Free vs Freed Is this a 'strawman'?

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The life of a "free" person of color was quite different from an "Emancipated = freed" person of color. That is all that I was trying to point out.
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I too have been researching my genealogy for over 20+ years and All of my ancestors of 'color' born in North America, with the exception of my NA ancestors, were freed/emancipated/manumitted, some earlier than others.

My paternal ancestral lines of color, that I have discovered, were all freed/emancipated as a result of the Civil War. They, therfore would not fit the description of FPOC according guidelines of the FPOC Forum.

My maternal ancestral lines of color in North America would however run the gamut from being born enslaved to born free from ca 1735. Other than from the period of being enslaved I'm not sure that I can understand there being a 'difference' in the life of, for example, a 3rd great-grandfather being freed/manumitted in 1813 and his son being born free in 1818. As for terminolgy, both father & son would seem to fit the Forum description of being Free Persons of Color.

Art's Families & Other Folks
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