According to researcher James Pylant, based on his extensive survey of American families claiming Black Dutch as part of their heritage:
"There are strong indications that the original "Black Dutch" were swarthy complexioned Germans. Anglo-Americans loosely applied the term to any dark-complexioned American of European descent. The term was adopted as an attempt to disguise Indian or infrequently, tri-racial descent. By the mid-1800s the term had become an American colloquialism; a derogative term for anything denoting one's small stature, dark coloring, working-class status, political sentiments, or anyone of foreign extract.
German Gypsies, Roma People, are also known as Black Dutch, and there is some overlap in surnames between present-day Gypsies and the American families with a "Black Dutch" tradition. Sometimes Mestees such as Melungeons have identified themselves as "Black Dutch" to facilitate acceptance as white.
Native Americans, mainly Cherokee, created a false, "Black Dutch" heritage to purchase land. This occurred often after the Trail of Tears,mainly in Oklahoma. The Cherokee would not admit to their actual heritage for fear the land would be taken away from them. In fact, many people born even in the early 20th century claimed Black Dutch heritage for this reason.
References
Bible, Jean Patterson (1975). Melungeons Yesterday and Today. Signal Mountain, Tennessee: Mountain Press.
Elder, Pat Spurlock (1999). Melungeons: Examining an Appalachian Legend. Blountville, Tennessee: Continuity Press.
Pylant, James (1997). "In Search of the Black Dutch" American Genealogy Magazine 12 (March 1997): 11-30.
Cassiday, Frederic G. (1985) Dictionary of American Regional English, Vol 1, A-C. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.
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