This advice ignored that when Black Americans did enjoy financial success, they were met with hostility and even violence, a reality that had reared its ugly head in antebellum Ohio. Cincinnati’s location on the Ohio River, as well as its large Black population, made it an attractive site for Black settlement. Ohio’s Black Laws gave Cincinnati’s white population a framework for discrimination. Legal residence in Ohio required the sponsorship of at least two property owners with a bond of $500 and excluded Black residents from receiving public assistance through Ohio’s welfare systems, adding more economic strain to Black residents.[5]  

Nevertheless, Cincinnati’s Black population grew, and Black workers, particularly skilled laborers, posed a threat to the white community.[6] In 1829, and again in 1836 and 1841, white Cincinnati residents enacted mob violence against Cincinnati’s Black community.[7] These riots were part of a larger national effort to push out Black workers, who were seen as competition against white and immigrant laborers.[8] The 1841 mob stormed the streets with a cannon, which was fired down the street. This incident resulted in four deaths and 25-30 wounded; the site of an abolitionist newspaper was targeted, and its printing press thrown into the river. According to news reports, Black citizens were arrested, and a mob gathered around the jail until they were forced to leave.[9] The events in Cincinnati were reflective of a broader trend of racial violence enacted by white Americans to maintain their position in a strict racial hierarchy. Navigating aspirations of financial success, even in free states, could prove difficult, and while Athens saw a level of success in its Black workforce, the community was influenced by the race dynamics present across the United States.

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