African American Research

United States   African American Research

Did you know?

 * The first African settlers in the U.S. were indentured servants in Jamestown, Va., in 1619 (before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock) and freed after 7 years.
 * African American is the most common ancestry in: Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
 * The Freedman's Bank and the Freedmen's Bureau were separate organizations, from different federal departments, in separate National Archives record groups.
 * Ten percent of the African American population was free before the Civil War.
 * Only 15 percent of freed slaves used the family name of a former owner.
 * From 1865 to 1875 many African Americans changed their family name.

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United States Freedmen’s Bureau Letters (FamilySearch Historical Records)