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by Thermosetty 1317 days ago
"Not all were slaves, and writing letters"

Your point? "Free" Blacks were exceptions (about 9% by 1850) not the rule. Preservation of their history too was an exception, not the rule. Controlling for literacy rates and economic deprivation suppresses the preservation percentage more.
1 comments
WalterBright 1317 days ago
The last Civil War soldier died in the 1950s. There were 4 million slaves freed in 1865. Plenty of time for people taking oral histories of primary sources.

Besides, 9% of 4 million is 360,000. Quite a lot of people.

On February 25, 1837, Cheyney University of Pennsylvania became the nation's first Historically Black College and University (HBCU). -- Google

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cafard 1316 days ago
It took quite a while for the US government to get around take oral histories from persons born into slavery, but it did so: https://www.loc.gov/collections/voices-remembering-slavery/a...
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Thermosetty 1317 days ago
The last American slave died 70 years ago. Ignoring the millions that lived and died between the early 17th and mid 19th centuries is disingenuous.

The nature of slavery and the operational structure of this nation ensured that significant quantities of Black history was lost (original premise).

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