kind offer to instruct their brothers, and they are also very anxious to learn, and I wish to know if you would not prefer to have these two eldest, thinking that the boys might give your daughter too much trouble.” I replied that it would be no trouble, but a pleasure to us, and that he might send both the boys and girls regularly every day, and that we would do all we could for their religious and moral instruction. I then inquired if they had any books. He replied, only such as had been given them at Christ Church Sunday school. “Very well,” said I, “give them those books, and send them to-morrow.” I felt certain that there could be nothing wrong in doing during the week what was done on Sunday by the teachers in that school, who were members of some of the first families in Norfolk, nor in using the very books that were given to the children there taught. I was particular also to ascertain that both himself and family were free, as I knew that the laws of the Southern states did not permit the slaves to be educated, although at the same time, all the churches in Norfolk were actually instructing from books both slave and free colored children, and had done so for years without molestation.

On the day following the two little girls made their appearance alone, their father being unable to spare their brothers from his business. My daughter received her little scholars kindly, and endeavored to make them feel as comfortably as strange children can feel in a strange house. At this time I lived in a neat little house, containing four rooms, situated in a quiet and respectable neighbourhood, with everything genteel and comfortable around us, gathered together by our own industry. In this house I had lived nearly four years. It was alone, and I had engaged it before it was finished, thinking it would form a quiet and retired home for myself and daughter. Whether it proved to be such or not, my readers will see. Nearly the whole block was built up with small tenements, and I soon found that my neighbors were not of the most refined class, and would prove no associates for us. I therefore determined to live very secluded, and be seldom seen or heard. Still, I endeavored to be kind and obliging to all who stood in need of my sympathies, and made it my business, if any of them were sick or in trouble, to administer to their wants by sending nourishment, or, if necessary, by calling to see them in person; still receiving none as visitors at my house; for they were a class of people with little or no education, and, of course, refinement they knew nothing of. They did not appreciate my character and habits, and could not understand my retired way of living, and at times we were greatly annoyed by them. This I could not at first understand, as I knew I did not merit any unkindness from them, but I endeavored to bear my persecutions with patience, and continued to live in my own solitary way, my daughter attending to our little domestic affairs, and I steadily employed with my needle.