The New York Public Library, Mid-Manhattan Library, Picture Collection

Illustrated London News, 1856

Southern blacks were more likely to have been trained as skilled laborers than were African Americans born in the North. But upon migrating to Northern cities, Southerners were at a disadvantage because they were unable to find jobs in their specialty and were forced to accept unskilled jobs. In 1855, 77 percent of black men in New York were domestics or unskilled laborers. Fewer than 6 percent held skilled jobs.