Free%20Blacks%20of%20the%20North

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Free Blacks of the North

• Terence Chiu and Nick Robertson

2
Introduction

• In the 19th century, life changed for blacks in
  the Hudson Valley. They were free, but they still
  faced many tremendous obstacles in obtaining
  equality. The blacks were still faced with
  racism, discrimination and segregation.

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Facts of Free Northern Blacks

• Free blacks in the North were able to travel and
  assemble much more freely than those in the
  South.
• It was easier for them to organize and sustain
  churches and schools in the North.
• Although African Americans in the North had more
  freedom, they still werent treated as citizens.

4
Life in the North

• Wealthy black families contributed money to the
  anti-slavery movements.
• Free blacks were afraid of the slave traders
  operating on the coast of Maryland.
• There was a sizeable free black population
  residing on the eastern shore of Maryland.
• There were many black Baptist congregations in
  the North by 1787.

5
Frederick Douglass

• Douglass was born into slavery in Maryland but in
  1838 escaped to freedom in New York. At age 23 he
  went to work for abolitionist William Lloyd
  Garrison, travelling and speaking on behalf of
  Garrison's paper The Liberator. Eloquent, smart
  and determined, Douglass gained fame as a
  speaker, began his own anti-slavery publications
  and became a 'conductor' on the Underground
  Railroad. In later years he became a personal
  friend of Abraham Lincoln and helped persuade
  Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.
  He is considered by many to be the founder of the
  American civil rights movement.

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Anthony Johnson

• Anthony Johnson was an African Slave who had
  owned land in Virginia. He was named Antonio the
  Negro in the 1625 Virginia census. He was
  brought to the colonies in 1621. Johnson became
  free and married a African American slave. He
  owned land, cattle, and even had slaves of his
  own.

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Injustice in the North

• Many free blacks suffered injustice in the North.
  Reverend Samuel Green was one example. He lived
  in Maryland as a blacksmith. He was charged with
  freeing his son and other slaves to Canada. Green
  was found guilty just because he owned a copy of
  Uncle Toms Cabin, a map of Canada, and north
  bound railroad routes and schedules. He was
  sentenced for twenty years, but was released
  after five years, and was pardoned only if he
  left the state within sixty days.

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Dates Events

• 1623 Governors of the Netherlands sent what
  becomes known as the Dutch West India Co. to
  colonize Manhattan.
• 1644 Enslaved Africans formerly held by the
  Dutch West India Co. are given conditional
  freedom.
• 1664-65 Peter Stuyvesant surrenders New
  Amsterdam to the British. It is now New York.
• 1780 Pennsylvania declares that all black
  children born slaves will be freed at age 28.

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Dates Events cont.

• 1780 Elizabeth Freeman wins her suit for
  emancipation under the new state constitution.
• 1783 The Quock Walker decision ends legalized
  slavery in Massachusetts.
• 1783 Black Loyalists gather in New York City for
  the British evacuation.
• 1784 Rhode Island and Connecticut pass gradual
  emancipation legislation.
• 1785 New York State outlaws slavery.