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Does the surname of Freeman account for white people? Is this surname taken by many blacks after liberation like Washington?
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human trafficking of Europeans within Europe was still common as surnames came into use, and certain classes of people were viewed as property in some European countries until the 19th C.. Only a few years separates the emancipation of slaves in America and the last Europeans viewed as property in their own countries. Even in the Americas, the first slaves brought into the European colonies were European (POWs, debt slaves etc.) and a common fear during times of conflict was of being kidnapped and sold into slavery in another nations colony.
This message was edited 11/11/2021, 7:25 AM
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What Lepic said. Technically, white people were the ones who created European surnames, so there were white Freemans before there were black Freemans.
But yes, freed slaves did sometimes change their names to refect their racial pride or self-accomplishment. They also took up surnames such as Black, Brown, Coal and Guinea. :)
(According to The Oxford Companion To African American Literature)
But yes, freed slaves did sometimes change their names to refect their racial pride or self-accomplishment. They also took up surnames such as Black, Brown, Coal and Guinea. :)
(According to The Oxford Companion To African American Literature)
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Is this surname the majority of white people now?
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Probably. But it depends. For example, most people in the US are white, so there are probably more white Freemans. Even before slavery, many people of different races were serving someone else to get by. So there were white servants in America and white slaves elsewhere. I'd say that whites take up most of the English surnames in the world.
I hope this answers your question! :3
I hope this answers your question! :3
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From the Dictionary of American Family Names
Freeman: from Middle English freman, fremon ‘freeman, free-born man’ (Old English frēomann, frīgmann), used also occasionally as a personal name. As an African American surname it was in many cases adopted as a name denoting a man freed of slavery.
Freeman: from Middle English freman, fremon ‘freeman, free-born man’ (Old English frēomann, frīgmann), used also occasionally as a personal name. As an African American surname it was in many cases adopted as a name denoting a man freed of slavery.
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