Free African Americans In The Early 1800s

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Free African Americans in the early 1800s had better lives than slaves, but still, they didn't have the same rights as white people. Some of them had been freed by their slave holders or run away. Others had saved enough money to buy their freedom. African Americans lived in rural and urban areas. The ones that lived in the countryside often worked as paid laborers on farms or plantations and the ones who lived in the city used to work as artisans. Though free, they didn't have the right to vote, they couldn't hold certain jobs, and in some places they couldn't choose where to live. They were even laws that obliged them to be represented by a white person in business transactions and prohibited the teaching of black people to read and write.

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