USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Slaves could not testify in court against a white, make contracts, leave the plantation without permission, strike a white (even in self-defense), buy and sell goods, own firearms, gather without a white present, possess any anti-slavery literature, or visit the homes of whites or free blacks.

Detailed explanation-2: -In 1776, slavery existed in all of the thirteen colonies (though apparently not in Vermont, which was then officially part of New York).

Detailed explanation-3: -Fearing that black literacy would prove a threat to the slave system–which relied on slaves’ dependence on masters–whites in many colonies instituted laws forbidding slaves to learn to read or write and making it a crime for others to teach them.