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Ben quarles negro in the revol (Click to select text)
The Negro in the American Revolution Throughout American history, African Americans have had to decide whether they belonged in the United States or if they should go elsewhere. Slavery no doubtfully had a great impact upon their decisions. However, despite their troubles African Americans made a grand contribution and a great impact on both armed forces of the Colonies and British. “The American Negro was a participant as well as a symbol.” (Quarles 7) African Americans were active on and off the battlefield, they personified the goal freedom, the reason for the war being fought by the Colonies and British. The African Americans were stuck in the middle of a war between white people. Their loyalty was not to one side or another, but to a principle, the principle of liberty. Ben Quarel’s, The Negro in the American Revolution, is very detailed in explaining the importance of the African American in the pre America days, he shows the steps African Americans took in order to insure better lives for generations to come. America’s first war, its war for independence from Great Britain was a great accomplishment. This achievement could have been performed if not for the black soldiers in the armies. The first American to shed blood in the revolution that freed America from British rule was Crispus Attucks. Attucks along with four white men was killed in the Boston Massacre of March 5, 1770. Even though Attucks was a fugitive slave running from his master, he was still willing to fight against England along with other whites and give the ultimate sacrifice, his life, for freedom. This was not the only incident of Blacks giving it all during the War for Independence. From the first battles of Concord and Lexington in 1775, African American soldiers took up arms against Great Britain. Of the many African Americans who fought in those battles, the most famous are Peter Salem, Cato Stedman, Cuff Whittemore, Cato Wood, Prince Estabrook, Caesar Ferrit, Samuel Craft, Lemuel Haynes, and Pomp Blackman. One of the most distinguished heroes at the Battle of Bunker Hill was Peter Salem who fired the shot that killed Major John Pictcarirn of the Royal Marines. But Peter Salem was not the only African American hero during the Revolutionary War. Another African American, Salem Poor, also made a hero of himself at Bunker Hill. Several officers to the Continental Congress commended him for his bravery at the battle. This honor encouraged African Americans to take part in the war. Pomp Fisk, Grant Coope, Charleston Eads, Seymour Burr, Titus Coburn, Cuff Hayes, and Caesar Dickenson were also braves at this battle. Even though the African American soldiers clearly distinguished themselves as good soldiers, they were by no means wanted in the army in the eyes of white colonists. 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. The colonists would probably have kept African Americans out of the military during the war if not for the proclamation by the John Murray, Earl of Dumore. He stated “I do hereby further declare all indented servants, Negroes, or others, free, that are able and willing to bear arms, they joining His Majesty’s Troops, as soon as may be, for the more speedily reducing the Colony to a proper sense of their duty, to His Majesty’s crown and dignity.” This brought chaos to the colonies, the fear of slaves turning against their masters, and fighting against the colonies was a scrupulous tactic which earned Dunmore the title of tyrant or liberator depending on whether you were whit or black. “This was but another paradox on a war that abounded in paradox. The Negro who fled to the Governor was actuated by the same love of liberty for which the colonists avowedly broke with the mother country.” (Quarles 32) For a slave this proclamation by Dunmore was an invitation to liberty, about “eight hundred slaves” (Quarles 31) took up his offer, and were placed in the armed forces of the British. Less than a month following Dunmore’s proclamation, General George Washington officially allowed free Negroes to enlist in the armed forces. Of the three hundred thousand soldiers who served in the Continental Army during the War of Independence, approximately five thousand were African American. Some volunteered and others were drafted. There were several all black companies, and a three fourth black regiment from Rhode Island. An aide to General Rochambeau, noted “three quarters of the Rhode Island regiment consists of Negroes, and that regiment is the most neatly dressed, the best under arms, and the most precise in its maneuvers.” The British also had their share of exceptional African American soldiers, One Negro named Tye, became the best known and most hated of the blacks on Great Britain’s side. Tye, a former follower of Dunmore, commanded a crew of about twenty-five men in and around Monmouth, New Jersey. Tye and his men often plundered neighborhoods, and fought militia. General Campbell allowed Quamino Dolly, a black solider, to lead British troops through a swamp to the rear of the American position at Savannah. Attacked from the front and rear the American soldiers and militiamen was quickly route. Negroes were valuable to the British in many ways, but the most significant service they provide was aboard the British ships. The British were more inclined to use Negroes at the sea than on the land. Throughout the war, African Americans piloted British ships, raided on expeditions, and swelled the ranks of ordinary seamen. Their knowledge of American waters made them highly regarded by naval commanders. Often colonist would destroy lighthouses and certain marks that guided ships through the water; with out these Negroes the British ships could have crashed. However Negroes were not limited to British ships only. The Negro in the continental navy usually served in the lowliest rank and occupations. However, some Negroes did advance to higher positions, Cato Austin operated the number one gun on the starboard side for the ship Boston. The state navies enlisted more Negroes mostly of the rank of seamen, but there were some pilots, and a few marines. Virginia made the most of Negro pilots, reasons being that Negroes were cheaper than whites. The best-known pilot from Virginia was Caesar; he piloted the schooner Patriot, which was involved in many battles, one of them capturing the British ship Fanny. For his wartime efforts the legislature bought him from his master and was set free. Many years after his death his daughter received about three thousand acres of land in Ohio for her fathers services. Between 1775 to 1781 there were not any battles without black participants. Black soldiers fought for the colonies at Lexington, Concord, Ticonderoga, White Plains, Benington, Brandywine, Saratoga, Savannah, and Yorktown. There were two blacks, Prince Whipple and Oliver Cromwell, with Washington when he crossed the Delaware River on Christmas day in 1776. Some won recognition and a place in the history of the War of Independence by their outstanding service, although most have remained anonymous. Despite the huge contribution to the war, and among the thousands of dead blacks few had gained their freedom. They did not die in vain for they did gain a huge step towards Liberty for all blacks in America. The Negro in the American Revolution by Ben Quarles depicted in detail the struggle for Blacks searching for their right to Liberty. If the Negro race had never rendered their services we might not be living in such a nation that values Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness above oppression, and tyranny.
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