If slaves were fortunate enough to be free in Texas before 1865, one truth remained constant: Freedom wasnât free.
State-imposed restrictions and denial of rights freely given to whites were denied African-Americans â even access to medical care.
 âAfter annexation (into the United States in 1845), the state of Texas adapted even more elaborate restrictions on life of free Negroes,â said historian Dr. Alwyn Barr, author of âBlack Texans: A History of African Americans in Texas, 1528-1995â (University of Oklahoma Press, 1996). âThey could not have firearms, gamble, hire slaves or dispense medicine, nor could they preach without two (white) slaveholders as witnesses.â