The American Revolution was a rebellion and political movement in the Thirteen Colonies which peaked when colonists initiated an ultimately successful war for independence against the Kingdom of Great Britain. Leaders of the American Revolution were colonial separatist leaders who originally sought more autonomy as British subjects, but later assembled to support the Revolutionary War, which ended British colonial rule over the colonies, establishing their independence as the United States of America in July 1776.
Crispus Attucks was an American whaler, sailor, and stevedore of African and Native American descent who is traditionally regarded as the first person killed in the Boston Massacre, and as a result the first American killed in the American Revolution.
Salem Poor was an enslaved African-American man who purchased his freedom in 1769, became a soldier in 1775. He was involved in the American Revolutionary War, particularly in the Battle of Bunker Hill.
James Armistead Lafayette was an enslaved African American who served the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War under the Marquis de Lafayette, and later received a legislative emancipation. As a double agent, he reported the activities of Benedict Arnold after he had defected to the British, and of Lord Charles Cornwallis during the run-up to the siege of Yorktown. He fed the British false information while disclosing very accurate and detailed accounts to the Americans.
Prince Whipple was an African American slave and later freedman. He was a soldier and a bodyguard during the American Revolution under his slaveowner General William Whipple of the New Hampshire Militia who formally manumitted him in 1784. Prince is depicted in Emanuel Leutze's painting Washington Crossing the Delaware and Thomas Sully's painting Passage of the Delaware.
Titus Cornelius, also known as Titus, Tye, and famously as Colonel Tye, was a slave of African descent in the Province of New Jersey who escaped from his master and fought as a Black Loyalist during the American Revolutionary War; he was known for his leadership and fighting skills. He fought with a volunteer corps of escaped Virginia Colony slaves in the Ethiopian Regiment, and he led the Black Brigade associators. Tye died from tetanus from a musket wound in the wrist following a short siege in September 1780 against Captain Joshua Huddy. He was one of the most feared and effective guerrilla leaders opposing the American patriot forces in central New Jersey.
Black Loyalists were people of African descent who sided with the Loyalists during the American Revolutionary War. In particular, the term refers to men who escaped enslavement by Patriot masters and served on the Loyalist side because of the Crown's guarantee of freedom.
The 1st Rhode Island Regiment was a regiment in the Continental Army raised in Rhode Island during the American Revolutionary War (1775–83). It was one of the few units in the Continental Army to serve through the entire war, from the siege of Boston to the disbanding of the Continental Army on November 3, 1783.
Seymour Burr (1754/1762–1837) was an enslaved African-American in the Connecticut Colony in the North American British Colonies and United States. Enslaved by the brother of Colonel Aaron Burr, who was also named Seymour, he was known only as Seymour until he escaped and used the surname Burr to enlist in the British Army in the early days of the American Revolution. The British promised the personal freedom of any enslaved African-American who enlisted or escaped to fight against the Continental Army, and Burr longed for freedom. However, he was quickly captured and forcibly returned to his enslaver.
Women in the American Revolution played various roles depending on their social status, race and political views.
Nero Hawley was an African-American soldier who was born into slavery in North Stratford, Connecticut, and later earned his freedom after enlisting in the Continental Army in place of his owner, Daniel Hawley, on April 20, 1777, during the American Revolution. His life is featured in the 1976 book From Valley Forge to Freedom, which also notes other areas of present-day Trumbull, Connecticut associated with Hawley.
Barzillai Lew was an African-American soldier who served with distinction during the American Revolutionary War.
African Americans fought on both sides the American Revolution, the Patriot cause for independence as well as in the British army, in order to achieve their freedom from enslavement. It is estimated that 20,000 African Americans joined the British cause, which promised freedom to enslaved people, as Black Loyalists. About half that number, an estimated 9,000 African Americans, became Black Patriots.
The Bucks of America was a Patriot Massachusetts Militia company, during the American Revolutionary War, that was composed of African-American soldiers. Few records survive about the unit; most of its history is constructed from eyewitness accounts. No official military records pertaining to the Bucks of America exist or have survived.
William Cooper Nell was an American abolitionist, journalist, publisher, author, and civil servant of Boston, Massachusetts, who worked for the integration of schools and public facilities in the state. Writing for abolitionist newspapers The Liberator and The North Star, he helped publicize the anti-slavery cause. He published the North Star from 1847 to 1851, moving temporarily to Rochester, New York.
The Royal Ethiopian Regiment, also known as Lord Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment, was a British military unit of formerly enslaved Black enlisted men. It was organized a few months after the April 1775 outbreak of the American Revolution by the Earl of Dunmore, last Royal Governor of Virginia. Dunmore had issued a proclamation in November promising freedom to enslaved Blacks held by Patriots in Virginia, who joined the British cause to suppress the insurrection. Hundreds of enslaved men left their enslavers to join the new regiment led by British officers and sergeants. The regiment's uniforms were inscribed with the "incendiary words 'Liberty to Slaves'". Enlisted men were not only emancipated but also paid one pound, one guinea for joining. The regiment was disbanded in 1776, though many of its soldiers probably went on to serve in other Black Loyalist units.
Titus Kent was an enslaved man in colonial Suffield, Connecticut who enlisted in the Connecticut militia, serving throughout the American Revolutionary War. His slaveholder was Samuel Kent, from Suffield, Connecticut.
The Colored Patriots of the American Revolution, With Sketches of Several Distinguished Colored Persons: To Which is Added a Brief Survey of the Conditions and Prospects of Colored Americans, or, in brief, The Colored Patriots of the American Revolution, is an American history book written by William Cooper Nell, with an introduction by Harriet Beecher Stowe. It was published in 1855 by Robert F. Wallcut. It focuses on African-American soldiers during the American Revolution and the War of 1812. It details "the services of the Colored Patriots of the revolution".
Rev. James Robinson (1753–1868) was born on the Eastern Shore of Maryland into bondage on March 21, 1753. His enslaver was Francis De Shields. Robinson served under the General Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette and would become a significant African American soldier in the American Revolutionary War.
The Social history of soldiers and veterans in United States history covers the role of soldiers in the United States from colonial foundations to the present, with emphasis on the social, cultural, economic and political roles apart from strictly military functions.
