Imagine you are an escaped African slave. After being a slave for years, you finally made it, you escaped the terror of slavery. Look forward to the freedoms you heard promised in the North. However, these “freedoms” are all they were designed for. Northern blacks were free to some extent in the years before the Civil War. This can be demonstrated by examining four areas of society: political and judicial rights, social freedoms, educational and employment opportunities, and religious freedom. In general, blacks in the North were quite free in the area of ​​political and judicial rights. Most Northern states in 1860 permitted or restricted voting. This might sound fantastic, but New England was the region that had the greatest number of states where black males could vote. Of the 221,000 blacks in the North, only 25,000 African Americans lived in New England. Furthermore, only males could vote. All women, regardless of race, were prohibited from voting until many years after the Civil War. Five of the 16 Northern states allowed voting limited to black men. Of New York City's 11,000 blacks, only 100 could vote. The reason for this was that you had to pay a $250 property requirement to vote. This prevented most blacks in New York from voting. Jury service was also another activity in which almost no blacks could participate. Of the 16 Northern states, Massachusetts was the only state in 1860 that allowed black males to serve on the jury. These limitations on freedoms are important because blacks had virtually no say in their government. Having a voice in government is important to everyone because those who live there must also be taken into consideration when creating or changing... middle of paper... the political and judicial rights of free blacks, their rights, social liberties, opportunities of work and education and religious freedom. Not all blacks who escaped slavery led perfect lives in the North. They still had to face hardships and bear many burdens even though they were free. The reason it is important to learn about the lives of free blacks in the North is that even though they were free, life wasn't all that easy for them. This is important to learn because it clears up misconceptions that the North was a completely safe haven for slaves. They were free, but they were not treated as equal beings and it was still hard for them. These things are important today because we see how much our country has changed. We need to know this because we can see how much we have changed for the better and use it as motivation to continue improving in the future.