Understanding The Impact Of African Americans In The American Revolution

Leading up to the American Revolution (1765-1789), the Thirteen Colonies harbored approximately 2.1 million inhabitants. Among these were about 500,000 African Americans, with roughly 450,000 enduring enslavement. Constituting a significant proportion of the populace, African Americans naturally exerted a crucial influence on the Revolution, aligning with both the Patriot and Loyalist factions.

Black Supporters of American Independence

Around 5 March 1770, a mob of about 300 American Patriots confronted nine British soldiers on King Street in Boston, Massachusetts. Incensed by the British presence in their town and the recent killing of an 11-year-old boy, the assembly comprised Bostonians from diverse backgrounds; among them stood Crispus Attucks, a biracial sailor commonly believed to be of African and Indigenous ancestry. When the British troops opened fire on the crowd, Attucks suffered two gunshot wounds to the chest, marking the inaugural fatality in what later became known as the Boston Massacre. Hence, he is hailed as the primary casualty of the American Revolution and frequently extolled as a sacrificial figure for American freedom.

Hundreds later, in the early morning of 19 April 1775, a contingent of British soldiers was en route to seize the colonial armaments stockpiled in Concord, Massachusetts, when they encountered 77 Patriot militiamen on Lexington Green. Amidst this militia cluster was Prince Estabrook, one among the scarce enslaved individuals in Lexington, who grabbed a musket and joined his Caucasian neighbors in safeguarding his home. In the ensuing skirmishes at Lexington and Concord, Estabrook sustained a shoulder injury but recuperated in time to enlist in the Continental Army two months later. Tasked with securing the army headquarters at Cambridge during the Battle of Bunker Hill (17 June 1775), he was emancipated at the war’s conclusion.

Attucks and Estabrook were just two of the numerous Black Americans who bolstered the American Revolution. Their motivations were diverse. Some were galvanized by the oratory of Caucasian revolutionary figureheads, who used terms like ‘slavery’ to portray the predicament of the Thirteen Colonies under Parliamentary governance and pledged to establish a new society founded on freedom and parity. Predictably, these assertions resonated with the enslaved populace, many of whom anticipated improved prospects in this emerging nation, even if slavery was not wholly abolished. Several enlisted in the Continental Army to secure their personal liberties, given that the Second Continental Congress had decreed freedom for any enslaved male who fought against the British upon concluding his service. African Americans also enlisted to evade the daily horrors of enslavement, capitalize on the rewards and wages proffered by recruiters, or purely out of a fascination with the adventurous life of a soldier. Additionally, certain Black Americans were compelled to enlist by their Patriot masters, who preferred dispatching their slaves to battle instead of partaking themselves.

Naturally, not all Black Patriots operated within the Continental Army or Patriot militia units. Some, including James Armistead Lafayette, undertook espionage duties; adopting the persona of an absconded slave, Lafayette managed to infiltrate Lord Charles Cornwallis’ British encampment and acquire vital intelligence crucial to the Patriot triumph at the Siege of Yorktown. The French commander Marquis de Lafayette lauded his service and facilitated his emancipation post-war, prompting James Lafayette to adopt the marquis’ moniker.

African Americans in the Continental Army

Various Black Americans, akin to Prince Estabrook, enlisted in Patriot militia units even before the war erupted. Some underwent additional training to become minutemen, primed to engage in combat at a moment’s notice. Consequently, when these disparate militia factions amalgamated into the Continental Army during the Siege of Boston (20 April 1775 to 17 March 1776), numerous Black men had already taken up arms alongside the Patriots. Nevertheless, many Caucasian revolutionary leaders harbored reservations about arming and training enslaved men; particularly in the American South, where the enslaved populace outnumbered free individuals in specific regions, white colonists perpetually dreaded slave uprisings and the ensuing ramifications of such upheavals.of equipping the captive population. Consequently, in May 1775, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress determined that “no slaves should be enlisted in this army under any circumstances” (American Battlefield Trust).

After assuming leadership of the Continental Army in two months, George Washington expanded on this and prohibited any Black male from participating in the army, even if they were emancipated. Several white officers resisted this directive, contending that their Black soldiers displayed equal levels of loyalty, courage, and readiness to engage in combat as their white counterparts. Eventually, Washington reversed his decision, allowing officers to enroll Black soldiers based on their own judgment. Some state legislatures, which were assigned recruitment quotas by Congress, also began enlisting Black Americans to more conveniently meet these quotas.

Ultimately, a minimum of 5,000 Black soldiers and sailors contributed to the Patriot cause throughout the entirety of the conflict, although certain estimates suggest a higher figure. By 1777, the majority of Continental regiments included Black soldiers, rendering the Continental Army the most racially diverse military force in US history before the 1940s. In July 1781, just prior to the Siege of Yorktown, Baron Ludwig von Closen reported that roughly a quarter of Washington’s troops were Black (an estimate that would equate to 1,054 Black soldiers), characterizing them as “cheerful, confident, and robust” (American Battlefield Trust). The accuracy of Closen’s observations is debated, but it is factual that a larger contingent of Black soldiers served in the Continental Army in the later stages of the conflict. Despite not being afforded equal treatment as their white counterparts – for example, they were unable to progress beyond the rank of private soldier – they received equal remuneration and were supplied with identical quality attire, nourishment, and equipment as the white soldiers.

Many Black Patriots aspired to acquire their freedom from the United States, whereas numerous other Black Americans sought refuge with the British. During that period, the groundswell of abolitionist sentiment was growing in Great Britain. In a 1772 legal case, Somerset v. Stewart, the English Court of King’s Bench ruled that the enslavement institution lacked support from the common laws of England and Wales. The case attracted immense attention from American colonists and, though it did not address the legality of slavery in other regions of the British Empire, it was perceived as a considerable victory by abolitionists. Some enslaved African Americans began clandestinely boarding ships heading for the British Isles, hoping to secure their liberty by setting foot on English territory. Conversely, American slaveholders began to dread the prospect of the British aiming to strip them of their slaves, further straining the relationship between white colonists and Great Britain.

Subsequent to the commencement of the conflict, British officials sought to exploit the Americans’ apprehension of slave uprisings. In November 1775, Lord Dunmore, the royal governor of Virginia, issued a decree that pledged liberation to all enslaved individuals owned by Patriot masters who deserted their owners and joined the British army. Shortly after the promulgation of the Dunmore Proclamation, over 800 slaves absconded from their masters and aligned themselves with Dunmore, who marshaled many of them into an all-Black military division called Lord Dunmore’s Ethiopian Regiment (more details below). Naturally, the Dunmore Proclamation unsettled the Patriots, with many of them intimidating their slaves with the threat of capital punishment should they attempt to defect to the British. The proclamation also accelerated the Patriots’ resolution to grant slaves freedom in exchange for service in the Continental Army, aiming to prevent more slaves from flocking to the British.

In 1779, Sir Henry Clinton, the commander-in-chief of the British army in North America, issued the Philipsburg Proclamation. An extension of the earlier Dunmore Proclamation, the Philipsburg Proclamation stipulated that all enslaved individuals who eluded Patriot owners would be emancipated upon reaching British outposts, irrespective of age or gender. Thanks to these two proclamations, an estimated 20,000 African Americans sought sanctuary with the British during the conflict; 17 of George Washington’s slaves ultimately escaped from Mount Vernon to find refuge on a British warship. Numerous Black Loyalists and runaway slaves possessed familiarity with the American hinterlands, and they served as guides for the British army during various military campaigns.

Evidently, a significant number of these Black Loyalists ended up fighting for the British. At the Siege of Savannah (16 September to 20 October 1779), the British enlisted Black Loyalists to fortify their defenses against a Franco-American assault. Additionally, several all-Black factions of Loyalist militia were formed. Notably, the Black Brigade, comprising 24 Black Loyalists under the leadership of Colonel Tye, a runaway slave himself, became the most renowned of these units. Colonel Tye emerged as one of the most dreaded Loyalist guerillas of the war, conducting numerous successful forays into the residences of prominent New Jersey Patriots in the summer of 1780 prior to succumbing to an infection stemming from a wound.

While the majority of Black soldiers on both sides served in mixed units, there existed several instances of wholly Black or predominantly Black military units. Among the notable units on the Loyalist side was Lord Dunmore’s Ethiopian Regiment. Commanded by white officers, the Ethiopian Regiment consisted of enslaved men who had fled from their Patriot owners. Each soldier was outfitted in a gray uniform bearing the inscription ‘Liberty to Slaves’. From late 1775 to early 1776, the Ethiopian Regiment engaged in several skirmishes in Virginia. However, the unit’s membership was decimated by a smallpox outbreak, leading to its dissolution in the summer of 1776. Many veterans of the Ethiopian Regiment continued supporting the British cause, with Colonel Tye’s group, the Black Brigade, serving as another all-Black unit. Following Tye’s demise, the Black Brigade persevered and its members ultimately settled in Canada.