Nothing to contribute, but WOW what a fascinating topic!

I'd assumed the literacy rate would be fairly low, with most people "functional" in some things (like being able to write down how many goats they had or how much grain they sold to the military). The military would be somewhat literate as well (officers writing reports and so forth).

Now that I think about it, I realize I know little about the class makeup of AE. Fascinating question, though.