The Free Black Experience in Antebellum Wilmington, North Carolina: Refining Generalizations about Race Relations

Ely concludes that "the years of national tension before the Civil War brought relative prosperity, progress, and even, in some cases, the fulfillment of dreams" to these free black residents.1 Reviews of Israel on the Appomattox acknowledge the significance of its findings but question their applicability elsewhere in the South.2 Christopher Phillips states, "Ely's book . . . challenges virtually all historical assumptions about race and slavery during this time. State and local officials did not uniformly enforce all laws passed by the North Carolina General Assembly, and not all free blacks fled the state, as the laws encouraged them to do. [...]they were not passive participants; some remained in Wilmington, worked, and accumulated property.