User:Nmhawaripstcc/sandbox

= Nawras Hawari Wikipedia Project sandbox section =

Discussion post
In all honesty, I started this project by randomly picking the two articles that sounded most interesting to me by their titles. I then read a portion of each and settled on the Newburgh conspiracy; Mainly because I expected that more information would be available on the topic, later I found out that was NOT the case.

I considered many angles for the diverse perspective and the only one that fit in was slavery. I noticed two distinct facts about the whole topic: Slaves served in the continental army, and continental army soldiers wanted pensions, but I saw no mention of whether or not slaves received any pension after Newburgh so I saw that as a perfect gap to fill with this project. Tracking down reliable sources on the ability of slaves to get pensions was fairly difficult as it was a specific matter in a specific time period (I focused on the period between 1770 and 1840), but I was able to find information on two specific cases with different circumstances, both of which together helped me gather the information I needed on the matter.

I unknowingly started my project using Wikipedia's source editor, and while it has a more steep learning curve, it allowed me to find more advanced ways to customize and format my work. I started by doing small edits on random articles and through the source editor I could see how the original articles were formatted and I found myself learning and using many of the formatting shortcuts and signs I saw in those articles while working on my project.

I never thought I'd find myself getting this invested in history before, and I think it was both because of the intrigue of researching buried facts and the fun of experimenting with Wikipedia editing. I'd spend hours jumping from source to source digging through citations to find primary sources and descriptive information or experimenting with all the little things I could change and do in my sandbox and on public wiki articles. A little one-page article would cite a book and one page in that book would mention a person who I'd find mentioned in another book and that would lead me to another article that would lead me to a random piece of legislation in the library of congress. This example is how I found the story of Jehu Grant and the pension act of 1832. It was an exciting and tiring journey but every little lead and piece of information I found would only make me dig deeper and learn more.

This project changed the way I look at history and while I won't be getting out of my way to research and edit Wikipedia articles, I learned how to find the details and facts and solve the puzzle for when I do meet another topic that catches my eye.

I would appreciate any feedback from anyone interested, as I plan on refining the page I created once I'm not bound by a time constraint, as I've already invested a great deal of time into this topic and I've already gathered many great resources I didn't get a chance to use.

Phase 2: additional sources
Newburgh Conspiracy

Fact: Connecticut first opposed, then reversed its position to allow the commutation plan, thus allowing for giving the soldiers five years of pay in a lump sum instead of a half pay lifetime pension

MLA Citation: Wright, Robert K., Jr. The Continental Army. St. United States Government Printing, 1983. Print.

ISBN: 9780160019319

Quotes: "A committee reported favorably on the petition, but Congress defeated a resolution offering the officers a sum equal to five years' pay as commutation for their pensions" and then, "On 22 March, the same day that Washington's report on the officers' meeting arrived, Congress approved the commutation plan when the Connecticut delegation reversed its earlier opposition."

Phase 3: Bibliography

 * Edward Countryman. Enjoy the Same Liberty : Black Americans and the Revolutionary Era. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2012. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=413477&scope=site

This source provides information about who was able to get pension for military service in the period past the Newburgh conspiracy and contains stories and information about slaves and African soldiers during the revolutionary era. one of such stories is of Jehu Grant, a slave who escaped his master out of fear of fighting for the british, and instead joined the continental army. He was returned to his master after a while and after many years when he was a free man he applied for pension for his service, but was denied because he was a slave when he served in the army.


 * Jeffrey Brace, et al. The Blind African Slave : Memoirs of Boyrereau Brinch, Nicknamed Jeffrey Brace. University of Wisconsin Press, 2004. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=222417&scope=site.

This book contains the memoirs of Boyrereau Brinch, an African who was enslaved and shipped to the Caribbean. He served in the French, Indian, and Revolutionary wars and was manumitted and honorably discharged. He filed for pension as a revolutionary war veteran and was approved in the 1830s. This source provides a different set of circumstances where a slave had served in the continental army and his claim to pension for his service.

the wiki page for Jehu grant used to link to a empty page for the pension act of 1832, i created Wikipedia page for Pension Act and referenced Jehu grant in the page.

added pension act to see also in Newburgh conspiracy article


 * An Act supplementary to the "Act for the relief of certain surviving officers and soldiers of the revolution." United States congress, 1832, https://www.loc.gov/law/help/statutes-at-large/22nd-congress/session-1/c22s1ch126.pdf. Accessed 9 Mar. 2021.

This is the manuscript of the pension act of 1832 sourced from the library of congress. it contains the terms that needed to be met for soldiers to be eligible for pensions, among other information.

Phase 4 Facts and sources
Below are summaries of the facts I gathered using the quotes from my sources, i used these summaries in my final editing. each quote is cited to its source using Wikipedia citing tools, each source is also listed below the summary for convenience. Fact summary: details on terms of pension act of 1832

Result: officers, non-commissioned officers, musicians, soldiers and Indian spies who served for 2 years in the revolutionary war qualified for full pay pension for life in the pension act of 1832 and the ones who served for over 6 months but less than 2 years qualified for a pension based on the period they served. officers and mariners of the navy who served in the revolutionary war qualified for the same amounts under the same terms. Source:

An Act supplementary to the "Act for the relief of certain surviving officers and soldiers of the revolution." United States congress, 1832, https://www.loc.gov/law/help/statutes-at-large/22nd-congress/session-1/c22s1ch126.pdf. Accessed 9 Mar. 2021.

Quotes: "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That each of the surviving officers, non-commissioned officers, musicians, soldiers and Indian spies, who shall have served in the continental line, or state troops, volunteers or militia, at one or more terms, a period of two years, during the war of the revolution, and who are not entitled to any benefit under the act for the relief of certain surviving officers and soldiers of the revolution, passed the fifteenth day of May, eighteen hundred and twenty-eight, be authorized to receive, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, the amount of his full pay in the said line, according to his rank, but not exceeding, in any case, the pay of a captain in the said line; such pay to commence from the fourth day of March, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-one, and shall continue during his natural life; and that any such officer, non-commissioned officer, musician, or private, as as aforesaid, who shall have served in the continental line, state troops, volunteers or militia, a term or terms in the whole less than the above period, but not less than six months, shall be authorized to receive out of any unappropriated money in the treasury, during his natural life, each according to his term of service, an amount bearing such proportion to the annuity granted to the same rank for the service of two years, as his term of service did to the term aforesaid; to commence from the fourth day of March, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-one."

"All who Have served two years, to receive full pay according to their rank not to exceed captain's pay."

"All who have served not less than six months, to receive an annuity proportioned to term of service."

"Service in navy to entitle to benefits of this act."

"And be it further enacted, That the officers, non-commissioned officers, mariners, or marines, who served for a like term in the naval service during the revolutionary war, shall be entitled to the benefits of this act, in the same manner as is provided for the officers and soldiers of the army of the revolution."

"APPROVED, June 7,1832." Fact summary: contrasting the cases of Jeffrey Brace and Jehu Grant, two slaves who served in the revolution and applied for pensions. providing information on slaves claim to pensions.

Result: Although many acts have been passed since to grant pensions to veterans of the revolutionary war, most notably the Pension Act of 1832, escaped slaves who fought in the war were denied pension, one of which was Jehu grant whose application to pension after the 1832 act was denied on the basis of him being an escaped slave at the time of service, even though he had escaped in fear of being forced to sere in the British forces. However, freed slaves and slaves who enlisted with their owners permission were granted pensions such as in the case of Jeffrey Brace, who was granted pension in 1821. Sources:

Jeffrey Brace, et al. The Blind African Slave : Memoirs of Boyrereau Brinch, Nicknamed Jeffrey Brace. University of Wisconsin Press, 2004. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=222417&scope=site.

Edward Countryman. Enjoy the Same Liberty : Black Americans and the Revolutionary Era. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2012. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=413477&scope=site

Quotes: " 1818 Brace files a pension claim as a Revolutionary War veteran."

"1821 Brace receives his pension ($8 per month), plus arrears($328.23), from the federal government"

"When Brace enlisted in the continental army, he was not slow to recognize the irony of fighting for American “freedom”: “I also entered the banners of freedom. Alas! Poor African Slave, to liberate freemen, my tyrants”

"They enlisted for a variety of reasons. Free blacks were motivated by political conviction, desire for adventure, and/or economic promises. Slaves were motivated primarily by promises of manumission, although not all slaves who survived were freed. Some blacks were hired or forced to serve as substitutes for their masters or other white men. During and after the war their fates varied widely. Some died on the battlefield; others were wounded; some died from disease, cold, hunger, and hardship; others were court-martialed and whipped for absence from duty; many were manumitted; a few were honored; some were re-enslaved; some were awarded pensions, and some died in destitution."

" Connecticut’s Jehu Grant, who finally requested his reward in 1832, described in his submission how he had escaped from a loyalist New England master so that he would not have to serve in the British forces. "

"The commissioners turned him down two years later, ironically on the ground that, as an escaped slave at the time of his service, he had no claim."

Pension Act
On June 7th of 1832 The United States Congress passed the Act supplementary to the "Act for the relief of certain surviving officers and soldiers of the revolution." as a final supplementary pension act for Revolutionary War veterans. The act provided every surviving officer and soldier who served at least 2 years in the continental army and other units with a pension of full pay for life. Those who served for a period less than 2 years but more than 6 months were granted partial pay that was chosen depending on the period they served. The act also granted the same pensions in the same manner for officers and mariners who served in the U.S Navy During The Revolutionary War.

Notable Characters

 * Jehu Grant  Grant was a slave who escaped his master out of fear of fighting for the British, and instead joined the continental army. He was returned to his master after a while and after many years when he was a free man he applied for pension for his service, but was denied because he was a slave when he served in the army.

Additions to newburgh conspiracy page:
Although many acts have been passed since to grant pensions to veterans of the revolutionary war, most notably the Pension Act of 1832, escaped slaves who fought in the war were denied pension, one of which was Jehu grant whose application to pension after the 1832 act was denied on the basis of him being an escaped slave at the time of service, even though he had escaped in fear of being forced to sere in the British forces. However, many freed slaves and slaves who enlisted with their owners permission were granted pensions such as in the case of Jeffrey Brace, who was granted pension in 1821.