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Black Patriots and Loyalists

Fighting for Emancipation in the War for Independence

Alan Gilbert author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:The University of Chicago Press

Published:18th Oct '13

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Black Patriots and Loyalists cover

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 under appreciated 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.

"An elegant and passionate writer, Alan Gilbert pulls no punches, and not surprisingly a number of white founders attract his censure." (Historian) "Drawing on first-person accounts and other primary sources, Alan Gilbert tells an often inspiring but ultimately sad story, since American slavery endured and even expanded after the revolution. Still, the personal stories of those who fought on the patriots' side in an all-black regiment and on the loyalist side in exchange for a promise of freedom are fascinating and informative. Gilbert convincingly asserts that their example eventually helped inspire other liberation movements in the Western Hemisphere." (Booklist)"

ISBN: 9780226101552

Dimensions: 23mm x 16mm x 2mm

Weight: 539g

392 pages