American Revolution Dbq

The Black American Revolutionary Era in the late 1700’s is a big part of what makes the American culture today. There were petitions for liberty and heroic African slaves that played roles in the revolution to get to the newly independent America. African American slaves who participated in this era were revolutionary heroes who fought for their freedom that they believed to so strongly deserved.
In the 1770’s, Massachusetts slaves began to write petitions to their provincial government in hope of granted leave to the enslaved population. The people of Massachusetts were thought to believe in equity and justice, so the slaves felt they would take their letters into consideration. One slave, Felix, mailed a petition to the Governor, Council, and House of Representatives of Massachusetts that had written, “The slaves would stay true to their Father in Heaven in order to obtain the right leave to share the word of God on both sides of the Atlantic in hope of their own country, family, and freedom.” (Document 6 page 42). Another slave, Peter, sent a letter to the local

Massachusetts representatives that had read, “The slaves wanted laws and regulations written for them that gave opportunity to work and return to Africa on their own.”(Document 8 page 46). James Otis, a Boston attorney, even tried to help the slaves when he wrote, “All white and black colonist should be provided equal rights because they are free born, and anyone who participates in selling another human being is a tyrant.”(Document 3 page 35). But, their writings were unsuccessful.
A few years passed, the American Revolution started to spark.

African Americans got involved when Lord Dunmore started to lose men to the Patriots and needed reinforcements. Lord Dunmore wrote a proclamation on November 7, 1775 that read, “He declared all indented servants free that were able to fight for him and his army.”(Document 12 page 55). Some African Americans played major parts in the war for both sides, because of the freedoms they promised. One of which is Saul, who was originally part of the Continental army, and played a huge role in taking down a British Picquett as a spy. The Virginia General Assembly gave him a reward for this service (Document 17 page 62). Also, a painting was made that included Peter Salem, another slave, in the Battle of Bunker Hill that depicted how important the African Americans were in that Continental battle by John Trumbull (Document 16 page

60).
Followed by the American Revolution, was the new partly independent America. The American Revolution helped free a tremendous amount of slaves, but most slaves were still enslaved. The free slaves were discriminated, hated, and abused. Some former slaves were still getting beat by their old slave owners stated in (Document 22 page 78), “Quok Walker was beaten by his former owner, and he sued him in court and won the case since the state’s constitution had abolished slavery.” All freed slaves faced struggle, exile, and exploitians and needed a place to cope. So, on April 12, 1787, Absalom Jones and Richard Allen created the Free African Society for Africans to meet and discuss three times a month, pay monthly dues, and use those dues for the members in need (Document 27 page 95). Freed slaves were also discriminated and treated poorly in churches which drove Absalom Jones to create the first black Episcopal church to get away from the racism (Document 28 page 97). So, all the free slaves tried to make progress as their own community.
In conclusion, African Americans during this era were brilliant, courageous, and fierceful. They went after what they believed in and began to conquer it. They slowly fought and petitioned to become more and more free as the years went by. They also quickly made communities and organizations amongst themselves proving to not be an inferior people.