Free African Americans Flashcards
Small population
In both north and south
Slavery influenced
Northern lawmakers
The sectional status of slavery as a southern institution
Slave population
Higher in the south
Gradual mass-emancipation was not popular
Ban on
Individual emancipation in the south was lifted
Meant slaves could be freed through wills or during the slaveholder’s lifetime
Were freed in exchange for
Revolution
Meant offsprings were freed
Some took their own freedom
By running away
Tended to go north
South tended to have fewer freed slaves
Was easier to mix with free black population in the north than south
Encouraged more people to run away
Free blacks from Haiti emigrated
To the US
Haitian revolution helped increase the amount of slave runaways
French/Spanish speaking creole population
States in the upper south
Gave free black men the vote
On the same stipulations as the white man (had to hold land in order to qualify)
70-80% growth of free African Americans between 1780 and 1820
1790: 60,000
1820: 234,000
Most freed slaves lived
In the south
Chesapeake region: 134,200
Deep south: 20,150
Free black men’s lives in the south
Was intertwined with slaves
Worked alongside them
Remained in close contact with them
Promoted family connections
Barber shops
Free black men worked as barbers for white men
Learned about each other’s cultures
Some free blacks farmed
The land of the whites
In return for spoils
Continued post-civil war
Many rural people found their lives were
Exploited by local whites
In the same situation as the slave
Free blacks were the most
Urbanised population in the 1860s
Role of the city in the north
Cities didn’t hold much opportunity
For African Americans
Met with animosity from the white population
Both in north and south
Most free black men unable
To exercise their right to vote
Discrimination
Increasingly barred from public places
Children excluded from education in north and south
Slavery was
A central role in area of southern life
Gave meaning to hierarchy
United different white class
Freed black community
Influential in establishing black culture
Black abolitionists were powerful witnesses to slavery
Ultimately the presence of slavery in the republic
Was difficult to dislodge
