Family traces history of Tennessee's wealthiest black slave owner

Like many wealthy landowners of the pre-Civil War South, Sherrod Bryant owned slaves.

[Girl-next-door]

This sounds like the making of a great movie. Very interesting.

[Dave L]

THis doesnt surprise me but I want to thank WBIR for the story! I never would have LEARNED this about black slave owners in my school!

[Charles]

Slavery was, and is, an evil institution, but isn't it interesting how different the views are between
a black man and a white man owning slaves? White men are villianized, but it was "necessary" for a wealthy black man to own fellow humans ?! That is the heighth of hypocricy.

[cathy weston-mims]

This is great-I never knew a black person had slaves-I hope he was a kind slave master

[John Doe]

The vast majority of economic oppression has to do with capital (obviously). Whites exploit whites, blacks exploit blacks, white business owners exploit black and white employees, and the black business owner profits from the sweat of his white and black workers. Are we really that surprised that black land-owners owned slaves?

[Justin Bryant]

WEll as being of bryant family liniage i would like to find out more about the census records that carl has found. I am very intrested in this article.

[grm]

no clue what everyone is talking about!!!!

[thetagmonkey]

My Great Grandfather owned slaves and when the time came to set them free they simply refused to leave.

As the story is told he bought land in Alabama and moved his people there.

Today there are Blacks in Alabama that carry the unusual famly last name I wonder if their Greatgrand parents once walked my yard?

[Knoxxie]

This was a very interesting story. Although, I learned many years ago that there were free blacks who owned black slaves.

[9th Generation Tennessean]

Just because an individual has sub-Saharan African ancestor does not make him or her "Black" in any country but the US in the last 200 years. The fact is that there is a high likelihood that Sherrod Bryant was not considered to be "Black" by his friends, neighbors, contemporaries & peers. Money had a way of lightening one's complexion.

Americans changed their concept of “race” many times. Eston Hemings, Thomas Jefferson’s son, was socially accepted as a White Virginian because he looked European. Biracial planters in antebellum South Carolina assimilated into White society because they were rich. Intermarried couples were acquitted despite the laws because some courts ruled that anyone one with less than one-fourth African ancestry was White, while others ruled that Italians were Colored. Dozens of nineteenth-century American families struggled to come to grips with notions of “racial” identity as the color line shifted and hardened into its present form.

The one-drop rule was invented in the North during the Nat Turner panic. It was resisted by Louisiana Creoles, Florida Hispanics, and the maroon (triracial-e.g.-Melungeon, Lumbee, Brass Ankles) communities of the Southeast. It triumphed during Jim Crow as a means of keeping Whites in line by banishing to Blackness any White family who dared to establish friendly relations with Blacks.

“Black blood” is apparently so very strong that a preponderance of “White blood” cannot ever overcome it, no matter its’ degree.
Ask yourself this: why is it that the USA is the ONLY country in the world where a white woman can give birth to a “Black” baby (Halle Berry, Barak Obama), yet a “Black” woman cannot ever birth a “white” baby.

[NightSerf]

9th Generation Tennessean wrote:

Just because an individual has sub-Saharan African ancestor does not make him or her "Black" in any country but the US in the last 200 years. The fact is that there is a high likelihood that Sherrod Bryant was not considered to be "Black" by his friends, neighbors, contemporaries & peers. Money had a way of lightening one's complexion.
Americans changed their concept of “race” many times. Eston Hemings, Thomas Jefferson’s son, was socially accepted as a White Virginian because he looked European. Biracial planters in antebellum South Carolina assimilated into White society because they were rich. Intermarried couples were acquitted despite the laws because some courts ruled that anyone one with less than one-fourth African ancestry was White, while others ruled that Italians were Colored. Dozens of nineteenth-century American families struggled to come to grips with notions of “racial” identity as the color line shifted and hardened into its present form.
The one-drop rule was invented in the North during the Nat Turner panic. It was resisted by Louisiana Creoles, Florida Hispanics, and the maroon (triracial-e.g.-Melungeon, Lumbee, Brass Ankles) communities of the Southeast. It triumphed during Jim Crow as a means of keeping Whites in line by banishing to Blackness any White family who dared to establish friendly relations with Blacks.
“Black blood” is apparently so very strong that a preponderance of “White blood” cannot ever overcome it, no matter its’ degree.
Ask yourself this: why is it that the USA is the ONLY country in the world where a white woman can give birth to a “Black” baby (Halle Berry, Barak Obama), yet a “Black” woman cannot ever birth a “white” baby.

Thanks for the excellent post. It points out that race is a social construct that has no real basis in biology and, as such, ideas about race are fluid--they change with the times. Let's hope they change for the better or melt way enirely in the course of this century.

[Knoxxie]

9th Generation Tennessean wrote:

Just because an individual has sub-Saharan African ancestor does not make him or her "Black" in any country but the US in the last 200 years. The fact is that there is a high likelihood that Sherrod Bryant was not considered to be "Black" by his friends, neighbors, contemporaries & peers. Money had a way of lightening one's complexion.
Americans changed their concept of “race” many times. Eston Hemings, Thomas Jefferson’s son, was socially accepted as a White Virginian because he looked European. Biracial planters in antebellum South Carolina assimilated into White society because they were rich. Intermarried couples were acquitted despite the laws because some courts ruled that anyone one with less than one-fourth African ancestry was White, while others ruled that Italians were Colored. Dozens of nineteenth-century American families struggled to come to grips with notions of “racial” identity as the color line shifted and hardened into its present form.
The one-drop rule was invented in the North during the Nat Turner panic. It was resisted by Louisiana Creoles, Florida Hispanics, and the maroon (triracial-e.g.-Melungeon, Lumbee, Brass Ankles) communities of the Southeast. It triumphed during Jim Crow as a means of keeping Whites in line by banishing to Blackness any White family who dared to establish friendly relations with Blacks.
“Black blood” is apparently so very strong that a preponderance of “White blood” cannot ever overcome it, no matter its’ degree.
Ask yourself this: why is it that the USA is the ONLY country in the world where a white woman can give birth to a “Black” baby (Halle Berry, Barak Obama), yet a “Black” woman cannot ever birth a “white” baby.

Interesting post...

[CajunCornbread]

Jesus had black relatives,too.

[Carl]

Justin Bryant wrote:

WEll as being of bryant family liniage i would like to find out more about the census records that carl has found. I am very intrested in this article.

Justin the first census that you will find
Sherad,Sherrod Bryant is in Davidson County, Tennessee.I would love to talk you. My email is:[e-mail],