This was really dependent on their slave owner and maybe the state they resided in. Before the 1830s there were few restrictions on teaching slaves to read and write. After the slave revolt led by Nat Turner in 1831, all slave states except Maryland, Kentucky, and Tennessee passed laws against teaching slaves to read and write. Also they tought themselves and others to read, but writing was not a huge deal. But again there are some exceptions because there were slave narratives.
