Before 1860, Black American inventors faced immense and often insurmountable challenges in protecting and profiting from their innovations, primarily due to the institution of slavery and pervasive racial discrimination. Here are the key reasons:
- Legal Status of Enslaved People:
- No Property Rights: Enslaved people were considered property themselves, not legal persons. As such, they could not own property, which included intellectual property like patents. Any invention made by an enslaved person legally belonged to their owner.
- Inability to File for Patents: The U.S. patent law required the actual inventor to apply for the patent and swear an oath of citizenship. Enslaved people could not legally do this.
- The “Invention of a Slave” Opinion (1858): A pivotal legal opinion by Attorney General Jeremiah S. Black formally solidified this barrier. In the case of an enslaved mechanic named Ned who invented a cotton scraper, his owner, Oscar J.E. Stuart, tried to patent the invention. The Attorney General ruled that neither the enslaved person nor their owner could obtain a patent. The slave could not because they were not a citizen and could not swear the required oath. The owner could not because they were not the “original and first inventor” as required by law. This meant inventions by enslaved people essentially existed in a legal limbo, ripe for exploitation.
- Challenges for Free African Americans:
- Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857): This landmark Supreme Court decision declared that African Americans, whether enslaved or free, were not citizens of the United States. This ruling effectively barred free Black inventors from obtaining patents as well, as the patent oath required proof of citizenship. Prior to this, some free Black inventors like Thomas L. Jennings (first Black patent holder, 1821) and Norbert Rillieux did manage to obtain patents, but Dred Scott created a significant setback.
- Social and Economic Barriers: Even without explicit legal prohibitions, free Black inventors faced:
- Limited Access to Education and Resources: Segregation and poverty severely restricted access to formal education, scientific knowledge, and the financial capital needed to develop, prototype, and market inventions.
- Lack of Recognition and Trust: Deep-seated racism meant that their ideas and abilities were often dismissed or undervalued.
- Difficulty in Commercialization: Even if an invention was created, securing funding, manufacturing, and distribution was extremely challenging due to systemic discrimination. White individuals and businesses were often unwilling to support or partner with Black inventors.
- Fear of Exploitation: Many Black inventors, even if free, opted not to pursue patents or to sell their inventions cheaply to white individuals (like Ellen Eglin did much later for her clothes wringer, fearing racial bias) because they feared that public knowledge of their race would hinder the adoption of their invention or lead to outright theft without legal recourse.
- Exploitation and Lack of Credit:
- Many inventions by enslaved people were widely used and financially beneficial to their owners, but the enslaved inventors received no credit, recognition, or compensation. Owners frequently boasted about their slaves’ ingenuity while simultaneously denying them any rights to their creations.
- Instances exist where white individuals simply claimed credit for inventions made by Black individuals.
In summary, before 1860, the brutal reality of slavery and the legal and social framework of a racially discriminatory society created nearly insurmountable barriers for Black American inventors. Despite these challenges, their ingenuity persisted, leading to countless innovations that often went uncredited or unrewarded, profoundly impacting American society and industry. It was only after the Civil War and the Reconstruction Amendments that the legal landscape began to shift, slowly opening the patent system to Black inventors as citizens. Click on each title to learn about these amazing inventors:
- The Striking wall clock – Benjamin Banneker – 1753
- Farmers’ Almanac – Benjamin Banneker – 1791
- Ship sails handle – James Forten – 1810
- Dry scouring – Thomas L. Jennings – 1821 – Patent:3306x
- Corn and Cotton planting machines – Henry Blair – 1834, 1836 – Patents: 8447x, 15A
- Improvement in sugar works, Sugar processor evaporator – Norbert Rillieux – 1843, 1846 – Patents: 3237, 4879
- Gridiron – Joseph Hawkins – 1845 – Patent: 3973
- Steam engine for ships – Benjamin Boardley – 1850
- Potato chips – George Crum – 1853
- Shallow water steam propeller – Benjamin Montgomery – 1858
- Hand mill for grinding corn – George Peake – 1858
