This paper examines the impact of war on African-American education. This question is considered in three different periods: the eras of the American Revolution, the Civil War and the Second World War. Large-scale conflict, such as these instances of total war, can afford historical moments when oppressed groups are able take steps to improve their social status, challenging the forms of domination that have subjugated them in the past and demanding rights and liberties long denied them. This is an especially noteworthy case because of the highly developed system of racial oppression that African Americans became subjected to historically. In each of these cases, disruptions of existing patterns of social and political inequity provided openings for African Americans to realise new opportunities for education and social advancement. Implications of these historical patterns are discussed in the conclusion.