They accumulated property and traded with whites. In short, they participated fully in the system of voluntary exchange that characterized Northampton's market economy. While social and political barriers existed for these men, in the market, at least, race was not a major barrier to success. The success of Northampton's free blacks provides an important lesson about the functioning of markets. In a free market, where government interference is kept to a minimum and where people are free to contract with one another, those individuals who are able to supply products that other people want will succeed.
Buyers look for sellers who offer the best products at the lowest prices.
In a free market, the quality and price of the good, not the color of the seller's skin, are what count most. Indeed, in competitive markets, if buyers refuse to purchase goods from a seller based solely on the seller's race, they hurt themselves by passing up good deals. Racial discrimination, in other words, is costly in a market system. This lack of racial discrimination is exactly what we see in the early history of Northampton County. Northampton County was a thriving market economy in the mid-seventeenth century, with relatively little government interference from faraway Jamestown.