freedman
Americannoun
-
freedmen
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of freedman
First recorded in 1595–1605; freed ( def. ) + man
Explanation
An enslaved person who legally gained freedom was once known as a freedman. The term was most popular during and just after the Civil War. Before the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment, a formerly enslaved person was commonly referred to as a "free Black" or "free Negro." Freedman and freedwoman became the preferred terms after the Civil War. During Reconstruction, President Lincoln established a Freedman's Bureau that was intended to help formerly enslaved people find shelter and jobs, learn to read and write, and connect with their scattered family members.
Vocabulary lists containing freedman
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In the afterword to one of her most autobiographical novels, “starring sally j. freedman as herself,” Blume remembered being “curious, imaginative, a worrier” when she was a girl, qualities she clearly has retained.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 21, 2023
The area around Downsville, Harrison and Asa was home of numerous cotton plantations before the Civil War and freedman communities starting with Reconstruction.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 26, 2018
“We have a right to the land where we are located,” Virginia freedman Bayley Wyat insisted.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 18, 2018
As a freedman, Allen moved to Philadelphia — the first city to begin the gradual emancipation of enslaved people.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 21, 2017
Three books of Cicero’s jokes, now lost, were published after his death by his freedman Tiro.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
Each tribe also has a unique history with freedmen, whose rights were ultimately spelled out in separate treaties with the U.S.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 28, 2023
The 1866 Freedmen’s Bureau Act then expanded upon the prior year’s law, authorizing the Bureau to care for all loyal refugees and freedmen.
From Slate ● Jul. 20, 2023
Hundreds of thousands of freedmen were now eligible to participate in elections, with each of their ballots carrying the same weight as the vote of a white aristocrat.
From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2022
He saw it, along with Liberia, as a viable destination for America’s freedmen and sent a few hundred of them there to set up a settlement.
From New York Times ● May 20, 2022
The black and purple benches, highest and most distant from the sand, were crowded with freedmen and other common folk.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
