Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, General Research and Reference Division

George Henry, Life of George Henry (Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press, 1971)

Slaveholders feared that free African Americans would incite their slaves to violent rebellion. Many laws that restricted the movements of free blacks were designed to limit the amount of contact they had with slaves. Sailors, like George Henry, were prevented by law from leaving their ships while docked in Southern ports.