Is it Self-Hate? Is it for money? The simple answer is people are tired of being lied to and they want to know where their families come from. There has been a rise of Black Americans tracing their genealogy to find out their true identity and family history. I have mentioned what genealogy in my first blog, this blog I will go into the steps of Genealogy and how people actually trace their family lineage.
Census Records:
Census Records for the United States were first started in 1790, where people recorded in a specific city/town, county and state listing a person's name, age, place of birth, race, occupation etc. From 1790 to 1810 there were only three categories for race such as Free White Person, All Other Free Persons (includes Black, Negro, and Mulatto) and Slaves. From 1820 to 1840 the All Other Free Category was changed to Free Colored Persons and from 1850 and beyond races have been categorized as Black, Negro, White, Mulatto, Indian, Native American, Latino etc.
Birth Records:
Birth Records gives information on the person being born including name, date of birth, place of birth etc. The same applies for parents.
Death Records:
Death Records gives information on the person being born including name, date of birth, place of birth etc. The same applies for parents.
Marriage Records:
Marriage records provide the names and place of birth of the bride and groom. Also, can include the names of the bride and groom's parents.
Military Records:
Military records include a soldier's name, date of birth, and place of birth. It also can include their spouse's and parents'names. Lastly, military records also include a soldier's physical description.
Dawes Rolls:
The Dawes Roll are rolls that contain the names of members of the Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole) by Blood and Freedman. Many Black Americans that have ancestors that moved to Oklahoma due to the Trail of Tears can be found on these rolls.
These are the many records that Black Americans use to claim their indigenous heritage.