Blacks and the American Revolution

"Blacks and The American Revolution

The American Revolution was not only the colonies fight to gain independence but the African-Americans largest slave revolt. There was an inherent contradiction in the whites wanting to gain liberation from England while enslaving blacks at the same time. This contradiction has its roots in the white concept of liberation as opposed to that of the blacks. To white Americans the war meant freedom and liberty in a political-economical sense rather than in the sense of personal bondage the blacks suffered from.

The white fight for freedom gave the blacks the perfect opportunity to cast their own bid for freedom. They increased the number of freedom suits and petitions to the state legislatures. Individual slaves could bring up their own freedom suits but in order to free many slaves at once they had to get together and form a petition. The inconsistency between the ideals of the Revolution and the institution of slavery fueled the black movement for freedom."


George Washington, Spymaster: How the Americans Outspied the British and Won the Revolutionary War

The Unknown American Revolution: The Unruly Birth of Democracy and the Struggle to Create America