Until the end of the Civil War in 1865 America was legally and socially stratified into three castes:

  1. Enslaved (Always Black)
  2. White (Free by virtue of their whiteness)
  3. Free Persons of Color (Not White. Not enslaved)

A person's life was determined by which caste they were aligned to.  


This section is pointers to more information about the Free People of Color in NC and SC.  It is not about current ethnic identification.  


The links to NC & SC tribes are for the reader to find info about tribes' pre-1865 history.  Contemporary racial/ethnic affiliations are another story, for another researcher.

Books, Articles, Videos  
Book North Carolina's Free People of Color 1715–1885, Warren Milteer LINK
Book The Free Negro in North Carolina, John Hope Franklin LINK
Book Free African Americans in VA, NC & SC, Paul Heinegg LINK
Video North Carolina's Free People of Color 1715–1885, Warren Milteer LINK
Article The Free Colored People of North Carolina, Chesnutt LINK
Article The Free Negroes of North Carolina, The Atlantic Jan 1886 LINK
   
Social Media & Websites  
Group Free People of Color and Their Descendants in the U.S. South LINK
Blog Historical Documents of Genealogical Interest to Researchers of North Carolina's Free People of Color LINK
Blog “Free People of Color” in Slaveholding North Carolina: The Andersons of Granville County LINK
Web Cumbo Family. Andre Kearns LINK
Web Winton Triangle/Chowan Discovery Group. Marvin T. Jones LINK
Web Granville County FPOC. Kianga Lucas LINK
Web Graham & Jacobs FPOC in Bladen/Brunswick/Columbus NC. Kevin Graham LINK
Web Jacobs 1640-1755. Tyrone Goodwyn LINK
     
NC State-Recognized Tribes in Alphabetical Order (italics=fed recognition)  
Tribe Coharie LINK
Tribe Eastern Band of Cherokee LINK
Tribe Haliwa-Saponi LINK
Tribe Lumbee LINK
Tribe Meherrin LINK
Tribe Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation  LINK
Tribe Sappony LINK
Tribe Waccamaw LINK
   
SC State-Recognized Tribes in Alphabetical Order (italics=fed recognition)  
Tribe Beaver Creek Indians LINK
Tribe Catawba LINK
Tribe Edisto Natchez-Kusso  LINK
Tribe Pee Dee  LINK
Tribe Pee Dee Indian Nation of Upper South Carolina  
Tribe Piedmont American Indian Association LINK
Tribe Santee  
Tribe Sumter Tribe of Cheraw   
Tribe Waccamaw Indian People    LINK
Tribe Wassamasaw Tribe of Varnertown Indians LINK