Reading
Names and Freedom (en español)
In Spanish, historians Douglas Egerton and Leon Litwack explain the process of freedpeople adopting new surnames.
Los nombres y la libertad
El historiador Douglas Egerton explica una de las primeras tareas que los esclavos liberados tuvieron que hacer tras su emancipación:
Los exesclavos tuvieron que emprender una tarea desconocida para los estadounidenses nacidos en libertad. Tuvieron que escoger un apellido. Si bien los esclavos generalmente adoptaban el nombre de la familia para su propio uso, muy pocos amos deseaban conceder a sus esclavos la dignidad que conlleva un apellido. 1
El historiador Leon Litwak describe algunos de los factores que los esclavos liberados consideraban al adoptar un apellido:
En algunos casos, los funcionarios federales aceleraban el proceso de designación, proporcionando ellos mismos el apellido; este era siempre el mismo del amo más reciente del esclavo liberado. No obstante, estos parecen haber sido casos excepcionales. En general, los exesclavos tomaron la iniciativa; tal es el caso de una madre en Virginia que cambió el nombre de su hijo, a quien su amo llamaba Jeff Davis, por Thomas Grant, lo que parecía sugerir la libertad que ahora ella ejercía. Fuera cual fuese el nombre adoptado por los esclavos liberados, el de un amo anterior, un líder nacional, una destreza ocupacional, un lugar de residencia o un color, a menudo ellos lo decidían por sí mismos. Eso era lo que importaba. 2
How to Cite This Reading
Facing History & Ourselves, "Names and Freedom," last updated May 12, 2020.
This reading contains text not authored by Facing History & Ourselves. See footnotes for source information.
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