Slavery and the American Revolution - Research Paper Example

? Slavery and the American Revolution First Slavery and the American Revolution Slaves, mainly fromthe African continent and some others from the Caribbean began to arrive in the United States from the early 1700s. In that year there were 25,000 slaves that arrived. The number of slaves that were brought to America continued to grow rapidly through the years such that they were well over 567,000 slaves owned by the Americans by 1775. By that time the numbers of slaves had grown to such a number that they outgrew the number of white convict labor, their only real competition in terms of being free labor that didn’t have to be paid for. There were however major regional variations in the numbers of slaves held in the United States. In the northern states, the slave population was very low at only 2 percent but the further south you got the larger the slave population got such that around the Chesapeake Bay it was about 40 percent slave. Further south, in South Carolina, slaves were so many that they outnumbered the white population by two to one. Slaves were an invaluable form of labor on the rice, tobacco and cotton farms especially as they were hardy and survived the vagaries of malaria and other diseases. Slaves thus formed the major labor resource for the southern farmers (Smitha, 2002). Especially in the south, there was a lot of integration of the populations of the white farmer families. There were large numbers of intermarriages between the white slave owners and their African slaves, as well as a lot of fathering of inter-racial children by the white slave masters. This lead to a large population of mixed race Americans that were usually considered part of the slave class. By the time of the American Revolution, the slave population had therefore grown to such a number that they were a real and present factor in the American Revolution war (Smitha, 2002). The numbers of slaves worried some members of the white population and the role that they played on either side of the combatants in the American Revolution War were therefore colored by the numbers of the slaves and the attitudes and strategic import oftheir presence. The slaves therefore played a significant role in the American Revolution War. All in all over 100,000 African Americans escaped, died or were killed while serving the various armies that fought in the revolution war (PBS, n.d.). During the war the African American slaves fought on both sides of the divide, albeit for different motivations, reasons and reward. The Southern states Patriots, who were always worried about the numbers of the slaves and African Americans, were initially more reluctant to allow the slaves to be armed and fight alongside their forces, reckoning that they would rather face the colonialists than run the risk of a revolt by their slaves if they were armed and put into active military combat. General Washington at first forbade the recruitment of the black slaves into the Patriot army, worried by the impact that would have on their attitudes, the moral of his other fighting men and their ability to fight and be part of the military outfit. However, as the war wore on and they Patriots found that they needed more and more manpower, they reluctantly startedrecruiting the slaves and other blacks who had been freedinto their fold, though none ever rose up any ranks in the military hierarchy. Thus the Patriots had within their ranks a small minority of slaves in their ranks but it was never more than 5 per cent or so (National Park Service, 2008). The colonialists and Loyalists were more pragmatic in their approach to the use of slaves as part of their combat troops in the war. They saw the opportunity to deplete the Patriot military ranks by actively recruiting the slaves from their Patriot owners. The effect and impact of this was twofold – it swelled the ranks of the Loyalist troops while at the same time reducing the manual labor available for the southern Patriot farmers. The British governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore promised freedom and liberty to any slaves who joined their cause, giving them a chance to enjoy the freedoms that emancipated slaves from the British colonies were beginning to enjoy. The cajoling of the slaves from the Patriot farmers of the south was mainly for their own military purposes because any Loyalist slaves that were found were returned back to their owners. Though the initial recruitment of slaves from the Patriot slave-owners did not attract as many slaves as they had hoped for, it struck great fear in the Patriot armies and led them to be more pro-active in recruiting slaves as well as freed and indentured African Americans into their ranks (PBS, n.d.). Though the African Americans fought in the American Revolution they were still treated and looked upon as the inferior partners of the white fighters and never got any promotions, recognition, praise or perks during the war. There were only very few instances of heroic acts that were recorded for the African Americans and any of the combatants that were slaves or former slaves. One such instance is the hero of the Battle of Bunker Hull, a black soldier, Salem Poor, who fought so gallantly that he earned high praise from his white officers. Such praise and commendations for the black soldiers were few and far between as there was still no equality at all in the armies that were, for all intents and purposes,as segregated as the rest of life in the US then. It is instructive that the commendation for Salem Poor, unlike the ones for the white soldiers, never actually explicitly mentioned what the exact act of bravery was that he had earned the praise for (National Park Service, 2008). The major impact of the American Revolution War on the slaves was the fact that it made them more aware and opened their eyes to the possibilities of gaining and earning their freedom, equality and citizenship rights. It also brought them together in a way that made it possible for them to articulate their rights and be able to decide that after the American Revolution their next frontier of war would be to gain their own equal rights and freedom as African Americans. The AmericanRevolution War introduced to the African Americans and the slaves in general the concept of liberty, self-actualization as well as equality and fairness. It was this awareness that imbued in the African Americans the fire to fight for and agitate for their rights as American citizens (ushistory.org, 2013). To this end, the experience in the war and especially the attitudes of the various churches that had developed and which were now actively recruiting from the African Americans went a long way in helping them agitate for their freedoms, using the Biblical and Christian teachings about equality, liberty and fairness. Ironically, the most conservative of the religious bodies that were prominent in the United States, the Quackers, were among the first ones to realize the need for equality and how abhorrent slavery was. The American Revolution War was thus one of the historical events that planted the seeds of freedom and liberty in the minds of the African American slaves and served to get them started on the path to pursuing a greater say in their lives as well as made them see the prospect of having equal rights to their white masters. Their military experience provided them with the confidence and opportunity to prove their worth in the military. It also gave them an opportunity to make a sacrifice for the United States and to become part of the historical struggle for liberty, rights and economic power. The experience of the African Americans fighting alongside the white Americans in the American Revolution War further boosted the confidence of the African Americans in their view on their rights and need for their freedom and liberty. By putting the names of the African Americans permanently in the history books of the United States, the American Revolution War thus formed a good stepping stone for African Americans to proceed to the next step in their struggle for equality, rights and civil liberties (ushistory.org, 2013). In conclusion, the American Revolution War, in its own unique way got the African American started on the path to realizing their own liberties and equality as they were able to relate to the reasons that were advanced for the Revolution War in the first place. They were thus able to use this experience in their fight for their rights and equality. The American Revolution War provided African Americans an opportunity to fight and make patriotic sacrifices for their homeland in a way that made it all the more important for the country to recognize their need for liberty and equal rights to the white slave owners. The War also provided the colonial Loyalists with the opportunity to spread their message of freedom and liberty for the slaves as had happened in England. References National Park Service. (2008, December 4). Stories fromthe Revolution.Retrieved September 10, 2013, from http://www.nps.gov/revwar/about_the_revolution/african_americans.html PBS. (n.d.). The Revolutionary War. Retrieved September 10, 2013, from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part2/2narr4.html Smitha, F. (2002). From British Colony to Independence: the American Revolution, 1701 to 1791. Retrieved September 10, 2013, from http://www.macrohistory.com/h3/h32-rv.htm ushistory.org. (2013). Revolutionary Changes and Limitations: Slavery. Retrieved September 10, 2013, from http://www.ushistory.org/us/13d.asp Read More