Chapter 7 Free Black People in Antebellum America

1. Chapter 7 Free Black People in Antebellum America

3. Demographics • Free African Americans in 1860 • The North 226,152 • The Upper South 224,963 • The Deep South 36,955 • Total 488,070 • Total Population U.S. 26,957,471

5. Free Black Communities • Dynamic communities • Most free blacks lived in the Upper South • Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York, and Boston • Established distinctive institutions • To avoid inferior status • Preserve African heritage

6. Free Black community • Mutual aid societies- (provided members medical/burial/helped widows) • Christian moral character • Generally restricted to men • Black freemasons • Prince Hall

7. Origins of IndependentBlack Churches • Core of Afr. Am. Communities -pastors became leaders -buildings housed schools, social org., and anti-slavery meetings

8. Origins of IndependentBlack Churches • African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church • Richard Allen • Absalom Jones • Benjamin Rush

9. The First Black Schools • After Revolution • Black people established schools for black children • Mutual aid societies and churches created and sustained • Produced a growing class of literate African Americans

10. Black Leaders and Choices • Educated black elite provided leadership • Richard Allen • Absalom Jones • James Forten • Prince Hall (Petitioned Massachusetts legislature to support colony)

11. Migration • Paul Cuffe and colonization • End the Atlantic slave trade • Spread Christianity • Refuge for free black people • Make profits

12. How was black freedom limited in the North?

13. Fugitive Slave Laws • Endangered freedom of blacks living in the North • Escaped slaves could be recaptured • Free Blacks were kidnapped into slavery

15. Caption for visual • This lithograph, published in 1818 by antislavery author Jesse Torrey Jun, depicts a free black man still in handcuffs and leg irons after an attempt to kidnap him into slavery. He is relating details of his experience to a sympathetic white man. The sparsely furnished attic room reflects the living conditions of many free African Americans of the time.

16. Caption • Blacks who escaped from slavery lived in fear that they might be sought by “masters” who often posted monetary offers for the return of runaway slaves

17. Black Laws • Limiting ability to vote • Segregation of housing, schools, transportation, employment

18. Black Laws cont.. • Most white northerners wanted no contact with Blacks • Felt Blacks were inferior, dishonest, immoral lives • Feared Black competition for jobs • Contact would degrade Black society

19. Segregation Atmosphere of hate caused African Americans to distrust white people • Ghettos • Boston ~ “Nigger Hill” • Cincinnati ~ “Little Africa” • Southern visitors argued blacks better off as slaves

20. Segregation • In 1841, the term Jim Crow was used in Mass to describe railroad cars • Blackface minstrel act

21. Black Communities: The Urban North • Urban neighborhoods • Resilient families • Poverty • Class divisions • Church and volunteer organizations • Education

23. Black Communities: The Urban North (cont.) • Black family • Variety • Two-parent households common in 1820 • Single-parent trend became increasingly common • Headed by women • High male mortality rate • Employment opportunities • Extended families

24. Black Communities: The Urban North (cont.) • Employment • Rising European immigration filled jobs • Young black men excluded from apprenticeships • Led to deskilling of blacks • Menial labor • Low wages • Unemployment common

26. Black Communities: The Urban North (cont.) • Black elite • Ministers, doctors, lawyers, and undertakers • Carpenters, barbers, waiters, and coachman • Black institutions and culture • Anti-slavery movement • Racial justice • Bridge to sympathetic white people

28. African-American Institutions • First appeared during the revolutionary era, then increased and multiplied. 1. Schools (Lincoln University) 2. Mutual aid organizations (Black Odd Fellows) 3. Benevolent and fraternal organizations 4. Newspapers and journals 5. Theaters

30. Free Blacks: The Upper South • Greater risk of being enslaved • An assumption of slavery in most states • Problems traveling, congregating, owning firearms • Greater exclusion than northern counterparts • Hotels, trains, parks, hospitals, etc.

31. Free Blacks: The Upper South (cont.) • Employment • Urban areas before 1850 • Less competition from European immigrants • Most free black men were unskilled laborers or waiters • Most free black women washed clothes or worked as domestic servants • Schools • No racial integration and no public funding • Most black children received no formal education • Churches and individuals provided sporadic opportunities

32. Free Blacks: The Deep South • No revolutionary rhetoric nor changing economy • Fewer manumissions • Usually mixed-race children • Three-caste system in Deep South • Whites, free blacks, and slaves • Strong ties between free blacks and former masters • Loans, jobs, and protection cemented this bond • Better off economically than free black people in other regions • Half live in cities • Stronger position in skilled trades • Increased conflict and tension among white skilled workers

33. Conclusion • Life for free black people in the Upper and Deep South more difficult than in the North • Presumption of slavery • More restrictive laws