neither slave nor free: the non-slave african american in
TRANSCRIPT
“Neither Slave Nor Free: the Non-Slave African American in Antebellum America, 1790-1861”
South Carolina Social Studies Curriculum Standards:
3-4.1 Compare the economic conditions for various classes of people in South Carolina, including the elite, the middle class, the lower
class, the independent farmers, and the enslaved and free African Americans.
4-2.3 Explain the impact of the triangular trade, indentured servitude,
and the enslaved and free Africans on the developing culture and economy of North America.
USHC-2.4 Compare the social and cultural characteristics of the North,
the South, and the West during the antebellum period, including the lives of African Americans and social reform movements such as abolition and women’s rights.
Outline of Discussion
• Definition of a Free Negro
• Demographics Data
• Sources of Population
• Living Conditions-South
• Living Conditions-North
• Institutions
• Societal Impact
• Prominent Personalities
• Summary and Conclusion
Definition of a Free Negro
John Hope Franklin’s called them “quasi-free”
• STATUS SLIGHTLY BETTER THAN A SLAVE
• WORSE THAN POOREST WHITE
• NEITHER SLAVE NOR FREE
• VIEWED WITH DISTRUST AND SUSPICION
• PRESENCE ALWAYS A MATTER OF CONCERN
Demographics DataAfrican American Population, 1790
Regions and States Slave Population Free Negro Population
New England States• Maine• New Hampshire• Vermont• Massachusetts• Rhode Island• Connecticut
0157009582,648
5366302695,3693,4842,771
Mid-Atlantic States• New York• New Jersey• Pennsylvania• Delaware
21,19311,4233,7078,887
4,6822,7626,5313,899
Totals 48,973 30,933
Demographics DataAfrican American Population, 1790
Region and States Slave Population Free Negro Population
Southern States• Maryland• Virginia• North Carolina• South Carolina• Georgia• Kentucky• Tennessee
103,036292,627100,783107,09429,26412,4303,417
8,04312,8665,0411,801398114361
Totals 648,651 28,624
Overall Totals 697,624 59,557
Demographics DataAfrican American Population, 1820
Slave Population Free Negro Population
1,538, 000 234,000
Demographics DataAfrican American Population in the South, 1830
State Slave Population Free Negro Population
AlabamaArkansasFloridaGeorgiaKentuckyLouisianaMarylandMississippiNorth CarolinaSouth CarolinaTennesseeVirginiaWashington, DC
117,5494,57615,501217,532165,213109,603102,99465,659245,601315,401141,603469,7576,119
1,5721418442,4864,91716,71052,93851919,5437,9214,55647,3486,152
Total 1,977,108 165,647
Demographics DataAfrican American Population, 1860
Slave Population Free Negro Population
3,954,000 North 237, 000
South 251,000
Total 488, 000
11% of the total African American population
Demographics Data
POPULATION-SELECT CITIES
1800 1850
BALTIMORE 2,771 5442
BOSTON 1,174 1,999
CHARLESTON 951 3,441
NEW ORLEANS 800 9,905
NEW YORK 3,490 13,815
PHILADELPHIA 4,210 10,736
WASHINGTON, DC 123 8,158
Demographics Data
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION
• MOST LIVED IN URBAN AREAS
• EASTERN VIRGINIA
• BALTIMORE
• BOSTON
• NEW YORK
• PHILADELPHIA
• CINCINNATI
Sources of Population
DEED OF MANUMISSIONKNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS THAT I,EBENZER ROTHWELL OF ST GEORGECOUNTY OF NEWCASTLE AND STATE OFDELEWARE DO FOR DIVERS GOOD CAUSES AND REASONS TO ME WELL KNOWN….. HEREUNTO TO MOVING DO MANUMIT, ENFRANCHISE AND SET AT LIBERTY MY NEGROMAN, ISAAC, NOW MY SLAVE, AGED ABOUT TWENTY YEARS,
Sources of Population
DEED OF MANUMISSION, CONTWHEN THE SAID ISAAC SHALL HAVE ACCRUED TO THE FULL AGE OF THIRTY-TWOYEARS, AND I DO FOR MYSELF, MY HEIRS, ESTATE, ADMINISTRATOR, OR ASSIGN, MANUMIT, ENFRANCHISE AND SET AT LIBERTY MY AFOREMENTINED NEGRO MAN ISAAC…..WITNESS PRESENT
SIGNATURE(SEAL)
Living Conditions-SouthIdentification Pendant
Living Conditions-South
CERTIFICATE OF FREEDOMIN CHESTERFIELD COUNTY COURT CLERK’S OFFICE, SEPT 16TH, 1858
RICHARD THOS ENGISH, A FREE MAN OFCOLOR, WHO HAS BEEN HERETOFORE REGISTERED IN THE SAID OFFICE, THIS DAY DELIVERED UP TO ME HIS FORMER CERTIFICATE OF REGISTRATION, AND APPLIED FOR A RENEWAL OF THE SAME, WHICH IS GRANTED HIM:
Living Conditions-SouthCERTIFICATE OF FREEDOM
AND HE IS NOW OF THE FOLLOWING
DESCRIPTION, TO WIT:AGE 20 YEARS,COLOR:
MULATTO, STATUTE:FIVE FEET 4 ½ INCHES,
HAS A SCAR ON HIS RIGHT TEMPLE, AND
WAS BORN FREE IN CHESTERFIELD COUNTY
NO. 3217 IN TESTIMONY….
FORMER NO 1767 DATE 13 FEB 1849
Notable Exceptions
• Some free African American amassed comfortable wealth in the North and South
• Some owned small profitable businesses
• Some became real estate and slave owners themselves
Reverend Samuel Cornish
Martin Delany
James Forten
Robert Purvis
Of Interest
• ANNUAL CONVENTION MOVEMENT
• AFRICAN RECOLONIZATION
QUASI FREE NEGROES
SUMMARY STATEMENTS
• FREE BLACK WERE ALWAYS AT THE FOREFRONT OF THE ANTISLAVERY AND ABOLITION MOVEMENT
• MOST REJECTED COLONIZATION SCHEME
• UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCE, THEY DID EXCEPTIONALLY WELL
Sources
D. Hine, W. Hine, and S. Harrold The African American Odyssey
Ira Berlin Slaves Without Master, The Free Negro in the Antebellum South
Leonard Curry The Free Black in Urban America, 1800-1850
Leon Litwack North of Slavery, The Negro in the Free States, 1790-1860
Larry Koger Black Slaveowners, Free Black Slave Masters in South Carolina,1790-1890
Marina Wikramangrake A World in Shadow-The Free Negro in Antebellum South Carolina
Sources
NHC.ORG The Making of African American Identity, Volume I, 1500-1865
See particularly for primary sources:
* Community
* Identity