Free Negro
Encyclopedia
A free Negro or free black is the term used prior to the abolition of slavery in the United States
to describe African Americans who were not slaves. Almost all African Americans came to the United States as slaves, but from the earliest days of American slavery, slaveholders set men and women free for various reasons. Sometimes an owner died and the heirs did not want slaves, or a slave was freed as reward for his or her good service, or the slave was able to pay in order to be freed. Free blacks in the antebellum
period—those years from the formation of the Union until the Civil War—were quite outspoken about the injustice of slavery.
Free blacks in America were first documented in Northampton County
, Virginia
, in 1662. By 1776, approximately 8 percent of African Americans were free.
In the two decades after the Revolution, many slaveholders in the Chesapeake Bay area freed slaves. For instance, in Virginia
, the number of free blacks increased from a few thousand before the war to 13,000 by 1790 and 20,000 by 1800. The numbers were more dramatic in Delaware
and Maryland
, where a higher percentage of slaves were freed, in part because of changing economies that decreased the need for slave labor and immigration by free blacks to Delaware from Maryland and Virginia. By 1810, 75 percent of blacks in Delaware were free, compared to 7.2 percent of the blacks in Virginia.
By 1810, 4 percent of blacks in the South
(10 percent in the Upper South), and 75 percent of blacks in the North were free. On the eve of the American Civil War
, 10 percent of African Americans nationwide, close to half a million people, were free.
Black men enlisted as soldiers and fought in the American Revolution
and the War of 1812
. Some owned land, homes, businesses, and paid tax
es. In some Northern cities blacks voted. Blacks were also outspoken in print. Freedom's Journal
, the first black-owned newspaper, appeared in 1827. This paper and other early writings by blacks fueled the attack against slavery and racist conceptions about the intellectual inferiority of African Americans.
Free blacks were often mixed-race people; many were born in North America
. A half-black/half-white person was called a mulatto
(male) or a mulatress (female). Negro is a Portuguese
and Spanish
term that means "black". The term colored
was ubiquitously employed by 1820 to describe mixed-race free Negroes.
In Virginia
and North Carolina
in 1790, most free negro families were the descendants of colonial-era families of white servant women who had children by slaves or free African Americans. At that time, few families that were free, perhaps as low as 1 percent of the total, were descended from white slave owners who had children by their slaves. Under the law of partus sequitur ventrum
, male slaveholders were not required to free their children by their slaves.
Many free African American families in colonial North Carolina and Virginia became landowners. Some of them also became slave owners. In some cases, this was in order to protect members of their own families, whom they purchased from other owners. In other cases, they participated in the full slave economy. For example, a freedman named Cyprian Ricard purchased an estate in Louisiana
that included 100 slaves
.
Planters who had mixed-race children sometimes arranged for their education, even in schools in the North, or as apprentices in crafts. Others settled property on them. Some freed the children and their mothers. While fewer in number than in the Upper South, free blacks in the Deep South were more often mixed-race children of wealthy planters, especially in Louisiana and Charleston. They had more opportunities to accumulate wealth. Sometimes they were the recipients of transfers of property and social capital. For instance, Wilberforce University
, founded by Methodist and African Methodist Episcopal (AME) representatives in Ohio
in 1856 for the education of African-American youth, was in its first years largely supported by wealthy southern planters who paid for the education of their mixed-race children. When the war broke out, the school lost most of its 200 students. The college closed for a couple of years before the AME Church bought it and began to operate it.
The historian
John D. Winters
, in his The Civil War in Louisiana. estimates that three thousand free blacks volunteered for militia duty in Louisiana
by 1862, but two others historians, Lawrence L. Hewitt and Arthur W. Bergeron, in their Louisianians in the Civil War claim his number is too high, that no more than two thousand participated. Fifteen free blacks are documented by Hewitt and Bergeron as having joined the Confederate Army as private
s.The three most prominent instances of such volunteers were in St. Landry Parish
in south Louisiana, the most notable being Charles F. Lutz.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to describe African Americans who were not slaves. Almost all African Americans came to the United States as slaves, but from the earliest days of American slavery, slaveholders set men and women free for various reasons. Sometimes an owner died and the heirs did not want slaves, or a slave was freed as reward for his or her good service, or the slave was able to pay in order to be freed. Free blacks in the antebellum
History of the United States (1789–1849)
With the election of George Washington as the first president in 1789, the new government acted quickly to rebuild the nation's financial structure. Enacting the program of Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, the government assumed the Revolutionary war debts of the state and the national...
period—those years from the formation of the Union until the Civil War—were quite outspoken about the injustice of slavery.
Free blacks in America were first documented in Northampton County
Northampton County, Virginia
As of the census of 2010, there were 12,389 people, 5,321 households, and 3,543 families residing in the county. The population density was 63 people per square mile . There were 6,547 housing units at an average density of 32 per square mile...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, in 1662. By 1776, approximately 8 percent of African Americans were free.
In the two decades after the Revolution, many slaveholders in the Chesapeake Bay area freed slaves. For instance, in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, the number of free blacks increased from a few thousand before the war to 13,000 by 1790 and 20,000 by 1800. The numbers were more dramatic in Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
and Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, where a higher percentage of slaves were freed, in part because of changing economies that decreased the need for slave labor and immigration by free blacks to Delaware from Maryland and Virginia. By 1810, 75 percent of blacks in Delaware were free, compared to 7.2 percent of the blacks in Virginia.
By 1810, 4 percent of blacks in the South
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
(10 percent in the Upper South), and 75 percent of blacks in the North were free. On the eve of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, 10 percent of African Americans nationwide, close to half a million people, were free.
Black men enlisted as soldiers and fought in the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
and the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
. Some owned land, homes, businesses, and paid tax
Tax
To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...
es. In some Northern cities blacks voted. Blacks were also outspoken in print. Freedom's Journal
Freedom's Journal
Freedom's Journal was the first African American owned and operated newspaper published in the United States. Published weekly in New York City from 16 March 1827 to 28 March 1829, the journal was edited by John Russwurm and co-editor, Samuel Cornish who contributed only through 14 September 1827...
, the first black-owned newspaper, appeared in 1827. This paper and other early writings by blacks fueled the attack against slavery and racist conceptions about the intellectual inferiority of African Americans.
Free blacks were often mixed-race people; many were born in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. A half-black/half-white person was called a mulatto
Mulatto
Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
(male) or a mulatress (female). Negro is a Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
term that means "black". The term colored
Colored
Colored is a term once widely used in the United States to describe black people and Native Americans...
was ubiquitously employed by 1820 to describe mixed-race free Negroes.
In Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
and North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
in 1790, most free negro families were the descendants of colonial-era families of white servant women who had children by slaves or free African Americans. At that time, few families that were free, perhaps as low as 1 percent of the total, were descended from white slave owners who had children by their slaves. Under the law of partus sequitur ventrum
Partus sequitur ventrum
Partus sequitur ventrem, often abbreviated to partus, in the British North American colonies and later in the United States, was a legal doctrine which the English colonists incorporated in legislation related to definitions of slavery. It was derived from the Roman civil law; it held that the...
, male slaveholders were not required to free their children by their slaves.
Many free African American families in colonial North Carolina and Virginia became landowners. Some of them also became slave owners. In some cases, this was in order to protect members of their own families, whom they purchased from other owners. In other cases, they participated in the full slave economy. For example, a freedman named Cyprian Ricard purchased an estate in Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
that included 100 slaves
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
.
Planters who had mixed-race children sometimes arranged for their education, even in schools in the North, or as apprentices in crafts. Others settled property on them. Some freed the children and their mothers. While fewer in number than in the Upper South, free blacks in the Deep South were more often mixed-race children of wealthy planters, especially in Louisiana and Charleston. They had more opportunities to accumulate wealth. Sometimes they were the recipients of transfers of property and social capital. For instance, Wilberforce University
Wilberforce University
Wilberforce University is a private, coed, liberal arts historically black university located in Wilberforce, Ohio. Affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church, it was the first college to be owned and operated by African Americans...
, founded by Methodist and African Methodist Episcopal (AME) representatives in Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
in 1856 for the education of African-American youth, was in its first years largely supported by wealthy southern planters who paid for the education of their mixed-race children. When the war broke out, the school lost most of its 200 students. The college closed for a couple of years before the AME Church bought it and began to operate it.
The historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
John D. Winters
John D. Winters
John David Winters was a historian at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana, best known for his definitive and award-winning study, The Civil War in Louisiana, still in print, published in 1963 and released in paperback in 1991.-Background:Winters was born to John David Winters, Sr...
, in his The Civil War in Louisiana. estimates that three thousand free blacks volunteered for militia duty in Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
by 1862, but two others historians, Lawrence L. Hewitt and Arthur W. Bergeron, in their Louisianians in the Civil War claim his number is too high, that no more than two thousand participated. Fifteen free blacks are documented by Hewitt and Bergeron as having joined the Confederate Army as private
Private (rank)
A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...
s.The three most prominent instances of such volunteers were in St. Landry Parish
St. Landry Parish, Louisiana
St. Landry Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is at the heart of Acadian/Cajun culture and heritage in Louisiana. The parish seat is Opelousas. According to the 2010 census, the population of St. Landry Parish is 83,384.St...
in south Louisiana, the most notable being Charles F. Lutz.
Notable free Negroes
- Walter L. CohenWalter L. CohenWalter L. Cohen, Sr. was an African American Republican politician and businessman in the U.S. state of Louisiana.The New Orleans native was the son of Bernard Cohen and the former Amelia Bingaman...
, Born in 1860, held federal appointments in New OrleansNew Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
from Presidents William McKinleyWilliam McKinleyWilliam McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
, Theodore RooseveltTheodore RooseveltTheodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
, Warren G. HardingWarren G. HardingWarren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th President of the United States . A Republican from Ohio, Harding was an influential self-made newspaper publisher. He served in the Ohio Senate , as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and as a U.S. Senator...
, and Calvin CoolidgeCalvin CoolidgeJohn Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state... - William EllisonWilliam EllisonWilliam Ellison Jr, born April Ellison, was a free negro who achieved great success in business eventually becoming one of the largest property owners, including slaves, and certainly the wealthiest Negro property owner in South Carolina...
Jr., Former slave and wealthy businessman - Ayuba Suleiman DialloAyuba Suleiman DialloAyuba Suleiman Diallo , also known as Job ben Solomon, was a famous enslaved Muslim who was a victim of the Atlantic slave trade...
, Former slave and businessman - Thomas L. JenningsThomas L. JenningsThomas L. Jennings was an African American tradesman and abolitionist. He was a free black who operated a dry-cleaning business in New York City, New York and was the first African American to be granted a patent...
, First African American granted a U.S. PatentPatentA patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....