Were some U.S. slave owners black?

[rangerrebew]

Were some U.S. slave owners black?
October 31, 2008

Dear Cecil:

Some time ago, I heard an African-American author talk on NPR about a fact that had inspired him to write his book: During the 1800s, some slave owners in the U.S. were black. Simply put, blacks owned blacks. Afterward a historian said she'd never heard of such a thing and dismissed the idea as ridiculous. Who's right?

— Raina S., via e-mail

Cecil replies:

This is definitely a concept that takes some getting used to, but yeah, it happened. I offer just a couple observations in mitigation: (1) Slave ownership by blacks was unusual, so it's no surprise many people refuse to believe it existed. However, at one time or another, free black slaveholders could be found in every slave state. (2) In most cases the situation wasn't quite as bizarre as it seems. Let me explain the concept of benevolent slavery.

Free blacks were fairly common in the antebellum south, constituting 8 percent of southern blacks in 1840. Most had gained their freedom through manumission (especially common just after the Revolutionary War) or been born free to a free mother. Slaves who'd been permitted to earn money in their spare time sometimes made enough to buy their freedom. Another route was being bought and freed by free relatives or friends. But some who bought slaves in this way didn't formally free them for years, partly because freedmen paid higher taxes than slaves or whites. Courts since colonial times had recognized the right of free blacks to own slaves. This gave rise to an odd arrangement in which people lived as free but were legally someone else's property. This was benevolent slavery.

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2821/before-the-civil-war-were-some-slave-owners-black

[rangerrebew]

I always find it interesting during black history month how the facts of black slave ownership and blacks willingly fighting for the south are never raised.

[truth_seeker]

I believe history also records that during the early years of western exploration, pioneering, scouts etc. a good number of blacks participated.

Heading west was arduous, and the spirit was if you can make it, more power to you.

James Beckwourth


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Beckwourth

[Idaho_Cowboy]

I believe history also records that during the early years of western exploration, pioneering, scouts etc. a good number of blacks participated.

Heading west was arduous, and the spirit was if you can make it, more power to you.

James Beckwourth


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Beckwourth

Bass Reeves was one of the greatest lawmen of all time.

http://www.artofmanliness.com/2011/04/24/lessons-in-manliness-from-bass-reeves/

[truth_seeker]

Bass Reeves was one of the greatest lawmen of all time.

http://www.artofmanliness.com/2011/04/24/lessons-in-manliness-from-bass-reeves/

Cool info. Real men, in those days gone by. My grandfather, was born to a couple of immigrants from Sweden, in 1881 in Dakota Territory. Wore a copper bracelet he got from Indian friends, to his death. Worked in Bill Cody's Wild West Show, as an acrobat and general hand, before settling down in Montana and Wyoming. Registered for the draft in 1917, in Sweet Grass Montana.

[240B]

Of course there are Black slave owners, TODAY, not 200 years ago. Go to Africa today and you will find that 100% of the slave owners there are very much, Black.

[truth_seeker]

Of course there are Black slave owners, TODAY, not 200 years ago. Go to Africa today and you will find that 100% of the slave owners there are very much, Black.

Or Arab?

[240B]

Or Arab?

Yes. Or asian. Probably should have said almost 100%.
The point is that Black slave owners have Black slaves now, not 200 years ago. And they beat them, and work them to death, and all the rest. But you never hear a word about it.

In fact, Black slave owners have been around forever. They were the ones selling Black slaves to traders to be sent to the colonies and other places around the world. The traders didn't hunt down and catch Blacks, like they show in the movies. Traders didn't have the time or the local knowledge and expertise to be able to do that. They bought them from other Black Africans, who were the ones who actually captured and sold them.

[Bigun]

The very first slave owner in what is now the USA was a black man. 



http://conservative-headlines.com/2012/03/americas-first-slave-owner-was-a-black-man/