During the Pre-Civil War years the lives of free Blacks in the United States were filled with thoughts of freedom and also with the effects of slavery. By the mid to late 19th century there were distinct characteristics between the communities of free Blacks in the northern or free states and the communities in the upper and lower southern states. The life of free Blacks during the Pre-Civil War years can best be understood from this regional perspective. Each region had its own demographics, economic status and social characteristics. The differences of the regions did not overshadow the similarities of unequal treatment or the disregard for human dignity of free Blacks. The absence of slavery did not automatically translate into genuine freedom or equality. Both regions still bore the stigma of slavery that largely influenced the development of black communities in the North and South. This paper will compare and contrast some of the differences and similarities of the life of free Blacks in the North and South during the Pre-Civil War years in three areas of demographics, economic status, and social characteristics. The term "free Blacks" is interchanged with free Negroes, free Blacks, and free people of color or free people in the references cited. Information about the ways free Blacks gained freedom and their occupations as free Blacks in both the North and South are frequently referenced from an exhibit in Hartford, Connecticut called A Struggle from the Start. The Hartford Black History project chronicles Black History from 1638-1890.
“I had reasoned this out in my mind, there was one, I would have the other.” Stated by a freed Northern slave in his journal. The civil war affected the course of America and changed the World we know today. With the effect of slavery thousands of African Americans were outlawed into slaves across United States. With civil war storm clouds building, blacks did anything to be free by running to the free lands of so called “equality.” Many took a route called the Underground Railroad to the North lands. People thought that the North was free and equal but wasn’t so. The outcome of ex-fugitive slaves in the North wasn’t great. Through segregation and inequality, the blacks were restricted in North. They had no political