Free Blacks in Natchez Before the Civil War

There were more free blacks in the South than in the North in 1860. The census indicates there were 487,970 free “Free Colored” in the United States in 1860 and 225,849 resided in Free States leaving 262,121 in the Slave States. This is counter intuitive for many. How could blacks stay in a situation where slavery and white supremacy exists? Here are some things that make it understandable:

Many had the means to go North, and they still stayed in the South which is likely a combination of feeling at home and not seeing any more significant opportunity in the North. From the 1840 through the 1860 censuses, Natchez averaged a little over 200 free blacks. The 1860 census shows 225 free blacks out of a total free population of 5,873 in Adams County. There were even two free blacks who were foreign born.

Ronald L.F. Davis’s paper, The Black Experience in Natchez 1720 to 1888 contains a section on Free Blacks in Natchez that is worth a read. Here are a few of his summarizing points.

None of this is to argue that being a free black in the South was without challenges or the same as being white. It was not. Whites had the advantages of citizenship and full protection of the law. Free blacks were not citizens and faced prejudice and second-class legal status. It says a great deal about them that so many thrived.

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