Free African Americans 1800-1860

Words: 851
Pages: 4

During the time frame of 1800-1860, were free blacks in the Northern United States truly free? In 1860, the national population in America was 31 million, which four and one-half million of it consisted of African-Americans. Also in 1860, 250,000 free blacks lived in the South and 221,000 free blacks lived in the North. Even though the free black population in the South mostly consisted of ex-slaves, they lived a very restricted life and were segregated from the Southern white population. The Northern black population was spread across New England, the Mid-Atlantic states, and the Midwest and by 1800, most Northern blacks were free from slavery. How much freedom did free blacks in the North possess? Freedom means to have independence along with rights you deserve. Free African Americans in the North did indeed possess some freedoms, but were also restricted in multiple areas. Areas that had restrictions which mostly outnumbered the freedoms include political/ judicial rights, social freedoms, education/ jobs, and religion. Freedoms and …show more content…
In 1819 in New York, a speech was made by a young African-American in which he explained the challenges of finding a good job. He also described his feelings of weakness and powerless since he knew the whites would not hire him. But, if he was hired, he would not want to be treated differently from the whites just because of his skin color. The way he wrote the speech made it obvious that he received a higher education, although schools were separated from the whites. Not to mention how blacks in the North had a much better education than in the South, so the blacks had an advantage. His speech portrays how blacks in the North had the right to an education despite the segregation, but were still restricted on finding good jobs to support their lives, just because the whites would not hire