Mulatto Slavery Essay

The diverse blood of mulatto slaves in the 19th century Unite States played a role in their position in society. Before abolition of slaves in this time period, many slaves had, or were forced into, relations with their owners and other white men, which lead to generations of mulatto slaves. These mulatto, or mixed blood, families had genetic ties with sometimes powerful white men that proved to be influential in their freedoms and advancements. This mixture of race also had in astounding impact on their relations with the pure blooded blacks around them. The social mobility gained from being mulatto was too an advancement in itself. These racial impacts are shown through the success and drawbacks in the lives of the Thomas/Rapier family from Franklin and

In the Caribbean, plantation owners, mulatto like John Rapier Jr., were considered the “elite” and managed to rise to prominent positions in Central and South America such as the chief of police and “commander of the port” both in Haiti (Franklin p.180). Through his journal entries, Rapier comes off as very condescending toward blacks here, emphasized his superiority throughout the rest of the story. He tells of how the laborious slaves are “primitive in all their customs and habits” (Franklin, p.182). He goes on to judge the lack of morality and principles as well (Franklin, p.183). As stated previously, Franklin’s book shows the ability to start and run a successful business. The Thomas/Rapier family started up different barbershops around the States that supported themselves and their families. Due to his reputation as a respectable mulatto barber, John Rapier was given several opportunities in life that slaves and free blacks weren’t provided, earning him a “continual and comfortable income” (Franklin p.69). Not only did mulattos have advantages over other blacks, in a sense, they were held up higher than poor whites as