Free Negroes were people without a nation, and politically similar to the freemen of the Roman Empire. They were not citizens of England during the colonial times, nor were they citizens of the United States. They were mixed-race people; many were born in North America. A half-white free Negro was called a mulatto (male) or a mulatress (female). The terms mean "little mule" in Spanish.

Negro is a Portuguese and Spanish term that means "black." The term colored was ubiquitously employed by 1820 to describe mixed-race free Negroes.