User:Blovepstcc/sandbox

African Americans in the Revolutionary War

Fact: As between 200,000 and 250,000 soldiers and militia served the American cause during the revolution in total, that would mean Black soldiers made up approximately four percent of the Patriots' numbers.

Egerton, Douglas R. Death or Liberty : African Americans and Revolutionary America. Oxford University Press, 2009.

ISBN : 9780195306699 (hardcover : alk. paper)

Quote: More important, he recaptures the drama of slaves, freed blacks, and white reformers fighting to make the young nation fulfill its republican slogans.

“DEFENDERS OF LIBERTY.” Kirkus Reviews, no. 11, Kirkus Media LLC, 1999. While many slaves, free men, and escapees enlisted, they were often relegated to noncombat roles or uncounted among those who fell on the battlefield. Many thousands of African-Americans, including sailors under John Paul Jones and some of the first marines, fought for a country that then took its time offering liberty to all. Some British loyalist units did promise freedom, and so an entire Ethiopian Regiment  wore red coats. Bowing to pressure from southerners, Washington officially-opposed enlisting blacks, but Lanning documents that undermanned militias like Rhode Island s were the first to ignore this decree and ''to recruit an all-black battalion. .

Piecuch, Jim. “The African American Experience in the American Revolution.” Reviews in American History, vol. 47, no. 3, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019, pp. 349–55, doi:10.1353/rah.2019.0049. This transition created a dilemma for Washington, Congress, and the state governments regarding the service of African Americans because many southern delegates in Congress opposed the idea of arming black men, seeing such an action as a potential threat to the institution of slavery. After much debate, the result was grudging permission for black soldiers already in the army to be allowed to reenlist. Van Buskirk notes that the primary motive for slaves to join the army was the chance of obtaining freedom, while free black people hoped for more acceptance and opportunity in their white-dominated society.rules. Follow the examples on the library web site for books and journal articles and match your resource to the closest possible example from the list.