Free People of Color A sizable mixed-race population emerged in many European colonies in the Americas, including descendants of unions between masters and enslaved African women. The wealthiest of the free people of color, as they were called, were plantation owners with slaves of their (Unknown artist, Portrait of a Young Woman, pastel on paper, previously attributed to Jean-Etienne Liotard [1702–1789]/Saint Louis Art Museum, Missouri, USA/The Bridgeman Art Library)