AfricanAmericansintheAmericanRevolution

African American fought on both sides of the Revolution. For them, the war
meant both danger and opportunity.
Free and Enslaved Patriots
From the beginning, free African Americans took part in the war.
Crispus Attucks, for example, is believed to be the first person killed at the
Boston Massacre. At least nine served as minutemen at Lexington and
Concord, and the Battle of Bunker Hill also had African soldiers fighting
along the side of the white Patriots. Many Africans, both enslaved and free,
wanted to join with the Patriots, believing that it would either lead to their
freedom or expand their civil rights.
American states had to meet quotas (a fixed number) of troops for the
new Continental Army, and New England regiments recruited black slaves
by promising freedom to those who served in the Continental Army. During
the course of the war, about one fifth of the northern army was black.
Most southern states, however, refused to accept African American
soldiers. Slave owners were afraid that slaves who were armed would rise
against them. They also became concerned that military service would
eventually free their property.
Aside from the role of soldier, African Americans also served in the
navy and acted as guides, messengers, and spies.
African American Loyalists
Lord Dunmore, the royal governor of Virginia, was determined to
maintain British rule in the southern colonies. On November 7, 1775, he
issued a proclamation that said that he would free any black slaves and
indentured servants who left their Patriots masters to come fight with the
British. By December 1775, the British army had 300 slaves wearing a
military uniform. Sewn on the breast of the uniform was the inscription
"Liberty to Slaves". These slaves were designated as "Lord Dunmore's
Ethiopian Regiment."
In other parts of the South, however, the British feared that, if blacks
had weapons, they would start slave rebellions. So, the British used African
Americans as laborers, skilled workers, foragers (someone who gathers
food), and spies instead. Except for those blacks who joined Lord
Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment, there were only a few blacks who served in
the British army while the fighting was concentrated in the North.
It was not until the final months of the war, when manpower was low
that blacks were used for fighting for Britain. In Savannah, Augusta, and
Charleston, for example, when threatened by Patriot forces, the British filled

gaps in their troops with African Americans. In October 1779, about 200
Black Loyalist soldiers assisted the British in successfully defending
Savannah against a joint French and rebel American attack.