Week 5 Assignment - US History - Wentworth

1. African American Freemen
Written by Jodi O’Leary, Esteban Ortiz, and David Tassinari
Wentworth Institute of Technology
History 1101
August 5,2016

2. https://evresourcesite.wikispaces.com/Other+Reconstruction+
Era+Political+Cartoons
http://colonialamericaproject4.wikispaces.com/coloni
al+america+people
http://mskatzamericanlit.wikispaces.com/1930%
27s-pd.1-Aaron-Patrick
http://civilwardailygazette.com/fremont-makes-
freemen-of-slaves-declares-martial-law/
• Who were the African American Freemen and
how did they fit into colonial America?
• Through their cultures and beliefs in the
common values that stood for individual
freedom they were able to form an identity for
themselves.
• The following presentation will provide you
with a background of where they came from
and how they came to be free in America. You
will learn who they were and what their
impact was on the economy and political
balance that made up the Americas.
• Join us on a journey through time to
understand their formation of the American
Identity.
Opening Statement for African American Freemen Culture
Politics
Education
Family

3. Where did the African American Freemen come from?
• Freed Slaves through manumission (the formal act of emancipation by a
slave owner) (boundless, 2016)
• Immigrants fleeing the West Indies during the slave revolt of 1791 against
French Saint Dominque (Gates, 2016)
• Immigrants from Cuba (Gates, 2016)
• Those who came with the Louisiana purchase which occurred as a result
of Napoleon Bonaparte’s need for cash after the defeat of the French by
the slaves. (Gates, 2016)
• The First documentation of free blacks was seen in Northampton County,
Virginia in 1662. (Boundless, 2016)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/agathman/7104244325/

4. Who were the African American Freemen?
• Free black men, women, and children who were a part of the colonial population living both in the North and in
parts of the South , who up until the late 1600’s were able to enjoy the same rights as other colonists.
• They were often seen in the same social circles with the whites (English settlers) working and socializing together
as a community.
• They were expected to exist like any other member of the community.
• Members of the community owned their own land, paid their own taxes, and had the right to vote.
• Free Blacks were expected to separate their lives from those of the slaves just as the white men did.
• In some circles they came to be known as the “Black Englishmen” essentially expected to live, breathe and act
as though they were white themselves. (Wolfe, 2016)

5. • In colonial North Carolina and Virginia owning your own land also included the ownership of slaves to
work the land. Slaves were often part of the plantation that was purchased or handed down as the
result of a death. Owning slaves was just a part of life in the southern colonies.
• One positive aspect of slave ownership was the purchase of family members from the
previous owner. This ownership was a form of protection for the enslaved family .
(Boundless, 2016)
• Artisans
• Craftsmen
• Writers
• Educators
• Planters
• Tailors
(Boundless,2016)
Life as a Freeman
Influences of African
American culture in Society
Free Women of Color with their Children and Servants, oil
painting by Agostino Brunias, Dominica, c. 1764–1796.

6. A change in Freedom
• In the late 1700’s White supremacy begins to invade the status of free blacks
• They were no longer allowed to enter professional occupations such as law
and medicine as they were barred from such education (Boundless, 2016)
• In 1832 a South Carolina judge states that free blacks are part of a degraded
caste of society and are not to be considered equal to white men. (Wikipedia,
2016)
• In 1857 U.S. Supreme Court declares that no black person could ever be
declared an “American” citizen (Fonner, 2016)

7. The Freedom of Religion?
 Laws passed in Virginia in the early 1830’s forbade blacks to carry a bible or to preach the
word of God. (ushistory.org, 2016)
 Against protests from the white church the establishment of the African Methodist Episcopal
Church was formed. (ushistory.org, 2016)
 Fear of black solidarity lead to many arrests of church members (ushistory.org, 2016)
 As a result many leaders of the church became diehard abolitionists (ushistory.org, 2016)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethel_african_methodist
_episcopal_church_(springtown,_new_jersey)

8. Opportunity Knocks
• Abolitionist groups begin to form
http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/2014_06_01_archive.html
• The American Society of Free People of Color
• The Pennsylvania Abolition Society (1775)
• New York Manumission Society (1785)
(Boundless, 2016)
Leader of the
abolitionist movement

9. • Freedom’s Journal – First black owned newspaper (1827)
• Allowed blacks to challenge the racist conceptions about the intellectual inferiority between colors
and whites
• Also added fuel to the attacks on slavery (Boundless, 2016)
http://blackpressresearchcollective.org/

10. http://antebellumamerican.weebly.com/education.html
• In the Antebellum years (the period before the Civil War and the time after the War of 1812) the free black
community of Baltimore made strides to increase blacks access to education
• Those that had schooling were often grouped together in accordance to the book they were learning.
• All age groups were combined
• Schools were weaker in the studies taught than those of the white men
• Supplies were limited and the classroom was overcrowded
• Southern states continued to lack in public educational system until the reconstruction of new biracial
legislature.

11. • Racial segregation and discrimination including that of institutionalized
racism held strong through the 19th and 20th centuries
• History provided us with a glimpse of who the African American Freemen
were and what they stood for
• Equality and Freedom were the rights of every American yet not every
American was treated as an equal
• Through rights and liberties, trials and tribulations we have shown you
how the African American Freemen helped to shape the American
Identity now we will show you how they stood in matters such as
economy.
American Individualism

12. Economy

13. According to boundless,
“By the 19th century, there were flourishing
families of free blacks who had been free for
generations.”
Free blacks achieved:
• An amount of wealth
• Social involvement
• Owning property (Land)
• Paying taxes
• Publishing newspapers
• Voting (Some Northern states)
(Boundless2016)

14. Many free African American families in colonial North Carolina and
Virginia became landowners.
(Boundless, 2016)

15. Ironically, some free blacks became slave owners. According to slaverebellion.org,
in the year 1860, at New Orleans alone about 3,000 free blacks owned slaves.
(slaverebellion, 2016)

16. (Not Actual Estate)
An example of an African American owning slaves is Cyprian Ricard. Cyprian purchased an
estate in Louisiana that included 100 slaves.
(Boundless, 2016)

17. According to Boundless, the majority of free African Americans lived in poverty.
However, some had the ability to start businesses that turned out to be
prosperous.
“Doctors, lawyers, and other businessmen were the foundation of the early
African American middle class. (Boundless, 2016)”

18. Thomas L. Jennings
Thomas L. Jennings became the first black man to receive a patent (blackpast.org, 2016).
His invention had to do with the discovery of a process called “dry-scouring”; a process
used to dry cloth. Today, this process is consider the beginning of modern drying machines. (blackpast.org, 2016)
Examples of successful free African American entrepreneurs include…

19. Thomas Day
Statue of Thomas Day at
Carolina Museum of History
According to Boundless, Thomas Day was a “Famous furniture
maker/craftsman in Caswell County, North Carolina. (Boundless, 2016)”
Thomas had the fortune to be born in a free family.
His father, John Day, Sr., taught him about the cabinetmaking trade
over the years. (Boundless, 2016)

20. James Forten
• Born on September 2, 1766 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
as a free black man
• Veteran of the Revolutionary War
• Successful businessman
• Became owner of sail-making business
(blackpast.org, 2016)

21. John Sweat Rock
According to Northwestern California University, John Sweat Rock was:
• Teacher
• Doctor
• Dentist
• Lawyer
• Abolitionist
• Civil rights leader
John became the first free African American to be admitted at the United
State’s Supreme Court
(nwculaw.edu, 2016)

22. According to Boundless,
Free African American boys could
become apprentices to:
• Carpenters
• Coopers
• Barbers
• Blacksmiths
Girls' options were much more limited:
• Cooks
• Cleaning women seamstresses
• Child-nurturers
(Boundless, 2016)

23. Politics

24. Contributions of Free Blacks to American
Politics in the 19th Century
By 1830 there were 319,000 free African Americans in the
United States, 150,000 of whom lived in the Northern
states.(Boundless, 2016)
In the Southern States,
slavery grew to over 8 million
slaves according to an 1860
Census, even as Northern
States began to abolish it as
early as Vermont in 1777. All
Northern States followed suit
by 1804.(Boundless, 2016)

25. • 1819 – 11 free States and 11 Slave States
• This leads to an increase in
sectionalism in the US.
• Congress becomes concerned about an
imbalance and devises the Missouri
Compromise, creating a line dividing the
territories. Any territory seeking
statehood north of the line would be
free states, and those south of the line
would be slave states. (Boundless,2016)
• In 1830, 150,000 free African Americans live in the Northern
States.
• Less than ½ of the Free African Americans in the entire US.
• Subject to Discrimination
• Unable to receive proper education
• Excluded form certain occupations
• Subject to gender specific occupations
• Generally not represented in politics (African American
Odyssey, 2016)
Source: https://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/exhibit/aopart2.html
Context & Representation

26. • When new territories were acquired in 1846 and 1848,
the idea was to create new states, giving them the choice,
under the X Amendment of the Constitution, whether or
not they would allow slavery.
• Henry Clay brings about legislation in 1850 that gave the
US Marshalls the authority to enforce the Fugitive Slave
Act, thereby involving directly the federal government on
the issue of slavery.
• Kansas-Nebraska Act – Ends the era of compromise as
Nebraska territory is split in two parts, creating Kansas.
Voting to outlaw slavery in Nebraska leads to outrage of
pro-slavery settlers as Kansas prepares to vote on the
matter.
• The Bleeding of Kansas – Pro-Slavery settlers move into
Kansas in anticipation of a vote on the legality of slavery.
Pro-slavery candidates are placed in office and pass new
legislation in violation of the Constitution, setting the
stage for civil war. (American History, 2016)
Further Sectionalism
Source: http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/essays/1801-1900/politics-and-sectionalism-in-the-1850s/the-
compromise-of-1850.php

27. Slave Codes
• Each colony passes a series of laws
known as the Slave codes.
• Each state had different ideas about the
rights of slaves, with common aspects
between them.
• Slaves were property
• Not allowed to own property or
assemble without the presence of a
white person
• Special curfews
• Absence of rights in a court of law
• Illegal to teach a slave to read or write
(Independence Hall Assoc., 2016)
Source: http://www.ushistory.org/us/6f.asp

28. Dred Scott vs. Sandfort
• Dred Scott was a slave who was sold to US Army
Surgeon Dr. John Emerson. His owner was
transferred from Missouri to Wisconsin territory.
• As Wisconsin territory was well above the 36°;30’
line where Scott lived for four years before
Emerson’s transfer back to St. Louis.
• Scott brings a suit before a court in Missouri seeking
his freedom.
• The court ruled in favor of Scott, but the decision
was overturned by the Missouri Supreme Court.
• After 11 years, the U.S. Supreme Court under Chief
Justice Roger B. Taney ruled that he was still a slave.
• The people had been failed by the system in favor of
what was best for the southern people.
• The decision led to increased separatism between
the northern and southern states (American History,
2016)
Source: http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/essays/1801-1900/politics-and-sectionalism-
in-the-1850s/the-case-of-scott-versus-sandfort.php
Dred Scott
Roger B. Taney

29. Anti-Slavery Movements
• New England becomes a hotbed of anti-slavery
sentiment
• Many publications arose by the 1820’s
demonizing the practice of slavery.
David Walker
• 1829 - A freeman of Boston, publishes anti-
slavery appeal advocating extreme militancy.
“It is no more harm for you to kill a man who is
trying to kill you, than it is for you to take a drink of
water when thirsty.”
• Walker’s publication leads to attempted
uprisings (HistoryNet, 2016)
Source: http://www.historynet.com/abolitionist-movement

30. Fredrick Douglas
• Leaves The Liberator – the most famous and
influential abolitionist newspaper to publish The
North Star newspaper & Frederick Douglass’ Paper
(HistoryNet, 2016)
• A gifted writer and speaker, Douglas used his own
symbolism against slavery
• Fought to empower African Americans to develop
skills and take responsibility for their actions
(Frederick Douglas Heritage, 2016)
Source: http://www.frederick-douglass-heritage.org/legacy-significance/
Source: http://www.historynet.com/abolitionist-movement

31. Martin R. Delany
• Born to a free mother in Virginia
• One of the first black men to be admitted to
Harvard Medical School
• Traveled to Africa to negotiate for land to
establish a colony without success
• Returned to the U.S. to become the first black
officer on a general’s staff in U.S. Army history.
• In 1849, Britain recognizes the sovereignty of
Liberia, founded in 1822 as a colony for free-
born blacks, freed slaves and mulattos from
the U.S. (HistoryNet,2016)
Source: http://www.historynet.com/abolitionist-movement

32. Black political leaders of the 19th Century
• Hiram Rhodes Revels
• First African American to serve in Congress
• First action as a senator was to challenge the refusal of
Georgia to seat elected African Americans
• Booker T. Washington
• Founded the Tuskeegee Institute
• Establish education funds for African Americans
• Blanche Kelso Bruce
• Served in the U.S. Senate from 1875 to 1881.
• Lobbied for the seating of Pickney Pinchback of Louisiana,
but the Senate refused to certify his election
• Denounced immigration restrictions on the Chinese
• George Henry White
• Issued a Bill to Stop the lynching of African Americans (The
Classroom,2016)
Source: http://classroom.synonym.com/black-political-leaders-1800s-early-
1900s-11194.html

33. Freemen Blacks played a critical role in the development
of politics in the 19th century United States, influencing
events such as:
• The Abolitionist Movement
• The Compromise of 1850
• The Bleeding of Kansas
• The Missouri Compromise
• Contribution to Sectionalism and Civil War
• Awareness of political, judicial and legislative issues.
• Dred Scott case
• Slave Codes
• Legacy of strong political and social leaders representing and advocating
for African Americans

34. Blackpast.org. (2016, August 4). The Online Reference Guide to African American History . Retrieved from blackpast.org: http://www.blackpast.org/
Boundless (2016). Boundless U.S. History. Retrieved from https://www.boundless.com/u-s-history/textbooks/boundless-u-s-history-textbook/religion-
romanticism-and-cultural-reform-1820-1860-14/the-age-of-cultural-reforms-112/abolitionists-and-the-american-ideal-602-8559/
Boundless (2016). Boundless U.S. History. Retrieved from https://www.boundless.com/u-s-history/textbooks/boundless-u-s-history-textbook/slavery-in-
the-antebellum-u-s-1820-1840-16/slavery-in-the-u-s-122/free-blacks-in-the-south-654-3160/
Fonner, E. (2016, August 4). The Contested History of American Freedom. Retrieved from digitalhistory.org:
http://digitalhistory.hsp.org/pafrm/essay/contested-history-american-freedom
Free Blacks in the Antebellum Period. (2016, August 4). Retrieved from African American Odyssey:
https://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/exhibit/aopart2.html
Gates, L. j. (2016, August 4). Free Blacks Lived in the North Right? Retrieved from PBS.org: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-
cross/history/free-blacks-lived-in-the-north-right/
Holloway, J. E. (2016, August 4). THE BLACK SLAVE OWNERS. Retrieved from slaverebellion.org: http://slaverebellion.org/index.php?page=the-black-slave-
owners
Heritage, F. D. (2016, August 4). Who was Frederick Douglass? Retrieved from frederick-douglass-heritage.org: http://www.frederick-douglass-
heritage.org/life-of-frederick-douglass/
History, A. (2016, August 4). The Compromise of 1850. Retrieved from let.rug.nl: http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/outlines/history-1994/sectional-conflict/the-
compromise-of-1850.php
Historynet. (2016, August 4). Abolitionist Movement. Retrieved from historynet.com: http://www.historynet.com/abolitionist-movement
Holloway, J. E. (n.d.). The Black Slave Owners. Retrieved August 04, 2016, from http://slaverebellion.org/index.php?page=the-black-slave-owners
Works Cited

35. Works Cited Continued
John Rock Biography. (n.d.). Retrieved August 04, 2016, from http://www.nwculaw.edu/john-rock-biography
Kenneth, D. (2016, August 4). Black Political Leaders of the 1800's and Early 1900's. Retrieved from synonym.com: http://classroom.synonym.com/black-political-
leaders-1800s-early-1900s-11194.html
UShistory.org. (2016, August 4). "Slave Codes". Retrieved from UShistory.org: http://www.ushistory.org/us/6f.asp
Ushistory.org. (2016, August 4). Free(?) African-Americans. Retrieved from U.S. History Online Textbook: http://www.ushistory.org/us/27d.asp
Watson, E. (n.d.). Forten, James (1766-1842) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed. Retrieved August 04, 2016, from http://www.blackpast.org/aah/forten-
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Weebly.com. (2016, August 4). Antebellumamerican. Retrieved from weebly.com: http://antebellumamerican.weebly.com/education.html
wikipedia. (2016, August 4). Free People of Color. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_people_of_color
Wolfe, B. (2016, August 4). Free Blacks in Colonial Virginia. Retrieved from encyclopediavirgina.org:
http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Free_Blacks_in_Colonial_Virginia