Anti-literacy laws in the United States

Anti-literacy laws in many slave states before and during the American Civil War affected slaves, freedmen, and in some cases all people of color.^[1]^[2] Some laws arose from concerns that literate slaves could forge the documents required to escape to a free state. According to William M. Banks, "Many slaves who learned to write did indeed achieve freedom by this method. The wanted posters for runaways often mentioned whether the escapee could write."^[3] Anti-literacy laws also arose from fears of slave insurrection, particularly around the time of abolitionist David Walker's 1829 publication of Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World, which openly advocated rebellion,^[4] and Nat Turner's Rebellion of 1831.

The United States is the only country known to have had anti-literacy laws.^[5]

^ Williams, Heather Andrea (2009-11-20). Self-Taught: African American Education in Slavery and Freedom. Univ of North Carolina Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-8078-8897-1.
^ "Illegal to Teach Slaves to Read and Write". Harper's Weekly. June 21, 1862.
^ Banks, William M. (1996). Black Intellectuals: Race and Responsibility in American Life. W. W. Norton.
^ Paul Finkelman, Encyclopedia of African American History, 1619–1895: From the Colonial Period to the Age of Frederick Douglass, Oxford University Press, USA, Apr 6, 2006, p. 445
^ Christopher M. Span; Brenda N. Sanya (2019). "Education and the African Diaspora". In Rury, John L.; Tamura, Eileen H. (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of the History of Education. Oxford University Press. p. 402.

[1] Williams, Heather Andrea (2009-11-20). Self-Taught: African American Education in Slavery and Freedom. Univ of North Carolina Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-8078-8897-1.

[2] "Illegal to Teach Slaves to Read and Write". Harper's Weekly. June 21, 1862.

[banks-3] Banks, William M. (1996). Black Intellectuals: Race and Responsibility in American Life. W. W. Norton.

[4] Paul Finkelman, Encyclopedia of African American History, 1619–1895: From the Colonial Period to the Age of Frederick Douglass, Oxford University Press, USA, Apr 6, 2006, p. 445

[5] Christopher M. Span; Brenda N. Sanya (2019). "Education and the African Diaspora". In Rury, John L.; Tamura, Eileen H. (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of the History of Education. Oxford University Press. p. 402.

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