Black Patriot

A Black Patriot was an African American who sided with the revolutionary Americans during the American Revolutionary War. Black Patriots were the opposite of the group of Black Loyalists, African Americans who took up the British offer of freedom and took refuge behind the Redcoat ranks. Black Patriots includes but is not limited to the 5000 African Americans or more who fought on the Continental Army during the war.^[1]

Notable Black Patriots

Crispus Attucks is considered to be the first Black Patriot for his death in The Boston Massacre. Attucks was commemorated by his fellow Bostonians as a Martyr for freedom. He was a man of mixed Native American and African ancestry and was a fugitive slave after his escape in 1750 from an farm in Framingham, Massachusetts.^[2] His death in the Boston Massacre is considered the first in The American Revolutionary War.^[3]

Blacks who served in the Continental Army

After the British started recruiting African Americans to start serving or assisting the British cause on the promise of freedom, Americans began to recruit free blacks in New England and the East Coast to serve in the army. They were promised a life of luxury and mobility if they joined the war. The northerners were also trying to escape the harsh treatment of the slavery time era. By joining the war they believed they were bettering the lives of African Americans all over.

William Lee was a slave and valet who served in the Continental Army and fought with George Washington. Lee was a constant presence in Washington's life and was considered to be his favorite slave, often appearing in the background of his portraits.^[4]

Descendants

Famed African American, Harvard scholar and professor Henry Louis Gates is descended from John Redman, a Free Negro who served in the Continental Army. Gates is currently working on a project to find all descendants of Black Patriots, who served in the American Revolutionary Continental Army.

Proposed memorial

The National Liberty Monument is a proposed national memorial to honor the more than 5000 enslaved and free persons of African descent who served as soldiers or sailors or provided civilian assistance during the American Revolutionary War. The memorial is an outgrowth of a failed effort to erect a Black Revolutionary War Patriots Memorial, which was authorized in 1986 but whose memorial foundation dissolved in 2005. Congress authorized the National Liberty Monument in January 2013. On September 8, 2014, the United States House of Representatives passed the joint resolution approving the location of a memorial to commemorate the more than 5,000 slaves and free Black people who fought for independence in the American Revolution.^[5] The joint resolution would approve the location of a commemorative work to honor the more than 5000 slaves and free black persons who fought in the American Revolution.^[6]

See also

• African Americans in the Revolutionary War

Sources

• http://www.americanrevolution.org/blk.html
• http://www.americanrevolution.com/AfricanAmericansInTheRevolution.htm
• http://www.seacoastnh.com/blackhistory/patriots.html
• http://www.nysun.com/article/38784
• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part2/2narr4.html

References

1. White, Deborah Gray (2013). Freedom on My Mind: A History of African Americans. New York: Bedford/St. Martin. p. 124-127.
2. White, Deborah; Bay, Mia; Martin Jr., Waldo E. (2013). Freedom on My Mind A history of African Americans. Boston: Bedford St. Martin's. p. 124.
3. White, Deborah Gray (2013). Freedom on My Mind: A History of African Americans. New York: Bedford/St.Martin. p. 149-150.
4. White, Deborah Gray (2013). Freedom on My Mind: A History of African Americans. New York: Bedford/St.Martins. pp. 152–153.
5. "H.J.Res. 120 - All Actions". United States Congress. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
6. Marcos, Cristina (8 September 2014). "House authorizes location for American Revolution memorial in D.C.". The Hill. Retrieved 9 September 2014.

Further viewing or reading

For love of liberty [videorecording] : the story of America's black patriots / a film by Frank Martin ; an Eleventh Day Entertainment production ; produced by Frank Martin, Rudy Poe, James Crite ; directed by Frank Martin.

Publisher Universal City, CA : Distributed by Vivendi Entertainment, c2009