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Can a slave learn to read?

Updated: 8/22/2023
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12y ago

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Some did. In some states it was illegal to teach a slave to read. Some of the slave owners would educate some of their slaves, but keeping it a secret. But Nightjohn did teach a slave named Sarny to read.

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14y ago
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15y ago

no they weren't, it was considered illegal because if they could learn to read, if they were freed or escaped they could make a life for themselves more easily. if they couldnt, they were still in the power of the white community at least temporarily, because knowledge is power

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12y ago

A slave can learn to read but the whites wouldn't want them to because they use the slaves for working on fields and no paying any attention to education. The whites didn't want them to get their heads all tied up with studies 'cause they wanted them to work, work, work!

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14y ago

Although she was interested in education, Harriet Tubman never learned how to read, but she was just as smart and bright as anybody else.

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14y ago

they were taught to read The Bible

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Related questions

How did King Alfred learn to read?

did Fredrick learn how to read


What did slave children learn in schools?

read and write


Could sojouner truth read?

No she was a slave and therefore she was forrbid to learn how to read.


What rule did every slave child learn?

Slave children were not allowed to read or write.


Who taught Frederick that slaves weren't supposed to learn how to read?

Mr. Auld taught Fredrick Douglas that slaves weren't suppose to learn how to read. In Mr.Auld's view if a slave learned to read and write they would not be fit to be a slave.


How might slaves learn to read and write?

A slave might have learned to read and write by seeing writings all around and they copy it and write it down. They learn to read by pronouncing the letters that they know, so they learn to read like that.


Did harriet know how to read and write?

No, she did not learn how to read or write because none of the slaves were allowed to be taught in case they used it for communication to escape.


What was the punishment for a slave trying to learn how to read and write?

Slaves caught trying to learn how to read and write were often severely punished, including physical abuse, whipping, or even death. Slave owners feared that education would empower slaves to challenge the status quo and seek freedom. Teaching slaves to read and write was illegal in many Southern states before the Civil War.


Why did southern slave owners prefer keep their slaves illiterate?

not allowing them to attend school to learn how to read and write


Why were slave forbidden to learn how to read or write in the revolutionary war?

they werent forbidden they just simply couldnt.


Why did slave owners often refuse to allow their slaves to learn to read and write?

This was a law and hence it tried tried to secure slavery by restricting the possibility of manumission.


Why werent enslaved children not allowed to attend school?

The moment a slave child was born they were property and many were sold away from their parents as young as 2 years old. Slaves were also prohibited by law to learn to read and write. A person who taught slaves to read could be fined or jailed. The main reason this was this way is because if you want to keep people as slaves you don't want them to be able to read, think, or write ideas. Hitler when he invaded Poland closed all the schools, killed the teachers, and didn't want the children to learn because he saw it as a slave state. So, the southern slave child couldn't go to school nor learn to read or write. They were meant to be slaves ONLY.