3. The experiences of African
Americans in the mid-1800s
depended on where they lived…In
slavery or in freedom.Frederick Douglass
used to tour the
Northern U.S. to talk
to people about
slavery.
Free blacks as he
said, had some
rights, but slaves had
none.
4. Free or not, all African
Americans were shaped by
racism.Racism is defined as the
belief that one race is
superior to another.
The law defined slaves as
property.
They could be bought,
sold, inherited
In some states, they
could NOT be set free
5. Rural vs. Urban Slaves
Many slaves,
especially in
the South
worked on
farms/plantatio
ns
*By 1860, 70,000
slaves lived in towns
or cities.
*They worked in
factories, mills, or
workshops.
*Wages earned
belonged to owners.
6. How did slaves gain
freedom?Some slaves bought their own freedom
from their owners, but this process
became more and more rare as the 1800s
progressed.
Many slaves became free through
MANUMISSION, the voluntary
EMANCIPATION of a slave by a
slaveowner.
7. Slaves set free were often:
Too old or sick to work
children of an interracial couple
escapees (who were not actually freed)
8. Free African Americans in the
SouthMost worked as laborers,
craftspeople, or servants
Could not own guns, or
travel from state to state
freely
Were restricted in jobs they
could do
9. Free African Americans in the
North
They experienced discrimination everywhere
Denied right to vote, work, and segregated in
schools
“Even the noblest black is denied that which is
free to the vilest (worst) white. The omnibus, the
railroad car, the ballot-box, the jury box, the halls
of legislation, the army, the public lands, the
school, the church, the lecture room, the social
circle, the table, are all either absolutely or
virtually denied to him.”