Free blacks in the United States: a. could testify in court and vote in most states but could carry firearms only with the approval of the local sheriff. b. sometimes became wealthy enough to own slaves. c. had the same rights as whites in the North but faced far more restrictions on their freedom in the South. d. made up nearly one-third of the African-American population in the South. e. tended to live in rural areas if they lived in the Lower South.