Nevertheless , free Africans across the country performed a variety of occupations , and a small number owned and operated successful farms .
In the South , vagrancy laws had allowed the states to force free Negroes into labor , and sometimes to sell them into slavery .
Free Africans across the country performed a variety of occupations , and a small number owned and operated successful farms .
In the South , vagrancy laws had allowed the states to force free Negroes into labor , and sometimes to sell them into slavery .