If you were an observer in the South in pre-civil war America and saw a black man, you might wonder if he was a slave or a freeman.
That is a specific region, not the entire country.
And not even accurate for the entire region. In fact, if you knew anything about actual history, you would know that especially in South Carolina and Louisiana there were a huge number of Freemen. South Carolina alone had as many as all of New England. Hell, are you even aware that one of the largest slave owners in South Carolina was black?
You really need to try and state actual facts, instead of just making it all up as you go along.