Have you ever imagined what it was like for an African American person back in the 1800’s when they were considered “free”? Back then, black people were used as slaves, and they didn’t gain their absolute freedom from slavery until 1865 when it was completely abolished. They gave Africans certain rights that weren’t completely fair. It really makes you question whether black people were really free in that time. When all blacks were released from slavery, what rights did they really have? During that time, African Americans were not entirely free with all of their desired rights, as they still did not have complete political, economic, and social rights.

Back then, African Americans did not have wholesome political rights. According to document A which shows the voting and jury rights of blacks in the north of 1860, only a few states, the New England states, had rights to suffrage. And this was only the male population of the New England region. And of that region, only one state, Massachusetts had jury rights, and that was only gained in 1860. The rest of them ruled out the ability to black male jury duty. This shows that blacks political rights in terms of voting and jury duty were extremely minute. This barely made the black population free in terms of political rights. How were they supposed to be considered free if only a few of them could vote or could have jury duty? Also, in an excerpt from Charles Mackay’s “Life and Liberty in America”, or document B, he