Free Blacks in Antebellum Philadelphia

Guest Post by Indra Zuno –

When researching my novel, Freedom Dues, I was surprised to discover there were free Blacks living in Philadelphia in 1729. Their history is fascinating, heartbreaking, and admirable.

Pennsylvania was founded in 1682. The first 150 African slaves arrived in 1684, and Quakers were more than happy to buy them. At least since the early 1700s, some Quaker masters started manumitting their slaves. Presbyterians, Anglicans, Lutherans, and others did too. Before 1730, most masters were only willing to part with their slaves upon their own deaths. In the 1730s, one in seven Quaker masters left instructions in their wills to free their slaves, and by the 1760s, 43% did so. A smaller number of Anglicans, Swedish Lutherans, and Presbyterians also left such instructions in their wills. In 1765, there were about 100 free Blacks. In 1776, the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends decreed that any member who did not manumit their slaves would be disowned. That year, free Blacks probably reached 400-600. Thanks to the gradual abolition act of 1780, all slaves taken to Philadelphia after March 1, 1780 were free after six months. By 1830, there would be about 14,600, most of them poor and hailing from elsewhere.  

Free Blacks, however, did not enjoy the same rights as Whites. In 1726, the colonial assembly passed an “Act For the Better Regulating Negroes in This Province.” Magistrates could indenture any free Black adult they considered idle. Any free Black man or woman caught marrying a White person would immediately become a slave. Children of interracial couples would be indentured until they turned thirty-one. Free blacks were not entitled to be tried by juries.  

In 1750, the Huguenot Anthony Benezet was tutoring free Blacks and slaves at night in his own house. In 1758, the Bray Associates, an Anglican philanthropic society, opened a school for free Blacks and children whose parents were slaves. In 1762, Benjamin Franklin wrote of black children: “their apprehension is quick, their Memory as Strong, and their Docility in every Respect equal to that of the White children.” A Quaker-funded school for free Blacks opened in 1773, where slave children also were taught. More schools would become available in years to come, but most Blacks, both slaves and free, would face a myriad of obstacles and segregation. For example, after a grueling workday of 10-12 hours, it was simply unrealistic to expect most adults to attend classes.

During the Revolution, very few free Blacks from Philadelphia fought with the rebels, as they were never accepted in the militia, and the army only enlisted them when it became difficult to recruit Whites. The pay was negligible, and free Blacks could very well become enslaved if their regiment ended up in a Province which did not recognize their freedom. However, during the War of 1812, more than 1,000 free Blacks volunteered to strengthen the fortifications of the Schuylkill River.

In the 1790s, employment among free Blacks was high. Benjamin Rush wrote that “such is their integrity and quiet deportment that they are universally preferred to white people of similar occupations.” Among many other jobs, Blacks worked in gravedigging, chimney sweeping, and waiting. Women did laundry. Maritime labor was important to Black men for many years. Others became skilled hairdressers, barbers, shopkeepers, food and clothes traders, bakers, shoemakers, tailors, carpenters, confectioners, and tanners. In 1807 a black sailmaker, James Forten, employed thirty Black and White men. In the early 1830s, Black women were— among other things—teachers, musicians, nurses, midwives, nurses, and artisans. In the 1830s, it became harder for Blacks to find work, as White workers were successful in convincing White employers not to hire them. There were no doctors and lawyers, however, and no mercantile class.

By 1837, most Black families who belonged to the middle and upper class had been in Philadelphia since at least the 1780s. Most Blacks were very poor. These were more recent immigrants who did not behave in the manner which Whites—and Blacks who were better off—considered acceptable. These Black immigrants had a thick Southern accent, their clothes were too extravagant, they drank, and even moved and walked differently. Black leaders feared Whites would use this as justification when arguing that Blacks should remain enslaved, and thus tried to convince new arrivals—with little success—to behave in a more subdued manner.

White hostility towards Blacks steadily grew. Too many Whites could not acknowledge that the masses of poor, uneducated Blacks arriving in Philadelphia were the consequence of decades of exploitation and degradation at the hands of White masters. When the poor-tax was raised, poor Black families were largely refused aid, even though prosperous Blacks also paid said tax. Whites complained about Blacks being uneducated, and at the same time made access to education as difficult as possible. Blacks that did succeed invited resentment, mockery, and shocking aggression. When Black mutual aid societies were founded, some Whites claimed that these promoted “extravagance and dissipation.”

A sad turning point for Blacks in Philadelphia was the destruction of a Black church in 1815. In 1829, the first race riot in the city exploded. What followed was years of violence directed at the Black community. In 1832, former slaves from North Carolina arriving in a ship were not allowed to disembark. During another race riot in 1834, Blacks were dragged from their homes in the middle of the night and physically assaulted. In 1838 Pennsylvania Hall, a symbol of abolitionism, was burned to the ground. It would not be until the 20^th century when segregationist sentiments and efforts began to ebb. All this time, the Black community never gave up on “the Philadelphia experiment.”

Source: Forging Freedom. The Formation of Philadelphia’s Black Community; 1720-1840 (Gary B. Nash).