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African Ancestry in Tennessee
HISTORY & BACKGROUND
Enslaved blacks may have arrived in Tennessee as early as
1541 when De Soto camped near Memphis. The French 100 years later are
reported to have sent an army of 1,200 white men and even more the
number of men of African and Native American decent to stay in Fort
Assumption. Colonel James Smith, who explored the Cumberland country in 1766, was accompanied by a
group of Long Hunters and a mulatto male. By 1790 the new settlers, who
came to Tennessee from North Carolina and Virginia, brought their African
American slaves with them. The first census taken stated there were 3,417
slaves in the Territory. Later, when Tennessee become a state, there were
10,613 African Americans in a population of 77,282. For more information
Click on TENNESSEE: A GUIDE TO THE STATE "NEGROES IN TENNESSEE" http://newdeal.feri.org/guides/tnguide/ch10.htm Slave traders imported slaves from other sections of the country to be
resold in the Southwest. Isaac Franklin and John Armfield, in partnership
with Rice Ballard, The Tennessee Slave Code guaranteed the slaves shelter, food, clothing, medical attention, and protected them when they were considered no long useful. This code also provided slaves the right to contract for his freedom, and in 1835 granted them the right to trial by jury. By 1830 there were 4,555 free African Americans and 7,300 at the beginning of the Civil War. Slave owners feared the increased number of free slaves might lead to a revolt among the enslaved blacks. During 1831 free African American were not allowed to enter Tennessee, legislation was enacted providing that no slave should be emancipated unless he should leave the State immediately. In Memphis and Nashville free African-Americans were allowed to attend private schools, receive religious instruction, to sue and be sued, to make contracts and inherit property, and enjoy legal marriage. However, after 1834 they were denied the rights of citizenship, which include the right to vote. Slaves in Tennessee were officially freed February 25, 1865. In Hickman, Dyer, Weakley and Haywood counties, owners refused to free their slaves until the end of the summer, in order to harvest the crops. Tennessee was the only state to free slaves by popular vote. In May of 1866, Tennessee extended all the rights of citizenship to blacks except marrying whites, serving on juries and voting. In 1867, Blacks in Tennessee won the right to vote. There are several books and articles written on the subject, some are on-line, listed below are a few of both sources:
This site is still under construction. Coming Soon! Migration patterns, communities, race issues, institutes of higher
learning, famous African Americans from Tennessee and the peculiar
characteristcis of the setting in which they lived. STATE & LOCAL RESOURCES
Tennessee State Library and Archives http://www.state.tn.us/sos/statelib/techsvs/tsp/tsphome.htm Fisk University Library 1000 17th Avenue North Nashville,
Tennessee 37208-3051 The Nashville Public Library (Main Branch) Nashville Room Metropolitan Government Archives of Nashville and Davidson County http://www.geocities.com/metroarchives/Middle Tennessee State University, Andrew Todd Library, 1500 Greenland Drive Murfreesboro Tennessee 37132 http://www.mtsu.edu/~library/Tennessee State University, Brown-Daniel Library http://www.tnstate.edu/library/African American Genealogical and Historical Society, AAGHS TN PO 1711124, Nashville TN 37217 QUERIES, SURNAMES & LOOKUPS Volunteers are needed for lookups and research. If you have resources and the time please contact me with your name, email address, and the resource(s) you would like to contribute. Thank you....Janice |
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[an error occurred while processing this directive] searchers have visited since 26 September 1999 Questions comments: Janice Fite Price Copyright (c) 1999-2001 by AfriGeneas. All rights reserved. |
