We commonly think of the American Revolution as simply the war for
independence from British colonial rule. But, of course, that
independence actually applied to only a portion of the American
population--African Americans would still be bound in slavery for nearly
another century. Alan Gilbert asks us to rethink what we know about the
Revolutionary War, to realize that while white Americans were fighting
for their freedom, many black Americans were joining the British
imperial forces to gain theirs. Further, a movement led by sailors--both
black and white--pushed strongly for emancipation on the American side.
There were actually two wars being waged at once: a political revolution
for independence from Britain and a social revolution for emancipation
and equality.
Gilbert presents persuasive evidence that slavery could have been
abolished during the Revolution itself if either side had fully pursued
the military advantage of freeing slaves and pressing them into combat,
and his extensive research also reveals that free blacks on both sides
played a crucial and underappreciated role in the actual fighting.
Black Patriots and Loyalists contends that the struggle for
emancipation was not only basic to the Revolution itself, but was a
rousing force that would inspire freedom movements like the abolition
societies of the North and the black loyalist pilgrimages for freedom in
Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone.
