View source for Freedman

{{short description|Former slave}}
{{For|people named Freedman|Friedman}}
{{Distinguish|Freeman (Thirteen Colonies)|The Freed Man|Freeman (disambiguation)|Freed (disambiguation)}}
A '''freedman''' or '''freedwoman''' is a person who has been released from [[slavery]], usually by legal means. Historically, slaves were freed by [[manumission]] (granted freedom by their owners), [[abolitionism|emancipation]] (granted freedom as part of a larger group), or self-purchase. A [[fugitive slave]] is a person who escaped enslavement by fleeing.
==Ancient Rome==
{{main|Ancient Roman freedmen|Slavery in ancient Rome}}
[[File:DM Tiberius Claudius Chryseros.jpg|thumb|[[Urn#Cremation urns|Cinerary urn]] for the freedman [[Tiberius Claudius Chryseros]] and two women, probably his wife and daughter]]
Rome differed from [[Greek city-states]] in allowing freed slaves to become [[Plebs|plebeian citizens]].<ref name=pbs-roman-freemen /> The act of freeing a slave was called ''manumissio'', from ''manus'', "hand" (in the sense of holding or possessing something), and ''missio'', the act of releasing. After [[manumission]], a slave who had belonged to a [[Roman citizen]] enjoyed not only passive freedom from ownership, but active political freedom ''(libertas)'', including the right to vote.<ref name=millar-crowd-rome-laterepublic /> A slave who had acquired ''libertas'' was known as a ''libertus'' ("freed person", [[grammatical gender|feminine]] ''liberta'') in relation to his former master, who was called his or her patron ''([[Patronage in ancient Rome|patronus]])''.
As a social class, freed slaves were ''liberti'', though later Latin texts used the terms ''libertus'' and ''libertini'' interchangeably.<ref name=mouritsen-freemen-romanworld /> ''Libertini'' were not entitled to hold [[Roman magistrate|public office]] or [[Religion in ancient Rome|state priesthoods]], nor could they achieve legitimate [[Roman senate|senatorial rank]]. During the early Empire, however, freedmen held key positions in the government bureaucracy, so much so that [[Hadrian]] limited their participation by law.<ref name=berger-libertinus /> Any future children of a freedman would be born free, with full rights of citizenship.
The [[Claudius|Claudian]] [[Civil Service]] set a precedent whereby freedmen could be used as [[civil servant]]s in the Roman [[bureaucracy]].  In addition, Claudius passed legislation concerning slaves, including a law stating that sick slaves abandoned by their owners became freedmen if they recovered. The emperor was criticized for using freedmen in the Imperial Courts.
Some freedmen enjoyed enormous success and became quite wealthy. The brothers who owned [[House of the Vettii]], one of the biggest and most magnificent houses in [[Pompeii]], are thought to have been freedmen. A freedman who became rich and influential might still be looked down on by the traditional aristocracy as a vulgar ''[[nouveau riche]]''. [[Trimalchio]], a character in the ''[[Satyricon]]'' of [[Petronius]], is a caricature of such a freedman.
==Scandinavia==
{{main|Leysingi}}
==Arab-Muslim and North African slavery==
{{main|Arab slave trade|Barbary slave trade|Indian Ocean slave trade}}
{{further|History of slavery in the Muslim world|Slavery in the Ottoman Empire|Turkish Abductions}}
[[File:Arabslavers.jpg|thumb|right|Arab-Muslim slave traders and their African captives in the [[Sahara]], 19th century.]]
The term "Eastern slave trade" refers to the [[Arab slave trade]] that supplied the [[early Muslim conquests]] throughout the [[Arab world|Arab]]-[[Muslim world]] from the 7th to the 20th centuries,<ref name="LaRue 2023">{{cite encyclopedia |author-last=La Rue |author-first=George M. |date=17 August 2023 |title=Indian Ocean and Middle Eastern Slave Trades |url=https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780199846733/obo-9780199846733-0051.xml |encyclopedia=[[Oxford Bibliographies Online]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=[[Oxford]] and [[New York City|New York]] |doi=10.1093/OBO/9780199846733-0051 |access-date=6 February 2024}}</ref><ref name="Freamon 2019">{{cite book |author-last=Freamon |author-first=Bernard K. |year=2019 |chapter=The "Mamluk/Ghulam Phenomenon" – Slave Sultans, Soldiers, Eunuchs, and Concubines |editor-last=Freamon |editor-first=Bernard K. |title=Possessed by the Right Hand: The Problem of Slavery in Islamic Law and Muslim Cultures |location=[[Leiden]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |series=Studies in Global Slavery |volume=8 |pages=219–244 |doi=10.1163/9789004398795_006 |isbn=978-90-04-36481-3 |s2cid=191690007 |quote=[[Ibn Khaldun]] argued that in the midst of the decadence that became the hallmark of the later [[Abbasid Caliphate]], providence restored the "glory and the unity" of the Islamic faith by sending the Mamluks: "loyal  helpers, who were brought from the House of War to the House of Islam under the rule of slavery, which hides in itself a divine blessing." His expression of the idea that slavery, considered to be a degrading social condition to be avoided at all costs, might  contain "a divine blessing", was the most articulate expression of [[Islamic views on slavery|Muslim thinking on slavery]] since the [[Early history of Islam|early days of Islam]]. Ibn Khaldun's general observation about the paradoxical nature of slavery brings to mind [[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel|Hegel]]'s reflections on the subject some five hundred years later. The great philosopher observed that, in many instances, it is the slave who ultimately gains the independent consciousness and power to become the actual master of his or her owner. The Mamluk/Ghulam Phenomenon is a good historical example of this paradox.}}</ref><ref name="Stowasser 1984">{{cite journal |author-last=Stowasser |author-first=Karl |date=1984 |title=Manners and Customs at the Mamluk Court |journal=[[Muqarnas (journal)|Muqarnas]] |volume=2 |issue=The Art of the Mamluks |location=[[Leiden]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |pages=13–20 |doi=10.2307/1523052 |jstor=1523052 |issn=0732-2992 |s2cid=191377149 |quote=The Mamluk slave warriors, with an empire extending from [[Libya]] to the [[Euphrates]], from [[Cilicia]] to the [[Arabian Sea]] and the [[Sudan]], remained for the next two hundred years the most formidable power of the [[Eastern Mediterranean]] and the [[Indian Ocean]] – champions of [[Sunni orthodoxy]], guardians of [[Holiest sites in Islam|Islam's holy places]], their capital, Cairo, the seat of the Sunni caliph and a magnet for scholars, artists, and craftsmen uprooted by the [[Mongol invasions and conquests|Mongol upheaval in the East]] or drawn to it from all parts of the Muslim world by its wealth and prestige. Under their rule, Egypt passed through a period of prosperity and brilliance unparalleled since the days of the [[Ptolemies]]. [...] They ruled as a [[military]] [[aristocracy]], aloof and almost totally isolated from the native population, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, and their ranks had to be replenished in each generation through fresh imports of slaves from abroad. Only those who had grown up outside Muslim territory and who entered as slaves in the service either of the [[sultan]] himself or of one of the Mamluk [[emir]]s were eligible for membership and careers within their closed military caste. The offspring of Mamluks were free-born Muslims and hence excluded from the system: they became the ''awlād al-nās'', the "sons of respectable people", who either fulfilled scribal and administrative functions or served as commanders of the non-Mamluk ''ḥalqa'' troops. Some two thousand slaves were imported annually: [[Kipchaks|Qipchaq]], [[Azeris]], [[Uzbeks|Uzbec Turks]], [[Mongols]], [[Pannonian Avars|Avars]], [[Circassians]], [[Georgians]], [[Armenians]], [[Greeks]], [[Bulgars]], [[Albanians]], [[Serbs]], [[Hungarians]].}}</ref> peaking in the 18th and 19th centuries. This term, which covers the Arab-Muslim slave trade, is symmetrical with the term "Western slave trade", which refers to the [[triangular trade]] on the [[West Africa|Western coasts of Africa]] that supplied the [[European colonization of the Americas]], and which includes the [[Atlantic slave trade]].<ref>{{cite book |author-last=Green |author-first=Toby |year=2012 |chapter=Part Two: Creolisation and Slavery – The Early Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade from Western Africa |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wRM2aO9xey0C&pg=PA177 |title=The Rise of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in Western Africa, 1300–1589 |pages=177–207 |location=[[Cambridge]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |doi=10.1017/CBO9781139016407.011 |isbn=978-1-107-01436-7 |lccn=2011015312}}</ref>
The slaves of the Eastern slave trade came mainly from [[Sub-Saharan Africa]], [[Northwestern Africa]], [[Southern Europe]], [[Slavic countries]], the [[Caucasus]], and the [[Indian subcontinent]], and were imported by the Arab-Muslim slave traders into the [[Middle East and North Africa]], the [[Horn of Africa]], and the islands of the [[Indian Ocean]].<ref name="LaRue 2023"/> For centuries, Arab-Muslim slave traders took and transported an estimated 10 to 15 million native [[Demographics of Africa|African]]s to slavery throughout the [[Arab world|Arab]]-[[Muslim world]]. They also [[White slavery|enslaved Europeans]] (known as ''[[Saqaliba]]''), as well as [[Peoples of the Caucasus|Caucasian]] and [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] peoples, from coastal areas of the [[Mediterranean Region]], the [[Balkans]], [[Central Asia]], and the [[Eurasian steppes]].<ref name="Stowasser 1984"/><ref name="Levanoni 2010">{{cite book |last=Levanoni |first=Amalia |year=2010 |chapter=PART II: EGYPT AND SYRIA (ELEVENTH CENTURY UNTIL THE OTTOMAN CONQUEST) – The Mamlūks in Egypt and Syria: the Turkish Mamlūk sultanate (648–784/1250–1382) and the Circassian Mamlūk sultanate (784–923/1382–1517) |editor-last=Fierro |editor-first=Maribel |title=The New Cambridge History of Islam, Volume 2: The Western Islamic World, Eleventh to Eighteenth Centuries |location=[[Cambridge]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |pages=237–284 |doi=10.1017/CHOL9780521839570.010 |isbn=978-1-139-05615-1 |quote=The Arabic term ''mamlūk'' literally means 'owned' or 'slave', and was used for the [[White people|White]] [[Turkish people|Turkish]] [[History of slavery in the Muslim world|slaves]] of [[Turkic mythology|Pagan origins]], purchased from [[Central Asia]] and the [[Eurasian steppes]] by [[Islam and politics|Muslim rulers]] to serve as soldiers in their armies. Mamlūk units formed an integral part of Muslim armies from the third/ninth century, and Mamlūk involvement in government became an increasingly familiar occurrence in the [[Middle Ages|medieval]] [[Middle East]]. The road to absolute rule lay open before them [[Egypt in the Middle Ages|in Egypt]] when the Mamlūk establishment gained military and political domination during the reign of the [[Ayyubid dynasty|Ayyūbid ruler of Egypt]], al-Ṣāliḥ Ayyūb (r. 637–47/1240–9).}}</ref><ref name="OxfordBusinessGroup">{{cite web |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Warrior kings: A look at the history of the Mamluks |url=https://oxfordbusinessgroup.com/overview/warrior-kings-look-history-mamluks |year=2012 |work=The Report – Egypt 2012: The Guide |publisher=Oxford Business Group |pages=332–334 |access-date=1 March 2021 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925104321/https://oxfordbusinessgroup.com/overview/warrior-kings-look-history-mamluks |archive-date=25 September 2020 |quote=The Mamluks, who descended from non-Arab [[History of slavery in the Muslim world|slaves]] who were naturalised to serve and fight for ruling Arab dynasties, are revered as some of the greatest warriors the world has ever known. Although the word ''mamluk'' translates as "one who is owned", the Mamluk soldiers proved otherwise, gaining a powerful military standing in [[Muslim world|various Muslim societies]], particularly [[Egypt in the Middle Ages|in Egypt]]. They would also go on to hold political power for several centuries during a period known as the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt]]. [...] Before the Mamluks rose to power, there was a [[History of slavery in the Muslim world|long history of slave soldiers in the Middle East]], with many recruited into Arab armies by the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid rulers]] of [[Baghdad]] in the ninth century. The tradition was continued by the dynasties that followed them, including the [[Fatimids]] and [[Ayyubids]] (it was the Fatimids who built the foundations of what is now Islamic [[Cairo]]). For centuries, the rulers of the Arab world recruited men from the lands of the [[Caucasus]] and [[Central Asia]]. It is hard to discern the precise ethnic background of the Mamluks, given that they came from a number of ethnically mixed regions, but most are thought to have been [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] (mainly [[Kipchaks|Kipchak]] and [[Cumans|Cuman]]) or [[Peoples of the Caucasus|from the Caucasus]] (predominantly [[Circassians|Circassian]], but also [[Armenians|Armenian]] and [[Georgians|Georgian]]). The Mamluks [[Conscription#Military slavery|were recruited forcibly to reinforce the armies]] of Arab rulers. As outsiders, they had no local loyalties, and would thus fight for whoever owned them, not unlike [[mercenaries]]. Furthermore, the Turks and Circassians had a ferocious reputation as warriors. The slaves were either purchased or abducted as boys, around the age of 13, and brought to the cities, most notably to Cairo and its [[Cairo Citadel|Citadel]]. Here [[Forced conversion#Islam|they would be converted to Islam]] and would be put through a rigorous military training regime that focused particularly on [[horsemanship]]. A code of behaviour not too dissimilar to that of the [[Medieval Europe|European knights]]' [[Code of Chivalry]] was also inculcated and was known as ''[[Furusiyya]]''. As in many military establishments to this day the authorities sought to instil an esprit de corps and a sense of duty among the young men. The Mamluks would have to live separately from the local populations in their garrisons, which included the Citadel and [[Rhoda Island]], also in Cairo.}}</ref>
The offspring of [[Mamluks]] were regarded as Muslim freedmen, and hence excluded from the Arab-Muslim slave trade; they were known as the ''awlād al-nās'' ("sons of respectable people"), who either fulfilled scribal and administrative functions or served as commanders of the non-Mamluk ''ḥalqa'' troops, serving the ruling Arab and [[Ottoman dynasty|Ottoman]] dynasties in the [[Muslim world]].<ref name="Stowasser 1984"/>
==United States==
{{More citations needed section|date=December 2024}}
{{main|Abolitionism in the United States|Atlantic slave trade}}
{{further|Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves|Act Prohibiting the Return of Slaves|Emancipation Proclamation|Free Negro}}
[[File:Old Freedman with old slave horn Texas 1939.jpg|right|thumb|Freedman with an old horn used to call slaves photographed in [[Texas]], 1939]]
In the [[history of the United States]], the terms "freedmen" and "freedwomen" refer chiefly to [[Slavery in the United States|former African slaves]] emancipated during and after the [[American Civil War]] by the [[Emancipation Proclamation]] and the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution]]. African slaves freed before the war (usually by individual [[manumission]]s, often in [[Will (law)|will]]s) were generally referred to as "free Negroes" or "free Blacks". In addition, there was a population of [[African Americans]] born free.
In addition, there were sizable communities of free peoples of African descent in the [[French West Indies|French Caribbean colonies]], such as [[Saint-Domingue]] (now Haiti) and [[Guadeloupe]]. Due to the violence of the [[Haitian Revolution]], many free people of color, who were originally part of the revolution, fled the island as refugees after being attacked by [[Slave rebellion|slave rebels]], particularly in the north of the island. Some went first to [[Colonial Cuba|Spanish-ruled Cuba]], from where they immigrated to [[New Orleans]] in 1808 and 1809 after being expelled when [[Napoleon]] [[Napoleonic Wars|invaded Spanish territories in Western Europe]]. Many brought slaves with them. Their numbers strengthened the French-speaking community of enslaved African peoples, as well as the free people of color. Other refugees from Saint-Domingue settled in [[Charleston, West Virginia|Charleston]], [[Savannah, Georgia|Savannah]], and [[New York City|New York]].
===Emancipation===
The [[Emancipation Proclamation]] of 1863 declared all enslaved peoples in [[Confederate States of America|the Confederacy]]—states in rebellion and not under the control of [[Union (American Civil War)|the Union]]—to be permanently free. It did not end slavery in the four [[Border states (American Civil War)|border states]] that had stayed in the Union. African slavery elsewhere was abolished by [[U.S. state|state]] action or with the ratification of the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution]] in December 1865. The [[Civil Rights Act of 1866]], passed over the veto of [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[Andrew Johnson]], gave the formerly enslaved peoples full [[citizenship in the United States]], though this did not guarantee them voting rights. The [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|14th Amendment]] made "All persons born or naturalized in the United States" citizens of the United States. The [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|15th Amendment]] gave voting rights to all adult males; only adult males had the franchise among [[White Americans]]. The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments are known as the "Civil War Amendments"<ref>[https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/intro.3-4/ALDE_00000388/ ''Constitution Annotated''.]</ref> or the "[[Reconstruction Amendments]]".
To help freedmen transition from slavery to freedom, including a free labor market, [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[Abraham Lincoln]] created the [[Freedmen's Bureau]], which assigned agents throughout the former Confederate states. The Bureau also founded schools to educate freedmen, both adults and children; helped freedmen negotiate labor contracts; and tried to minimize violence against freedmen. The era of [[Reconstruction era|Reconstruction]] was an attempt to establish new governments in the former Confederacy and to bring freedmen into society as voting citizens. Northern church bodies, such as the [[American Missionary Association]] and the [[Free Will Baptist]]s, sent teachers to the South to assist in educating freedmen and their children, and eventually established several colleges for higher education. [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] occupation soldiers were stationed throughout the South via military districts enacted by the [[Reconstruction Acts]]; they protected freedmen in voting polls and public facilities from violence and intimidation by white Southerners, which were common throughout the region.
===Native American freedmen===
{{main|Choctaw freedmen}}
The [[Cherokee Nation (1794–1907)|Cherokee Nation]], [[Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma|Choctaw Nation]], [[Chickasaw|Chickasaw Nation]], [[Seminole Nation of Oklahoma]], and [[Muscogee Nation|Creek Nation]] were among those [[Native American tribes]] that held enslaved Africans before and during the [[American Civil War]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/08/us/politics/indian-health-service-freedmen.html|title=After Denying Care to African Natives, Indian Health Service Reverses Policy|first1=Mark|last1=Walker|first2=Chris|last2=Cameron|newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 8, 2021}}</ref>  They supported the Confederacy during the war, supplying some warriors in the West, as they were promised their own state if the Confederacy won. After the end of the war, the U.S. required these tribes to make new peace treaties, and to emancipate their African slaves. They were required to offer full citizenship in their tribes to those freedmen who wanted to stay with the tribes. Numerous families had intermarried by that time or had other personal ties. If freedmen left the tribes, they would become U.S. citizens.
====Cherokee freedmen====
{{main|Cherokee freedmen controversy}}
In the late 20th century, the Cherokee Nation voted for restrictions on membership to only those descendants of people listed as "Cherokee by blood" on the [[Dawes Rolls]] of the early 20th century, a decision that excluded most [[Cherokee freedmen controversy|Cherokee Freedmen]] (by that time this term referred to descendants of the original group). In addition to arguing that the post-Civil War treaties gave them citizenship, the freedmen have argued that the Dawes Rolls were often inaccurate, recording as freedmen even those individuals who had partial Cherokee ancestry and were considered Cherokee by blood. The [[Choctaw freedmen]] and [[Creek Freedmen|Creek freedmen]] have similarly struggled with their respective tribes over the terms of citizenship in contemporary times. The tribes have wanted to limit those who can benefit from tribal citizenship, in an era in which gaming casinos are yielding considerable revenues for members. The majority of members of the tribes have voted to limit membership. Descendants of freedmen, however, maintain that their rights to citizenship granted under the post-Civil War treaties should be restored. In 2017, the Cherokee freedmen were granted citizenship again in the tribe.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?2013cv1313-248|title=''Cherokee Nation v. Raymond Nash, et al. and Marilyn Vann, et al. and Ryan Zinke, Secretary of the Interior'' ruling, August 30, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/08/31/547705829/judge-rules-that-cherokee-freedmen-have-right-to-tribal-citizenship|title=Judge Rules That Cherokee Freedmen Have Right To Tribal Citizenship|publisher=npr|date=2017-08-31|access-date=2017-09-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://anadisgoi.com/images/archive/1784/release.pdf|title=Cherokee Nation Attorney General Todd Hembree issues statement on Freedmen ruling, August 31, 2017 (Accessible in PDF format as of September 8, 2017|access-date=March 26, 2019|archive-date=November 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116001718/http://anadisgoi.com/images/archive/1784/release.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Australia==
Many [[Convicts in Australia|convicted people from the United Kingdom were sentenced to be transported to Australia]] between 1788 and 1868. Also, many came from the United Kingdom and Europe voluntarily, planning to settle in Australia, some as pastors and missionaries, others seeking to make a living by trade or farming. When convicts finished their sentence, they were freed and referred to as "freedmen" or "freed men". However, many of these who were freed wanted to claim the label "free men". But those who had come freely to Australia wanted to reserve the label "free men" exclusively for themselves, distinguishing themselves above those who had been "freed".<ref>pp. 89-95. Laugesen, Amanda. ''Convict words: Language in early colonial Australia.'' Oxford University Press, USA, 2002.</ref>
==See also==
{{Commons category|Freedmen}}
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Black Seminoles]]
* [[Choctaw freedmen]]
* [[Creek Freedmen]]
* [[Freedman's Hospital]]
* [[Freedmen's Aid Society]]
* [[Freedmen's Bureau]]
* [[Freedmen's Bureau bills]]
* [[Freedmen's Colony of Roanoke Island]]
* [[Freedman's Savings Bank]]
* [[Freedmen's town]]
{{Div col end}}
==References==
{{Reflist | refs=
<!-- WEBSITE REFERENCES -->
<ref name=pbs-roman-freemen>{{cite web | title = Slaves & Freemen | url = https://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/slaves_freemen.html | website = [[PBS]]}}</ref>
<!-- BOOK REFERENCES -->
<!--
<ref name=heinegg-freeafricanamericans>{{cite book | last = Heinegg | first = Paul | year = 1995–2005 | title = Free African Americans of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland and Delaware | url = http://www.freeafricanamericans.com}}</ref>
-->
<ref name=millar-crowd-rome-laterepublic>{{cite book | last = Millar | first = Fergus | year = 1998–2002 | title = The Crowd in Rome in the Late Republic | publisher = University of Michigan | pages = 23 & 209}}</ref>
<ref name=mouritsen-freemen-romanworld>{{cite book | last = Mouritsen | first = Henrik | year = 2011 | title = The Freedman in the Roman World | publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]] | page = 36}}</ref>
<ref name=berger-libertinus>{{cite book | last = Berger | first = Adolf | year = 1953 | title = ''libertinus'', ''Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman Law'' | publisher = American Philological Society | page = 564}}</ref>
}}
{{Portal bar|United States|Roman Empire}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Freedmen| ]]