I wonder if some people have the notion that black migration, or lack thereof says something about blacks having positive or negative feelings about the North or South. As I stated earlier, I believe that history, mobility, comfort level, opportunity, legal condition, and other factors, which vary over time and space, explain why people reside in some place and not others, and why they might migrate to some places or not at all.
@RobertP (seemed to) opine that free blacks in the Confederate States were "comfortable," and therefore, were not migratory. I think you and I both agree that free blacks were subject to racial prejudice. I don't now how many free blacks were "comfortable" living in a world where they were subject to discrimination based on their skin color and heritage. Certainly, the personal comfort level of a free black person was not the same as that a free white person. We need to interrogate what it means to be "comfortable" when you are a free person of color in the Confederate States in particular and the any state in general, versus the comfortable-ness felt by whites.
I make note above that in 1860, the majority of the USA's free blacks lived in the area from NY to NC. African Americans were not as migratory free whites. My take is that they felt a sense of community and even safety in the communities in those states. I rather think it says something about the families and communities they formed and in which they lived, and their wanting to remain with their families and communities.
But I do want to repeat, there are a number of factors that need to be considered. For example, we know that 2 out of 3 of the Confederacy's free blacks lived in NC and VA, and that VA was the site of the earliest fighting in the war. It could just be that free blacks in those states didn't want to be refugees traveling through a war zone with their families (see also the comments made by
@unionblue in post #8). That would make staying home a more reasonable and safe choice.
- Alan