Impact Of African Americans On The Revolutionary War

African Americans had a huge impact on the revolutionary war. However, from the time of America's founding to the late 1800s, African Americans were subject to large amounts of racism. The white people who lead the country viewed African Americans as less than people. They even went so far as to enslave them and force them to work on farms and plantations. Even with all the problems they faced, some persisted and made a change in society. Specifically, African Americans had a huge impact on the outcome of the revolutionary war. For a while, the continental congress could not decide whether to allow African Americans to fight in the war. They were afraid that by giving them guns and weapons, they may revolt against their masters. However, eventually,

On the other hand, some African Americans became spies that relayed information and deceived enemies. Therefore, African Americans had a huge influence on the revolutionary war.

Firstly, as previously mentioned, African Americans had a big impact on revolutionary war battles. Specifically, bunker hill was impacted. The battle of bunker hill was one of the earlier battles in the revolutionary war. Bunker hill was a battle in Boston that was fought on a hilly landscape. Even though the Americans lost this war, it still boosted the army’s morale. One soldier that made a difference was Peter Salem. Salem was a soldier that was previously a slave. After being freed by his master he joined the American army. He would then proceed to fight in bunker hill. According to the article “Peter Salem” by American Battlefield Trust, “During the Battle of Bunker Hill, he was credited with mortally wounding British Major John Pitcairn”(Peter). While this may have not won them the battle, it did contribute to their eventual victory in the war. As a Major, Pitcairn was highly ranked in the British military. Removing him from the battle would not only leave some troops without a leader but also would boost American troop morale. Another

Spies were useful in a war because a good spy would be able to receive information about enemy troops in their plans. However, in rare occurrences, spies were able to plant fake information to deceive the enemies. One of these spies was James Armistead Lafayette, not to be confused with French general Lafayette whom he worked with. James Armistead Lafayette was different from other spies. Instead of staying in a town, slowly gathering scraps of information, James Armistead Lafayette successfully infiltrated the British War Department. As the article “James Armistead Lafayette” by the American Battlefield trust states, “As a double agent, he relayed critical information to [General] Lafayette and misleading intel to the enemy”(Lafayette). While being in the center of the British War Department, James Armistead Lafayette delivered more useful intel compared to other spies. However more importantly he planted fake information that deceived the enemies. This is very similar to the battle of Trenton where he convinced the Hessian mercenaries that American morale was too low and they would not attack. However, when the Hessians least expected it, the Americans attacked Trenton on Christmas morning and successfully won the battle. His contributions helped win the battle of Yorktown. Another important spy was Saul Mathews. Mathews was another enslaved African American that served