| Introduction to African American Genealogy | |
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Step Four - Research the Slave Owner & Slavery
Because slaves were considered to be property, your next step once you find the slave owner, is to follow the records to learn what he did with his property. Look for wills, probate records, plantation records, bills of sale, land deeds and even runaway slave advertisements in newspapers. You should also study your history - learn about the practices and laws which governed slavery and what life was like for slaves and slave owners in the antebellum South. Unlike what is common belief, the majority of slave owners were not wealthy plantation owners and most owned five slaves or less.
Resources:
Finding
Wills & Probate Records
Research in Land Records
Plantation
Records
Step Five - Back to Africa
The vast majority of Americans of African ancestry in the United States are descendants of
the 400,000 black slaves forcibly brought to the New World prior to 1860. Most of these slaves
came from a small section (approximately 300 miles long) of the
Atlantic coast between the Congo and Gambia rivers in East Africa. Much of
African culture is based on oral tradition, but records such as slave sales and
slave advertisements may give a clue toward slave origins in Africa. Getting
your slave ancestor back to Africa may just not be possible, but your best
chances lie with scrutinizing every record you can find for clues and by being
familiar with the slave trade in the area in which you are researching. Learn
everything you can about how, when and why slaves were transported to the state
in which you last found them with their owner. If your ancestors came into this
country, then you will need to learn the history of the Underground Railroad so
that you can track their movements back and forth the border.
Resources:
African Genealogy
African
Slave Trade
History of Slavery
in North America
Step Six - From the
Caribbean
Since the end of World War II, a significant number of people of African
ancestry have emigrated to the U.S. from the Caribbean, where their ancestors
were also slaves (primarily at the hands of the British, Dutch, and French).
Once you have determined that your ancestors came from the Caribbean, you will
need to trace Caribbean records back to their source of origin and then back to
Africa. You will also need to be very familiar with the history of the slave
trade into the Caribbean
Resources:
Blacks
in the Caribbean & Latin America
Caribbean Genealogy
The information discussed in
this article is just the tip of the iceberg of the vast scope of African
American genealogy research. For a much greater expansion on the six steps
discussed here, you should read Tony Burroughs' wonderful book, "Black
Roots: A Beginner's Guide to Tracing the African-American Family Tree."
URL:
http://genealogy.about.com/library/weekly/aa021101b.htm
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