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Blacks and The American Revolution |
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The American Revolutionwas not only the colonies fight to gain independence
but the African Americans largest slave revolt. There was an inherent
contradiction in the whites wanting to gain liberation from England while
enslaving blacks at the same time. This contradiction has its roots in the
white concept of liberation as opposed to that of the blacks. To white
Americans the war meant freedom and liberty in a political-economical sense
rather than in the sense of personal bondage the blacks suffered from.
The white fight for freedom gave the blacks the perfect opportunity to cast
their own bid for freedom. They increased the number of freedom suits and
petitions to the state legislatures. Individual slaves could bring up their
own freedom suits but in order to free many slaves at once they had to get
together and form a petition. The inconsistency between the ideals of the
Revolution and the institution of slavery fueled the black movement for
freedom.
However the blacks made their greatest bid for freedom by taking up arms.
They took up arms fighting for the British early in the Revolution. The
British offered blacks their freedom in return for their aid in fighting the
Americans. Blacks took up the offer not because they were fighting for the
British but because they were fighting for their freedom.
The Americans also opened up their ranks to African Americans. However, they
did not offer the chance for blacks to join the army until 1777, well into
the Revolution, when they were desperate for more forces. The blacks eagerly
took up arms because the Americans also promised freedom in exchange for
service. The fact that blacks fought on both sides of the war only helps
prove that they weren't in favor of either side, they were fighting for
freedom.
The new day that the black soldiers had fought so hard to attain was never
realized. It did, however, cause some whites to question the institution of
slavery. These whites came to see the contradictions in American thought as
they applied to the rights of the black man. Unfortunately, these whites
were far outnumbered by the whites that where blind to the inconsistencies
in American ideologies and slavery. This white majority was able to justify
these contradictions by maintaining that blacks were not a part of the
socio-political community and therefore had no right to enjoy the freedom
and equality gained in the War.
Their continued quest for freedom lead to more white and black contact. Even
though the war failed to emancipate them, they began to experience a sense
of distinct identity. This identity reflects the essential values of the
Revolutionary War. The identity flourished into a collective sense of
community. The construction of antonomous black churches played an integral
role in creating the sense of community. Through the churches, the free
African-Americans came to the understanding that they were to ones who best
upheld the "revolutionary tradition" of social justice, equality, and most
of all, freedom.
The Revolution gave the blacks a chance to assert their drive for freedom.
While the Revolution did not emancipate them, it united them in their belief
of freedom. It aided in the creation of a sense of community and gave them a
platform from which to fight for the abolition of slavery.
Bibliography
Nash, Gary B. Race and Revolution. Madison House Publishers, 1990.
MacLeod, Duncan J. Toward Caste. Taken from Slavery and Freedom in the Age
of the American Revolution. Edited by Ira Berlin and Ronald Hoffman.
University of Illinois Press, 1983.
American Revolution
The American Revolution was approached as a mixed blessing by both slave
and free African Americans. The principles of the revolution unambiguously
implied the end of slavery, but the revolutionaries never really delivered
on that promise despite severe misgivings. It had been the most ardent
desire of Thomas Jefferson to end slavery with the formation of the new
nation, yet he himself never freed his own slaves. So in many ways Jefferson
is iconic for the American Revolution as a whole: despite its promise of
freedom and rights, the revolutionaries would not grant to African-Americans
the same foundational rights and equality that they claimed formed the
spirit of the revolution itself. This double-edged attitude was not lost on
African-Americans, many of whom fought on either side, believing either the
revolutionaries or the British were more likely to grant freedom to the
slaves.
African Americans, however, were instrumental in the American Revolution
in spite of George Washington's attempt to ban them from the Continental
Army. Even Washington eventually had to face up to the fact that African
Americans were the best soldiers in the army. The Revolution itself began
with a black man, Crispus Attucks, the first martyr of the war.
Crispus Attucks
The day of March 5, 1770, a Monday, is the date at which the start of the
Revolutionary War is often dated. That day, in Boston, was a day filled with
problems. Relations between colonists and the British soldiers were strained
and frequently violent; in the days preceding that Sunday there were
numerous tavern brawls and street fights between colonists and British
soldiers and supporters in one incident, three British soldiers were
beaten and driven out of the town, but returned later with reinforcements.
On the icy evening of March 5, a group of soldiers, having just emerged from
their barracks, were confronted by a small crowd of boys--African Americans,
some Irish, and others. They traded insults with the soldiers and the two
groups began to fight. The Americans, led by the African American, Crispus
Attucks, managed to drive the British back to the barracks. Someone rang the
town bell and confused Bostonians began to fill the streets.
Into this fiery mix, a barber's apprentice started running down the
street with blood streaming from his head. He said that a sentry had
bludgeoned him with a musket and the angry crowd, with Crispus Attucks at
its front, descended on the hapless sentry. Seeing himself in front of an
angry mob, the sentry backed down and called for reinforcement. Seven
soldiers arrived, but Attucks cried, "They dare not fire on us!" and the
crowd began to taunt the soldiers to fire their muskets. A British private
was struck on the head with a stick, and fired his musket straight into
Crispus Attucks. Several more shots rang out, and when the smoke had
cleared, five people had been shot to death.
The Boston Massacre, as it came to be called, turned out to be the
turning point in British and American relations. Even though the British
soldiers were put on trial (John Adams was their defense attorney), everyone
seemed to realize that the bonds between Britain and England had been
irreperably severed. In a great irony of history, the first battle of the
revolution was unpremeditated, and, in an even more profound irony, the
first hero of the War of Independence was an African American, a former
slave, whose passion and courage led the angry crowd and whose death became
the first death in the long struggle.
The War
After the Boston Massacre, African Americans became an active part of the
American cause, fighting at Concord, Lexington, and Bunker Hill; in all
these engagements, black Americans were prominent in the fighting. Despite
this, when George Washington assumed command of the Continental Army in
July, 1775, he permanently barred the enlistment of blacks. By November,
Washington had thrown all African Americans out of the army. It wasn't until
Valley Forge and the large scale desertion of the Continental Army that
Washington was forced by circumstances to re-think his views and take
African-Americans into his army.
The British, meanwhile, filled the vacuum that Washington had created by
promising emancipation for all slaves who fought for England. Washington's
position towards blacks had made it clear that the individuals running the
revolution were not interested in black freedom, so the British offer
literally produced a flood of African-American volunteers in the British
Army. The escaped slaves were not merely good soldiers, they were passionate
soldiers who saw the British cause as a way to rebel against their American
masters. It is, of course, a great irony in history that one group of
Americans, through the blind racism of men like George Washington, would see
in the British cause their own chance for revolution against oppressive
masters.
Despite setbacks, the American Revolution marks the beginning of the
emancipation movement. Even though the Continental Congress caved in to
colonies that had large numbers of slaveowners, the Revolutionary War and
its ideology inspired several northern states to adopt emancipation as part
of the promise of the Declaration of Independence. The first to do so was
Vermont, which in 1777 abolished slavery. Over the next few years, one
northern state after another abolished slavery within its territories.
.
Archives
Blacks in Nova Scotia is a link to information on why the black loyalists
crossed to British side in order to gain their freedom. It also discussed
the struggles the African Americans had in settling in Nova Scotia.
http://www.
Library of Congress holds information on the African American soldier. In
the American Memories Collection search under the key words
African-American. The selection The Negro as a Soldier leads to the
Revolutionary War.
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/mdbquery.html
Clements Library has manuscripts and collections of books that are useful in
further study of the African American involvement in the Revolutionary War.
http://www.clements.umich.edu/Collections.html
Royal Ethiopian Regiment
The British Royal Governor of Virginia issued a declaration in 1775 that any
enslaved black person or indentured white person "or others" (probably
referring to Native American slaves) who could bear arms and would agree to
fight to preserve British rule over the American colonies would immediately
be freed. Enough black men volunteered to create several units. They were
promised farms as payment, which were never given. Most famous of these
soldiers is Thomas Peters, who later went on to found a town in Sierra Leone.
http://www.gateway-va.com/pages/bhistory/ethiopia.htm
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