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Posted on 07/19/2006 7:28:41 PM PDT by Pharmboy
BOSTON --Thousands of black men fought for American independence during the Revolutionary War, yet their contributions to the nation's freedom are for the most part unrecognized and rarely appear in modern history books.
Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and the Sons of the American Revolution are hoping to change that by undertaking an ambitious project to identify those soldiers, and then find their descendants.
"My first goal with this project is to enhance the awareness of the American public of the role of African-Americans in the struggle for freedom in this country," said Gates, director of the W.E.B. DuBois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard.
"Plus, my concern is that there are many people walking around, like me, who had no idea that I had an ancestor who fought in the Revolution," he said.
It was that revelation which inspired Gates to launch the project.
Gates learned of his family history during filming of the PBS documentary series "African American Lives," which used DNA testing and genealogical research to investigate the ancestry of notable black Americans.
Genealogist Jane Ailes revealed to Gates -- executive producer of the series that first aired in February -- that his fifth great-grandfather on his mother's side was John Redman, a farmer from Williamsport, Va. (now part of West Virginia), who for four years fought with the 1st Virginia Light Dragoons during the Revolution.
Joseph W. Dooley, the chairman of the Sons of the American Revolution's membership committee, wants to identify as many people as possible who contributed to the Revolutionary War effort whose sacrifices "are not appreciated and not recognized," he said. Though he's starting with blacks, he envisions future projects to track the contributions of women and Native
An estimated 5,000 blacks fought for independence during the Revolution.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Further, John Glover's Marblehead Regiment (these were the fishermen-fighters who ferried the Continental Army across the East River after the disastrous Battle of Brooklyn and did the same across the Delaware) were, at times, up to 25% African American. Glover was a Congregationalist who believed that whites and blacks were equal in the Lord's eye.
And, let's not forget the all-black Rhode Island Regiment.
Original 13 colony ping...
RevWar/Colonial History/ General Washington ping list
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Yes, and blacks also fought on both sides of the Civil War.
I hope it isn't trite to note the Buffalo Soldiers.
Indeed. Talk about "inconvenient truths..."
Not at all. It can never be trite to remember the real contributions blacks have made to this great country (for example, they were the ones who [mainly] built the original wall on what was to become Wall Street) and fight the culture of victimology that the media so loves.
Every true American of every stripe has helped build what we have today.
It is so sad that some of those of the same stripes want to tear her down today.
They were just doing the jobs that Native Americans wouldn't do.
Agreed...I believe it is important to show that Africans were always a part of this country and helped build it. They were not merely victims...
Now THAT'S funny...ya got a good smile outta me here.
Case in point:
PS: RUN CONDI RUN!!!
I believe that one of the members of the Boston tea Party was black and he, as I remember it, was the first causalty/death!
Crispus Attics, a black American, was indeed killed during the "Boston Massacre." He was a leader of a Boston street gang that was allied with the Sons of Liberty. I do not know whether or not he was present during the Tea Party, but it would not surprise me.
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Have you seen this?
Usually separating people by people group (race) is bad (such as pointing out that their are Americans of African descent who are against illegal immigration or pointing out that Michelle Malkin is of Asian descent--sort of making them token minorities (they are who they are with or without Americans of European descent's approval), but in this case it can be useful. Some Americans of African descent who consider themselves to be alienated by mainstream American society could come to understand that this is their country, too, and that they should try to merge with it and not form some separate identity.
Amerindians also fought (and there probably were Latinos and there even could be a few people of Asian descent (a guess, but there were some people of Chinese descent who immigrated to California for the Gold Rush).
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