[summer]

He didn't do that either. And, thank you for seeing he is not what you alleged. :)

[Frumious Bandersnatch]

He may not have meant too, but he certainly did paint with overbroad strokes.  One could be forgiven for believing that there were no free blacks, that 100% of slaves were illiterate, and that there was no opportunity for any of them - given the tenor of the article.  There wasn't even so much as a modifier in the article.  The least that could have been done was use the word "most."