A listing from the 1850 census of approximately 8,160 free blacks and mulattos between the ages of 1 month and 112 years, providing name, age, sex, occupation, color, place of birth, household and dwelling number, and county.

Margaret Motes has combed through a microfilm copy of the 1850 census manuscript for the state of South Carolina in order to unearth every reference to a free black or mulatto that can be found there. The end result of her efforts is the new book, Free Blacks and Mulattos in South Carolina 1850 Census, an alphabetically arranged listing of 8,160 free blacks and mulattos between the ages of one month and 112 years of age. The data for free persons of color in South Carolina in 1850, which spans twenty-nine different counties, records the following for each individual named in the census: name, age, sex, occupation, color, place of birth, household and dwelling number, and county.

Thirteen reels of microcopy were read covering the twenty-nine counties in the 1850 South Carolina Federal Census. The information for this book was abstracted and sorted by place of birth, name and age.

Drawing on the federal census, wills, mortgage bills of sale, tax returns, and newspaper advertisements, this authoritative study describes the nature of African-American slaveholding, its complexity, and its rationales. It reveals how some African-American slave masters had earned their freedom and how some free Blacks purchased slaves for their own use. The book provides a fresh perspective on slavery in the antebellum South and underscores the importance of African Americans in the history of American slavery. The book also paints a picture of the complex social dynamics between free and enslaved Blacks, and between Black and white slaveowners. It illuminates the motivations behind African-American slaveholding--including attempts to create or maintain independence, to accumulate wealth, and to protect family members--and sheds light on the harsh realities of slavery for both Black masters and Black slaves. • BLACK SLAVEOWNERS--Shows how some African Americans became slave masters • MOTIVATIONS FOR SLAVEHOLDING--Highlights the motivations behind African-American slaveholding • SOCIAL DYNAMICS--Sheds light on the complex social dynamics between free and enslaved Blacks • ANEBELLUM SOUTH--Provides a perspective on slavery in the antebellum South