Northern Free Blacks

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Northern Free Blacks

• James Horton
• Smithsonian 1993

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Shaping of Free Black Community
Small Urban Stable Families Own
Institutions Legally Denied Full
Citizenship Actors in Local National Politics
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Unity within Diversity
In crisis they United Did not necessarily walk in
lockstep Many black experiences
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HISTORIOGRAPHY
Early 20th Century Slavery as a Benevolent
Institution African Americans as the morally
intellectually limited beneficiaries of its
guidance.
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K. Stampp 1956
Disputed mild slavery docile black
slave Highlighted resistance to a brutal
institution
S. Elkins 1959
Social Psychology Racial inferiority result of
Closed System Sambo Thesis
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P. Moynihan 1965
Slavery destroyed the Negro family No family No
community White America broke the will of Negro
people Slavery created a tradition of dependency
that remained a problem Shame of being
black Seemed like another attempt to exonerate
white America from responsibility for its
racially oppressive restrictive past
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William Ryan 1969
Dubbed Moynihans work as blaming the
victim Scholars responded by testing the theory
of black community breakdown against the
historical record
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Slave Community Studies
Blassingame, Gutman, Genovese, Owens
others Challenge breakdown theory the notions
of victimization
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L. Litwack 1960s
Racial discrimination was neither limited to the
South nor a recent phenomenon Racial injustice
was a national characteristic was an American
disgrace Impact of white supremacy in North
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B. Quarles 1969
Black Abolitionists and white allies to
understand reform within the black community
T. Hershberg 1971
Philadelphia Social History Project Long term
impact of slavery on slave Compared those born
free to those who won their freedom Used computer
analysis adapted social sciences techniques to
their data
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J. W. Pease 1974
Painted a grim picture of community, black
abolition, and the ability of black leaders to
implement plans into action Saw leaders detached
from masses of ordinary blacks
F. Cooper
Black leaders interested in middle class uplift
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I. Berlin
Complexity diversity of free black
society Class, Color, Gender Change over time
regional difference
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J. L. Horton 1979
Quantitative qualitative studies to humanize
the numbers Relations between ordinary blacks
and leaders in Boston Saw black community as the
foundation for black activism Black family
relations at base of protest organizations Depth
of cooperation mutual support Strength
cohesion of the community Black anger
frustration with Hope determination
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L. Curry 1980
Comparative analysis of 15 communities Demographi
cs Occupation Residential patterns Educational
opportunities Crime Poverty Drew from Berlins
notion of comparative regional analysis
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R. Cottrol 1982
Rhode Island Free Blacks Interracial political
alliances Race class
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G. Nash 1988
Free Blacks in Philadelphia Most complete picture
produced Viewed blacks as major actors in
Americas historical drama Community had a major
presence in American culture, economics, and
politics
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Almost all scholars accepts the historical
existence of a highly structured dynamic
community among antebellum free African
Americans The task is now to understand the
variety, diversity nuances of that community.
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K. Kusmer

• Three Types of Forces that gave shape to Free
  Black Community
• External Forces White attitudes toward
  blacks-racial restrictions, discrimination
  violence. Covers discrimination structured in
  law in custom tradition
• Internal Forces Black individual institutional
  responses to restrictions, threats or violence
  imposed by external. Response includes
  individual family relationships, community
  lifestyles, construction of community secular
  religious institutions, and preservation of
  cultural folklore.
• Structural Forces Geographical location, include
  the type stage of local economy, the nature of
  political structure, traditions that determined
  the social arrangements, and the relevant
  demographic factors,

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C. Walker 1990s
Historians have avoided the divisions within the
black Community Must get beyond the
romanticism Internal matters were divisive
while external structural encourage unity
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I. Berlin
Time, Space, and the Evolution of Afro-American
Society Economic, political, social differences
meant the creation of unique societal
arrangements political strategies Local
structural factors Size proportion of Afr. Am
community Proximity to South Influence of
slaveholding culture Local dependence on Southern
economies
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Simply put, black people, like all Americans,
developed communities that reflected the
national, regional, and local issues affecting
their well-being.