John Hope Franklin has devoted his professional life to the study
of African Americans. Originally published in 1943 by UNC Press,
The Free Negro in North Carolina, 1790-1860 was his first
book on the subject. As Franklin shows, freed slaves in the
antebellum South did not enjoy the full rights of citizenship. Even
in North Carolina, reputedly more liberal than most southern
states, discriminatory laws became so harsh that many voluntarily
returned to slavery.