We know from our explorations of early America that not all Americans were treated equally or enjoyed the freedoms and liberties other Americans enjoyed.
Warren Milteer Jr., an Assistant Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and the author of North Carolina’s Free People of Color, 1715-1885 and Beyond Slavery’s Shadow: Free People of Color in the South, joins us to explore the lives and experiences of free people of color, men and women who ranked somewhere in the middle or middle bottom of early American society.
This episode is supported by an American Rescue Plan grant to the Omohundro Institute from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
About the Show
Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.
It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.
Ben Franklin’s World is a production of the Omohundro Institute.
Episode Summary
Warren Milteer Jr., an Assistant Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and the author of North Carolina’s Free People of Color, 1715-1885 and Beyond Slavery’s Shadow: Free People of Color in the South, joins us to explore the lives and experiences of free people of color, men and women who ranked somewhere in the middle or middle bottom of early American society.
During our exploration, Warren reveals where free people of color lived prior to the American Civil War; Opportunities for free people of color during both the American Revolution and early republic periods; And, details about the different state laws that impacted the lives of free people of color and information about the enforcement—or non-enforcement—of those laws in local communities.
What You’ll Discover
- Where free people of color lived prior to the Civil War
- King Tony and the life of a free person of color in colonial Virginia
- Opportunities for free people of color during the American Revolution
- How to research the stories of free people of color
- What shifting toward American governance meant for free people of color
- Opportunities for free people of color to participate in post-Revolution politics
- Laws governing the freedom of free people of color
- Class and the enforcement of laws
- Life experiences for free people of color in rural communities
- Navigating romances where one person was free and the other enslaved
- Restrictions on the movement of free people of color
- Solomon Northrup
- The practice of kidnapping free people of color
- The need for free people of color in early American communities
- Community life for free people of color in rural areas
- The role of churches in free Black communities
- The spectrum of freedom
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Time Warp Question
In his books, Warren notes that in 1791, armed slaves overthrew the French colonial government of Saint Domingue and established the new, independent country of Haiti. In his research, Warren found that white Americans responded to the Haitian Revolution by placing legal restrictions on free people of color. In your opinion, what might have happened if the Haitian Revolution had failed? How might life have been the same or different for free people of color who lived in the early United States?
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