Hi! I have a question. Were African Americans able to buy, sell and own land in Tennessee during the time period of 1870--1900? For instance, my great great great grandfather, Joseph Higgins who was listed as "black" or "mulatto" on the 1870--1900 Cannon County, TN Census records, bought land from white sellers as well as sold land of his own to white buyers. When were African Americans able to start buying, selling and owning land of their own after the Civil War? Thanks. Brandi

In general, African-Americans had all of the rights of citizenship during the period right after the Civil War, during the time known as Reconstruction. It was not until about 1877-1900 that these rights started to get taken away in the South.

I would recommend looking at the county as a whole. Scan through the pages of the county and see how many African-Americans owned land. In the 1870 census, there is a column for value of real estate owned. In the 1900 census, there are a few columns relating to home ownership that you can check, in particular whether the home was rented or owned.

You can also find the historic census reports for each enumeration year, which should have more specific statistics as to home ownership, at the Census Bureau website, www.census.gov . These will not be specific to the county but may have some discussion on a national or state level.