Antebellum laws banned teaching slaves to read, making literacy a dangerous act.

Evidence

My mother was our family historian and chief storyteller. One of her favorite stories was that Papa Renty taught himself to read using the Blue Back Speller during a period where it was still illegal to teach slaves how to read in parts of the South. “A literate slave is dangerous” was the common thinking among slave owners, which explains why this book was so highly in demand among enslaved people. My mother often said, “Back then, finishing the Blue Back Webster was the equivalent of graduating with a PhD today.” — Tamara Lanier, From These Roots, 37

Categorization

• SEED: The ‘literate slave is dangerous’ rationale plus the smuggled textbook could anchor an essay on how banned knowledge gets passed through specifically dangerous objects.