The setting: growing up in the quarter community

White teaching. Secular training ; Religious instruction

Black learning: the cultural themes of the quarter community. Communality: the group spirit, identification, and solidarity of the quarter community ; Antipathy towards whites: as a group, the interests of whites are inimical to those of the quarter community ; True Christianity versus slaveholding priestcraft: the immorality of slavery ; Black superiority ; White power: the great relative power of white people, backed by the force of the State, makes them persons to be dealt with carefully, if not fearfully ; The importance of the family ; The reality and significance of the spirit world ; The desirability of learning to read and write ; Freedom: freedom is something of great value

The educational instruments of the quarter community. The family ; The peer group ; The clandestine congregation ; Songs and stories ; The community ; The slave quarter and the Indian reservation.