19 and mostly illiterate

Do you ever wonder what it would be like to be an adult and not able to read? Well in pre-civil war times slaves were prohibited to learn to read or write. Slave owners thought this would keep then from creating a uprising against owners. However some slaves did learn to read and write secretly knowing that if caught the punishment was most likely death. Once all the slaves were free the ones who could not read were jobless, they had to teach themselves or find a slave who could read to teach them. It was a very hard life.