Research Essay

Not Really


Authors Note: This is a research essay I created for Social Studies, and then I found I could use it for one of my goals in Language Arts.


A dog gets let outside, he gets a sudden rush of excitement, and he sees bird, rodents, and sticks to chase. The dog takes off happy as can be with no clue about the chain hooked to his collar restricting him to do anything he planned on. This was the same situation for the “free” blacks in the north they were told they were free, but really they were still considered different and restricted form things. It’s like a feeling of relief that only last for a short period of time to be followed by more grief. The free black in the north were not free they still had different laws and weren’t allowed to do all the things a white man could


A free white man could go and vote for his government and could serve as a juryman against criminals, and have a say in government. A “free” black man in most states was not allowed to vote or serve as a juryman; he had no say in how the country was run and how crime was handled. Often times if a black man and a white man were both suspects in a crime the black man was sentenced without much investigation and nobody cared, because there were no blacks serving for the jury.


Economic freedoms were debatable, because technically they were allowed to have a job and own their own house and land to live and thrive. The blacks argued that they couldn’t get a job because a white man would never hire them, and It was hard for them two own a business. Blacks did own land and homes, but they could only afford them in undesirable places and rundown homes, because they couldn’t get a job, and they weren’t allowed to house in the same neighborhood with the whites.


To continue on the segregation, this was the most restricted. Black men weren’t allowed to marry white women by law, and they weren’t allowed to dine or go to a theater with whites, and they had designated areas they were allowed to go. The black hated this because they were considered free, but they had laws that didn’t apply to a white man that was ultimately free and free isn’t at different levels the definition states; not subject to censorship or control by a ruler, government, or other authority, and enjoying civil liberties.


Blacks were considered free by whites, but that was just an excuse to try to get them off their backs for starting slavery. They weren’t free not by definition or in any way besides they didn’t have to be a slave on a plantation.






"Slavery in the Western Hemisphere:Â Free Blacks in the North." Slavery in the Western Hemisphere:Â Free Blacks in the North. Web. 08 Mar. 2012. .
"Northern Exclusion of Blacks." Slavery in the North. 2003. Web. 08 Mar. 2012. .
"North Carolina Civil War Sesquicentennial." North Carolina Civil War Sesquicentennial. Web. 08 Mar. 2012. .