Black Patriots: Recovering a Lost History of the American Revolution

In the darkest days of the American Revolution, as the fate of a new nation hung in the balance, Black Patriots took up the cause of liberty by the hundreds, swelling the ranks of the fledgling Continental Army. But Black Patriots-slaves and freemen alike-had been fighting for America’s independence from the very first shots of the Revolutionary War at Lexington and Concord. Dozens of Black Patriots fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill, where Salem Poor and Peter Salem were recognized for their heroism and bravery.

Others helped Washington’s army escape from a British trap on Long Island, only to help a few months later move the army across the Delaware River for the Patriot victories at Trenton and Princeton. At Saratoga, they fought and helped capture a British Army invading from Canada, breathing new life into the American cause. As the war moved to the southern states, they fought on the frontier and in the back country. With the British forced to retreat to Yorktown, they fought to secure an American victory.

This is the unsung story of the Black Patriots who played an important role in winning American Independence, while simultaneously struggling to achieve their own freedom.