The Fight For Freedom Of African-Americans During The Revolutionary War

The American Revolution resonated with all classes of society, as it stood to divide a nation’s loyalties and recreate the existing fabric of society. During the 1770s to mid 1780s, no group living in the British American colonies was left unaffected. For blacks enslaved in America, the war presented the fleeting possibility of freedom in a nation that was still dependent on an economic structure of oppression and bondage. For those blacks that were free, they chose their alliances wisely in hopes of gaining economic opportunities and improving their status in the American colonies. The American Negroes, whether free or enslaved, could be found on either side of the battlefront. They took on many different roles, some fighting on the

The impact of African Americans during the American Revolution could be noted on both sides of the War. This is based on their want for freedom. Many took advantage of the revolutionary crisis and

From 1775 to 1830, many African Americans gained freedom from, yet during the same period the institution towards the southern parts of America to work in plantations. This was the start of new changes that was going to take place that free African Americans and enslaved African Americans. Between 1775 and 1830 was one of the greatest trials that came with many challenges for the African Americans to confront these issues.

African Americans viewed themselves as beneficial and important citizens of America, and not just when it came to wanting to fight in the war. Understandably, they were offended and upset when Lincoln and the federal government proposed sending them all, slave and nonslave alike, to a colony in Central America, and they felt that the needs of the nation at large prevented them from being able to leave without helping their fellow countrymen however they could, using their constitutional right of freedom of assembly to meet together and come up with a resolution explaining their position and the reasoning for it (Doc. B). Following the war, African Americans were highly interested in participating in the formation of the new state constitutions and governments for the Reconstruction period. In Virginia, African Americans came together, similar to the ones in New York, asserting their opinion and ideology that all men in the state should have equal rights, namely suffrage and the other rights the Declaration of Independence had promised citizens of the United States, since they were now free men and therefore should have the same

The Revolutionary War affect enslaved African American in a major way. The Revolution brought freedom to slaves. Even the slaves that had escaped in the chaos of war was free. Thousands of slaves left South Carolina and Georgia when those states where evacuated. Some of these people remained free, while others ended up as slaves in the British Caribbean. The Revolution brought freedom to slaves who joined the armies (Finkelman, 2008). The Revolutionary War brought about change to all people “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. However, African American in the American Revolution war was something that was done against their will. African American had no choice to take part in war because they had no legal rights. After Cornwallis' surrender, the Americans rounded up the surviving blacks for re-enslavement. This was when the French soldiers ambushed Cornwallis' men at Yorktown, Virginia, the

Black loyalists were African Americans who helped fight for Britain during the revolutionary war in return for their promise of freedom after the war was over. There were two declarations authorized by Britain encouraging African American slaves to escape from slavery, leave their masters, and come over to Britain to fight. There were over 100,000 slaves that escaped from slavery in order for their chance to gain freedom.

The British saw Washington’s original actions and promised 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 to the British Army. The escaped slaves were not merely good soldiers; they were passionate and saw the British cause as a way to rebel against their American masters. Despite being on the losing end of the war, slaves who fought for the British in the American Revolution mark the beginning of an emancipation movement.

Whether they fought with the American or the British forces, all the slaves battled for the same reason, their own particular freedom. In the event that African Americans were committed to America, it was on account of their belief in which they included themselves among the people who may benefit by the guaranteed opportunity of this new country. They found in this challenging trial a plausibility not just for their opportunity but rather for their possible acknowledgment as citizens, a rank earned through personal sacrifice. Revolutionary ideals additionally energized abolitionist powers in the North and the upper South. Abigail Adams wrote to her husband John of her discomfort with African American servitude. "It always seemed a most iniquitous scheme to me, to fight ourselves for what we are daily robbing and plundering from those who have as good a right to freedom as we have." During this time the first generation of free blacks in the northern states attempted to look for their

Many African Americans got freedom and many didn’t which resulted in them being enslaved again or dying. The Revolutionary War caused too many deaths and unfair

Before Lord Dunmores Proclamation in 1775, not only George Washington but others of the Thirteen Colonies did not accept slave recruits. In 1783 thousands of black American had become involved in The American Revolution. But still as a result over the years all their involvement in establishing the nation, was all forgotten on both sides of the war. Slaves loyalty mainly relied on where they would get more independence and freedom In exchange for the both of those, blacks played many roles in this war such either on the battlefield, behind the lines in noncombatant roles, or on the seas.

During the American Revolution, African Americans fought on both sides. Those who fought were given their freedom and, in some instances, provided with land after the war. African American slaves who fought for the Loyalists were resettled after the war in places such as Nova Scotia, Upper and Lower Canada, and England. Those, however, who were on ships that went to the Caribbean remained slaves until 1834 when slavery was abolished in the British colonies. African American freemen and slaves, although the southern colonies resisted the enlistment of black slaves, who fought for the Patriots where offered freedom and re-settlement after the war.

When The British planted an army in Brooklyn, New York they had moved George Washington’s Continental Army to New Jersey into Pennsylvania. This caused multiple battles between Washington’s Army and the British armies. This in turn had Washington begin speaking of liberty, natural rights, and hatred of enslavement, African Americans began to listen into the arguments of Great Britain and the fight for freedom. But Washington didn’t allow African Americans into his ranks. When the time for the war came, Great Britain took the action to recruit African Americas into their ranks first. The reason why African Americans joined the Loyalist is because they offered up freedom first Hine states, “On November 7th, 1775, Lord Dunmore, the last royal

     The African American saw only limited military service, the negative attitude toward enlisting black men came from master unwilling to give up their servants or from the fear of putting guns in the hands of people who were not free. South Carolina and Georgia, both heavily populated by African Americans, refused to legalize slave enlistments. When General Washington took command of the army, white colonists decided that not only should no black slaves or freemen be enlisted, but that those already serving in the Army should be dismissed.

In ‘An incomplete Revolution’ it says, “in 1775, the British, in desperate need for soldiers, promised liberty and protection to slaves who would fight on their side.” In other words, the slaves were free if they made it out alive. This helped the slaves and the British out. But there was still a lot of slavery after-war and a lot of African Americans didn’t make it out alive or didn’t get freedom, so it was a cost.

The conquest of the American Revolution has a rather dynamic history of struggle between two nations, one nation wanting economic power, and the other nation wanting economic independence. This rebellion caused an uproar of all seekers of independence to form an alliance against Britain. Liberty was deemed as the most motivational principle that it redefined the Revolution in its entirety. So much so that enslaved African Americans wanted to fight for the same principle; however, for them--this was not only a fight for American Independence but also, a fight for freedom from their own shackles. Chapter five of the textbook From Slavery to Freedom, “Give Me Liberty,” John Hope Franklin expressed the major impact of African Americans surrounding the Revolutionary War. According to John Hope Franklin, America as a nation was not only founded upon an anti-tax rebuttal but also accrediting racism as a major driving force of the American Revolution.