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Summary Gerald Horne The Counter Revolution Of 1776

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Title: Revisiting History: The Counter-Revolution of 1776 and Its Impact on African Slavery. Historian Gerald Horne's seminal work, "The Counter-Revolution of 1776: Slave Resistance and the Origins of the United States of America," presents a provocative reevaluation of the narrative surrounding the founding of the United States. Horne challenges the traditional perspective, which often portrays the American Revolution as a heroic struggle for freedom and democracy, by shedding light on the darker aspects of this pivotal moment in history. In his analysis, Horne emphasizes the role of African slaves in igniting the rebellion that led to the birth of the nation, arguing that the Revolution ultimately reinforced the institution of slavery rather than dismantling it. Horne's thesis posits that the American Revolution was not solely a battle against British tyranny but also a reactionary movement aimed at preserving the institution of slavery. He traces the roots of this counter-revolutionary sentiment to events preceding the American Revolution, notably the Glorious Revolution of 1688, which solidified the power of British colonial elites and laid the groundwork for the expansion of slavery in the American colonies. Horne contends that the economic interests of slaveholders played a central role in fomenting discontent and rebellion …show more content…

Horne highlights instances of slave resistance, rebellion, and collaboration with British forces as evidence of African agency and strategic engagement with the revolutionary upheaval. He argues that the rhetoric of liberty and equality espoused by the patriots rang hollow for enslaved Africans, who recognized the contradiction between the revolutionary ideals and the reality of their

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Chapter 5 “The Revolutionary Era: Crossroads of Freedom,” This chapter focuses on Revolutionary era and the war between Britain and the colonies. It shed light on the lives of the African Americans during the war and the decisions they made to fight with or against the colonies they were enslaved in. The first important topic is about Thomas Peters fight to get his freedom.

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A group of Africans from the same province realized that the white colonists are facing a similar problem just tike the slaves. The white colonists were protesting how King George’s III policies enslaved them. African slaves asked the white colonists to grant freedom to all slaves since their fighting for the same freedom from the British. This letter hints at an injustice system by how white colonists were threatened to be slaves by the British and started protesting while they owned slaves themselves. This letter shows how just unequal African slaves were seen compared to the white colonists.

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Washington was joined by slaves while leading the Continental Army in the field of battle, as well as during his time as president. Yet Wiencek also argues that the Revolution and the establishment of the new democracy changed Washington’s beliefs on slavery. By the end of his life, Washington had changed completely and “sickened by slavery, willing to sacrifice his own substance to end it.” (Wiencek 274) Many of the founding fathers recognized the problems created by slavery.

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