Literacy and Slavery In the time when slavery had been practiced in the South, people already knew that literacy is an important capability. Slave owners trained their slaves to perform complex tasks, such as working the fields, managing animals, and farming. But they don 't teach their slaves how to read and write. A slaveholder’s society benefited from preventing slaves from learning to read and write. Literacy is an important capability because, it’s the first step on the road to mental and physical freedom. Literacy is an important capability to help function at school, on the job, and in society. Reading and writing are vital skills in finding a good job. Many well paid jobs require reading and writing as a part of the job. Literacy is important in all levels of employment. A person is more efficient in their work and is considered to be a much more powerful person when he or she is literate. Doors open much more easily for people who are literate. For example, nobody is going to hire a person who can not even properly fill out a job application? Illiteracy or poor reading and writing skills increases the amount of time it takes to absorb and react in the workplace. A person is limited in what they can accomplish without good reading and comprehension skills. The most important element in living a successful life is being literacy.The better you are in reading and writing the better chance you will have in your future career. In society reading and