The American Revolution in 1775-1783, was a fight for independence between the 13 colonies and the British. Events such as the Boston Tea Party, Stamp Act, and the Tea Act led to the increased tensions amongst the British and the Americans. In order to persuade the free blacks and slaves to fight for the American freedom, they offered them freedom from their masters’. However, it did not always have the slaves best interest at heart. The American Revolution served the interests of the American people to a great extent more so than the free blacks and slaves because they gained or retained freedom without joining the services.
The American Revolution affected the slaves in many ways. One thing was that they had to join the Continental service. In the document The Story of Jack Anthony the author states “he enlisted in the Continental service as a private in 1777” (Stewart, 1978). Stewart was talking about a man that was born into slavery that had to join in the service. These slaves had to protect their owners’ and their owner’s sons from being drafted into the service. In this case joining the service was better than being a slave because in reward they “received 100 acres of land” (Stewart,
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For example, Anthony was sold into slavery while he was wearing the United States uniform. In the document, Anthony Gilman, Sold into Slavery While Wearing the Uniform of the United States, the slaves were “kept a few weeks as prisoners….and sold as a slave to one John Falkingham.” (Stewart, 1978) The slaves, however, were offered freedom in exchange for fighting in the revolution. Although they were fighting in the war, they were still sold as slaves because of their color. Many slaves were still involved in the war, despite the harsh effects that go along with it, with the hope that they would be granted freedom. They fought on whichever side benefited themselves