Free Blacks in Antebellum North Carolina

By Erin Bradford (GFSErin of Southern US Genealogy chat)

I have been working on a project for the past five years to document the people and experiences of free blacks during the Antebellum period of North Carolina. This is a topic I'm very passionate about and basically have dedicated my life to studying this out. I've written many papers on the subject while looking at various topics: laws, education, economics, marriage, demographics, etc. Below is an excerpt of the last paper I wrote about the legal status of free blacks in North Carolina. It is in the form of a timeline rather than by topics of the laws. Eventually, I plan to study free blacks everywhere in the Antebellum US, but that is a HUGE project. In the summer or fall of 2005, I hope to begin to host an African American chat, but until then, please join me Monday nights from 9-10pm EST in the Southern US chat and we can talk some more about the topic. -Erin