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|The Destruction of African American Towns |
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Once freed from slavery, African Americans began coming together and forming towns that built up their communities and catered to their needs. These towns were strong, self-sufficient and a positive and progressive change for African Americans. Because of their success, for the first time, the fear of large, strong African American towns in the U.S. posed a threat to White American citizens. Although segregated, Black communities still had the ability, which they took full advantage of, to rise up and become contributing members of society. After slavery ended, Black communities began forming and growing in power all over the U.S. This did not sit well with White Americans and unfortunately, because of racism and deeply held prejudices, many of these communities were often overrun by hate groups or because they were politically disenfranchised. In 1738, almost a decade before the U.S declared freedom for all slaves, Fort Mose, Florida was the site of the first free Black settlement. Any slave who came to this portion of Florida and declared their allegiance to Spain and the Catholic church - because the area was still Spanish territory - gained freedom. As a result, many slaves fled to this area of Florida and were declared free and formed their own communities. No longer being viewed as slaves, freed Black men and women were able to become contributing members of society in Florida, though many of their contributions were militaristic in nature. “Fort Mose became the first legally sanctioned free black town in the present-day United States, and it is a critically important site for Black American history. Mose provides important evidence that Black American colonial history was much more than slavery and oppression. The men and women of Mose won their liberty through great daring