[summer]

gatorman, in your post I think you make a point the other poster is ignoring:

"..society was doing all it could to prevent slaves from becoming literate." . . .

[Frumious Bandersnatch]

I'm not ignoring that fact at all.  However, Reread the paragraph I'm talking about.  It is implying all blacks whether they are free or not.  Also, you ignore gatorman's post indicating that a surprisingly high percentage of slaves were literate.