The role of slaves in the Old South was always marked as one of servitude towards the master. Lives were spent with a master, with generation after generation of blacks serving their white masters. Some were fortunate enough to gain freedom, yet most never tasted that luxury. However, during Louisiana's Spanish colonial period, there was a huge growth in the development of free blacks. Free blacks, our libres, were very unique to Louisiana and especially New Orleans for they were a growing group and played an integral role in New Orleans society.

Bounded Lives, Bounded Places by Kimberly S. Hanger examines the libres of New Orleans from the perspective of its free black residents and exposes the advances they made in many different facets of colonial life. Hanger shows how that the blacks in New Orleans, although not all yearning for more opportunity, received more under the influence of the Spanish crown than they would have under the rule of the other European or even early American jurisidictions.

Hanger did an exemplary role or not only maintaining a strong focus on Spanish Louisiana but also providing for frequent views of other parts of

It was very interesting to observe how most of these libres had gained their freedom. Most were given freedom from their masters. Some were given their freedom on a condition that they would serve them for a few additional years. Others were freed through self purchase and from third party purchasing their freedom. Through my understanding, the freeing of slaves was encouraged in New Orleans colonial society by both whites and blacks as the blacks were slowly evolving into an integral role in that society.

Finally, when American did consume Louisiana an inherited New Orleans, the libres faced an increased difficulty to continue to develop as a society. "Without the protection of a paternalistic Spanish government, a race-conscious as it was, libres in New Orleans encountered continuing attacks on their status as a distinct group; as the nineteenth century unfolded, local whites stepped up efforts to define and treat all person of African descent as slaves" (162). Emergence into the "American" culture widened the gap between slaves, libres and whites as New Orleans became part of a Southern culture that depended heavily on slavery and was beginning to fight to retain the institution of slavery. The South was closing itself in, preparing for a civil war and dragging New Orleans with it. However, the libres were able to hold on to their formed identity through the Spanish influence on the city.

The free colored became a sort of elite, Hanger argue

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Approximate Word count = 991
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)