Free Blacks in the United States
"To be born in a free society and not be born free is to be born into a lie." –
James Baldwin, 1966
Even though these words were written 100 years after slavery ended, Baldwin's
words showed the challenges Blacks faced in America between 1619 and 1860.
Many scholars suggest that during this period, free blacks in America were "more
black than free." This means that the discrimination blacks faced in the North made
freedom more of an illusion than a reality. For example, educational opportunities
were limited, they could only attend certain clubs or social circles, most jobs were
closed to them, most housing was denied to them, and personal safety or basic
human dignity were not a sure thing.
These free Negroes, as they were called at that time, were scattered throughout
three different regions: the North, the Upper South, and the Lower South. Each
region had its own flavor. Many of slavery's most vociferous (biggest) critics lived in
the Northern region, which is made up of Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey,
and the New England states. But that didn’t mean that the North was a perfect
place for Blacks.
Growth of African American Population in the United States
Free blacks in America were first documented in Virginia in 1662. By 1776, 60,000
African Americans—approximately 8 percent of the national black population—were
free. The free black population continued to rise steadily. This worried many
proslavery whites.
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By 1810, 4 percent of all African Americans in the Deep South, 10 percent in the
Upper South, and 75 percent in the North were free. Most free blacks in the North
were in urban cities such as Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. Between 1800
and 1850 the free black population in the nation's 15 largest cities grew twice as
fast as white population. By 1860 close to 500,000 free blacks lived in the United
States, which is about 9 percent of the entire black population.
Attaining Freedom
Freedom did not come easily. Thousands of runaway slaves were captured, and
these were returned to slavery or executed by whites.
The most common route to freedom came through manumission, which is the
formal release of a someone from slavery. A slave could be manumitted privately
by an individual or officially by a state law. Vermont became the first state to
guarantee immediate manumission when it outlawed slavery in its 1777
constitution. After the American Revolution (1775-1783), many Northern states
followed Vermont's lead and changed their laws regarding slavery. Several other
Northern states, including New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, adopted a
policy of gradual manumission, which meant that the children of all current slaves
would automatically be free once they reached a certain age, generally 21 or 25.
White Racism towards Free Blacks
Hardship did not end with freedom, even in the North. Free blacks in the North were
excluded from most public schools, prohibited from interstate travel, barred from
voting in many states, and often harassed by hostile white mobs. Finding a decent
job in the North was extremely difficult. Jobs open to free blacks were limited mostly
to domestic service and subsistence farming. There were few free black skilled
artisans. Furthermore, the jobs that were available to free blacks were found mainly
in urban cities such as Boston, Philadelphia, and New York. At a time when less
than 20 percent of all Americans settled in urban areas, 60 percent of Northern free
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blacks lived in major urban cities. If you were a free black who wanted to live in the
countryside, you were probably out of luck.
Proslavery whites strongly believed that the presence of free blacks anywhere was
an immediate threat to slavery everywhere. As a result, free blacks in both the
North and the South were systematically isolated and segregated (put in separate
places). Says historian Leon F. Litwack, "free blacks were often educated in
segregated schools, punished in segregated prisons, nursed in segregated
hospitals, and buried in segregated cemeteries." White racism and hatred increased
as free blacks and poor whites started competing for jobs.. Some whites saw free
blacks as a threat to their jobs and salaries. White mobs attacked and killed free
blacks in Philadelphia (1829, 1849), Boston (1843), Providence, Rhode Island
(1831), New York (1834), and Washington, D.C. (1835). White mobs also destroyed
black churches, businesses, homes, schools, and meetinghouses.
Free Black Communities and Organizations Respond to Racism
Free blacks responded in a variety of ways to the violence and systematic
discrimination practiced by many whites. Free blacks often worked within their own
communities to establish hundreds of independent black organizations. One of the
most important and powerful organizatiosn created by blacks were churches.. By
1787 there were black Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Episcopalian
congregations throughout the country. Most free black churches were located in the
North. Two of the most prominent denominations included the African Methodist
Episcopal and the African Methodist Episcopal Zion churches. They helped African
Americans within their communities when people were in need and fought for fair
treatment of African Americans in work, school, and other places.
Schools for free blacks were equally important. Other than Boston after 1855, most
free blacks were banned from attending white public schools. In response, many
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free black communities established schools of their own. One of the most
successful was the African Free School in New York City. It opened in 1787 after
several Northern states abolished slavery and provided elementary education to
African Americans in New York City for almost 50 years.
In addition to churches, schools, and mutual aid societies, free blacks organized
literary clubs, debating societies, and secret fraternal (brotherhood) organizations,
like the Freemasons and the Odd Fellows.
Some free blacks thought that becoming politically active would help them get equal
treatment in the United States. They worked hard to improve the lives of other
African Americans, both free and slave. Frederick Douglass, William Wells Brown,
and Ellen and William Craft published influential slave narratives describing their
lives as slaves and their path to freedom. These narratives brought the cruelty of
slavery to an international audience and inspired antislavery activism in many parts
of the country. Wealthy free blacks, such as the Forten family in Philadelphia,
contributed time and money to the American Anti-Slavery Movement. Whatever the
strategy, many free blacks worked tirelessly to improve the chance for freedom for
the 4 million blacks who still were slaves on the eve of the Civil War. (1861)
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