In the British colonies in North America and in the United States before the abolition of slavery in 1865, free Negro or free Black described the legal status of African Americans who were not enslaved. The term was applied both to formerly enslaved people (freedmen) and to those who had been born free, whether of African or mixed descent.
"Learning is wealth". Wilson, Charley, Rebecca, and Rosa. Mixed-race slaves from New Orleans
Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, the first permanent settler in 1780s Chicago and the "Father of Chicago" who traveled up the Mississippi River from New Orleans. There are no known portraits of Jean Baptiste Point du Sable made during his lifetime. This depiction is taken from A.T. Andreas' book History of Chicago (1884).
Solomon Northup was born and raised a free negro in the free state of New York and was kidnapped and sold into Southern slavery in 1841, and was later rescued and regained his freedom in 1853
Partus sequitur ventrem was a legal doctrine passed in colonial Virginia in 1662 and other English crown colonies in the Americas which defined the legal status of children born there; the doctrine mandated that children of slave mothers would inherit the legal status of their mothers. As such, children of enslaved women would be born into slavery. The legal doctrine of partus sequitur ventrem was derived from Roman civil law, specifically the portions concerning slavery and personal property (chattels), as well as the common law of personal property; analogous legislation existed in other civilizations including Medieval Egypt in Africa and Korea in Asia.
The Modern Medea (1867), an illustration of Margaret Garner, an escaped enslaved African American who in 1856, about to be captured, killed her daughter, Mary, to ensure Mary was not returned to slavery
Partus sequitur ventrem: A slaver sells his mulatto son into slavery. (The House that Jeff Built, David Claypoole Johnston, 1863)