Were slaves in America forced to be illiterate?

Laws banning the teaching of slaves to read and write only existed for the last 30–40 years or so of American slavery. Before that, it was up to the owner whether to teach slaves to read and write. read more

Slaves who could read or were learning had to hide this information or risk, not just punishment, but death - for what you learn cannot be unlearned. There were some masters who wanted a slave or two to be able to read some things or do some basic math in order to be more useful, but in general this was considered an extremely dangerous thing to do and would be frowned upon by your neighbors. read more

Most slaves could not read or write. However instruction from the Bible, that is someone reading from the Bible for them; was forced upon many slaves by their Christian masters. So in time, the morality of the Bible was all they were ever exposed to. Except in those rare cases where memories of a pre-slave existence were passed down in secret. read more

Far more young men than women were transported, and they were just the ones most likely to disdain any family beliefs and practices. In the American (North, Latin, or South) colonies, the slave lost his identity as a valued member of a local community. read more

In the US, most slaves were never taught to read, and there were laws against teaching slaves to read in some colonies (that later became later states). Literacy was seen as a threat to the system. read more