Free Black men and women in the French and Spanish regions of the Americas maintained their freedom and established independent lives for themselves. Enslaved Africans under French rule were governed by a brutal enslavement code known as the Code Noir—which enforced the racial hierarchy and forced labor of Africans in the Americas.

As with other colonial cities, St. Louis’ European population remained influenced by Western notions of race and viewed Africans as inferior to English, French, and Spanish colonists. Despite ongoing prejudice, free Black men and women lived and thrived in St. Louis in the late eighteenth century.

Fearing loss of control over Black people, American colonists united in their commitment to enslavement and utilized the language of political enslavement as justification for the revolution against Britain. African people across the colonies fought in small and big ways for their liberty and human rights.

The White founders and writers of the Constitution protected and defended the legality of race-based forced bondage even while Black authors continued to highlight the inconsistent application of freedom and “inalienable rights” in the new country.

In 1790, Congress passed the Naturalization Act, which denied U.S. citizenship to any Black man or woman, regardless of whether they were enslaved or free. Black Africans continued to assert their rightful citizenship and highlight their role as significant contributors to the development of the United States.