Black Patriot facts for kids

A 19th-century drawing of Crispus Attucks, an African American Patriot who died in the 1770 Boston Massacre.

A Black Patriot was an African American who sided with the American colonists during the American Revolutionary War. These colonists wanted to be free from British rule. The term Black Patriots includes more than 5,000 African Americans who fought in the Continental Army during the war.

This was different from Black Loyalists. Black Loyalists were African Americans who left their enslavers and joined the British forces. Many families escaped to gain freedom offered by the British for their service. They went to British areas for safety.

Crispus Attucks: First Patriot to Die

Crispus Attucks is known as the first Black Patriot to die for the cause. He was killed during the Boston Massacre. People in Boston honored Attucks as a martyr for freedom. He had both Native American and African family roots. Attucks was a person who had escaped slavery in 1750 from a farm in Framingham, Massachusetts. His death in the Boston Massacre is seen as the first time a Patriot died in the war.

A drawing from the 1800s showing the Boston Massacre. This picture highlights Crispus Attucks in the middle. He became a key symbol for people who wanted to end slavery.

A drawing from 1781 of a Black Patriot soldier in the 1st Rhode Island Regiment of the Continental Army.

Black Patriots in State Militias

The Bucks of America was a military company made up entirely of Black soldiers. It was formed in 1775 in Boston, Massachusetts. This was one of two all-Black units fighting for American independence. We don't know much about their battles. It seems they mainly worked around Boston. The Bucks of America might have helped as a type of auxiliary police or security group in the city during the war. They probably did not fight against regular British soldiers.

Black Patriots in the Continental Army

After the British started asking African Americans to join their side, promising them freedom, Americans also began to recruit free Black people. This happened in New England and along the East Coast. They were promised a better life if they joined the war. Many Black people in the North wanted to escape the harsh treatment of slavery. By joining the war, they hoped to improve life for all African Americans.

Most Black Patriot soldiers served as individuals within mostly white units of the Continental Army.

The 1st Rhode Island Regiment was a Continental Army unit from Rhode Island. It became famous as the "Black Regiment." This was because, for a time, it had several companies of African American soldiers. It is known as the first African American military regiment, even though not all its soldiers were African American.

Captain David Humphreys had an all-Black company called the 2nd Company. This company served from October 1780 to November 1782.

William "Billy" Lee was an enslaved valet (a personal assistant) of George Washington. He served in the Continental Army and fought with Washington's forces. Lee was thought to be Washington's favorite. He was often shown in the background of pictures of the general.

A 1781 drawing of American soldiers from the Yorktown campaign. On the far left, you can see a Black soldier from the 1st Rhode Island Regiment. This regiment had the most Black Patriot soldiers in the Continental Army.

This picture of the 1781 Battle of Cowpens shows an unnamed Black Patriot soldier. He is on the far left, firing his pistol and saving Colonel William Washington. Colonel Washington is on a white horse in the center. (From an 1845 painting by William Ranney)

Descendants of Black Patriots

The famous African American scholar and professor at Harvard, Henry Louis Gates, is a descendant of John Redman. John Redman was a free Black man who served in the Continental Army. Henry Louis Gates is currently working on a project to find all the descendants of Black Patriots who served in the American Revolutionary Continental Army.

Proposed National Memorial

The National Liberty Monument is a proposed national memorial. It is planned to be built in Washington D.C., the capital city. This memorial will honor the more than 5,000 enslaved and free African Americans who served as soldiers or sailors. It will also honor those who helped as civilians during the American Revolutionary War.

This memorial idea came from an earlier attempt to build a Black Revolutionary War Patriots Memorial. That memorial was approved in 1986, but not enough money was raised, and the project stopped in 2005.

Congress approved the National Liberty Monument in January 2013. On September 8, 2014, the United States House of Representatives voted to approve the location in the capital. This memorial will remember the more than 5,000 enslaved and free Black people who fought for independence in the American Revolution.

Notable Black Patriots

• Toby Gilmore
• Alexander Ames
• Crispus Attucks
• Charles Bowles
• Jeffrey Brace
• Joseph Brown
• Seymour Burr
• Wentworth Cheswell
• Titus Coburn
• Grant Cooper
• Paul Cuffee
• Austin Dabney
• James Armistead Lafayette
• Caesar Dickenson
• Charlestown Eaads
• James Easton
• Prince Estabrook
• William Flora
• Asaba Grosvenor
• Blaney Grusha
• Jude Hall
• Primus Hall
• Cuff Haynes
• Lemuel Haynes
• Henry Hill
• Cato
• Cato Howe
• Agrippa Hull
• Jeremy Jonah
• Lambert Latham
• Cato Mead
• Jack Little
• Barzillai Lew
• Salem Poor
• James Robinson
• Silas Royal
• Peter Salem
• Prince Simbo
• Phillis Wheatley
• Bosson Wright

See also

In Spanish: Patriota negro para niños