Before Lincoln’s signature had even dried on the Emancipation Proclamation, African-Americans were starting schools public and private. Education, no matter how remedial meant freedom for African-Americans because it was one step closer to be put on level ground with their former masters. Reading in particular meant gaining a previously forbidden wealth of knowledge. Reading opens the flood gates to understanding the written law, policies, and business contracts, and on a moral note it grants access for Christian freed men and women to read the Bible and define religion for themselves through literate digest not just through skewed pastoral hearsay.