American Missionary Association,

No. 61 JOHN ST.,

New-York, ……………………186

M…………………………..
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Having received your application for a Commission, as Teacher of Freedmen, we send you the following Circular, indicating the conditions on which alone we feel justified in giving an appointment.

Please address you correspondence on this subject, to REV. SAMUEL HUNT, at these Rooms.

CIRCULAR.

The American Missionary Association to those seeking Commissions as Teachers of Freedmen, and those who recommend them.

The War is over. Among its glorious results is EMANCIPATION. Shall it be made, in the highest degree, a blessing to those who secure, and to the nation that gives, it? This can be done only as the Freedmen are educated, and thus fitted to appreciate and improve their newly-found liberty. Believing this the American Missionary Association made the first organized effort in this direction, nearly four years ago, by establishing schools in Eastern Virginia. Having these years' experience, in which they have sustained schools in thirteen States and the District of Columbia, and employed hundreds of teachers, we adopt this method of presenting to those who would enter our service, and especially to those who would recommend them, some suggestions concerning qualifications, testimonials, support, and terms.

QUALIFICATIONS

1. Missionary spirit. as our work is to be carried on in a country devastated, and in society demoralized and generally made hostile, by war, no one should seek, accept, or be recommended for, an appointment who is not prepared to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ -- to do hard work , go to hard places, and submit, if need be, to hard fare -- to subordinate self to the cause and acquiesce cheerfully in the directions and supervision of those who have the matter in charge. For this, however, there can be no
(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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label levels:

There is currently no available "Beginner" label. The following is the default level label: Founded in 1846 to assist freed slaves, the American Missionary Association sent many Northerners to the South to educate "Freedmen" following the Civil War. This circular is to recruit teachers and describes the qualifications and behavior expected of the applicants. This document provides an important insight into social values among the religious in the Victorian era. Overall, the AMA was looking for hard-working disciplinarians committed to service for God and teaching experience. The group sees the education of former slaves as "great work of Southern REGENERATION." While the AMA recruited both men and women, as was common of the time, this circular reports that men will be paid $100 a year more than women teachers.

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