African Americans in the 1800's

How did African-Americans become free?

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 slave-owner. Manumission was sometimes offered
because slaves had outlived their usefulness or were held in special favour by their masters. The
offspring of interracial relations were often set free. Some slaves were set free by their masters
as the abolitionist movement grew. Occasionally slaves were freed during the master's lifetime,
and more often through the master's will. Many African-Americans freed themselves through
escape. A few Americans of African descent came to the United States as immigrants,
especially common in the New Orleans area.

How free African Americans earned a living?

E. Horace Fitchett observed in his 1940 study of free blacks in Charleston, published in The
Journal of Negro History, that early in the eighteenth century continuing into the very early
nineteenth century, "there emerged in Charleston a relatively economically independent group
of free Negroes." In 1819 they were listed in thirty different occupations, including 11 as
carpenters, 10 as tailors, 22 as seamstresses, six as shoemakers, and one as the owner of a hotel.
By 1849 there were 50 different types of work listed - including 50 carpenters, 43 tailors, 9
shoemakers, and 21 butchers. By 1860, Charleston's free black men engaged in at least 65
different occupations, although 10 occupations provided employment for almost half of them
and 81% of all skilled free black workers.

How did African Americans face discrimination in the mid 1800s?

They faced discrimination in the mid-1800s in several ways. One example is that African
Americans who were used as slaves in the South had no freedoms. They weren’t considered to
be citizens, which prevented them from voting, running for office, or suing in court. They
weren’t allowed to leave the plantation without a pass, and they could be harshly and unfairly
punished for their actions. African Americans who were free in the South also were treated very
poorly. They were often charged for minor offenses and given very harsh punishments.