Slaves without Masters: The Free Negro in the Antebellum South

Abstract

Part 1 The emergence of the free negro caste, 1775-1812: the origins of the free negro caste from slavery to freedom the failure of freedom the free people of colour of Louisiana and the Gulf ports. Part 2 The pattern of free negro life: new patterns of growth a white man's country - white racial attitudes and policies the economics of marginality the sources of free negro identity the free negro community the mechanics of white dominance. Part 3 The crisis of the 1850s: the best of times, the worst of times freemen and freedmen. Appendices: slave and white populations manuscript sources consulted.