To begin with, plantation …show more content…
In order for a slave to become free, they had to either be born into freedom, which their parents were free. They can also be emancipated by the 13th amendment. This meant that slavery was abolished unless it was a punishment for a crime. As free blacks, they had rights, but they were limited. They lived in dorms with their families. They were allowed to open a business, buy a house, food, clothing, and more. However, in some cases, slaves freed by their masters would have to pay a high percentage of their wages to their master for freedom. Unlike plantation and house slaves, if a slave was freed and a white man rapes her, she can take him to court. However, he may pay a fine, but it is not likely to be too harsh. As nice as this sounds, in many cases freed blacks were still in danger. For example, the movie 12 years a slave was based on a free man who was stripped of his freedom. Solomon Northup was a skilled violin player, who was tricked and kidnapped into slavery. For 12 years he had to work in different plantations until he was freed with the help of an abolitionist (12