African Americans in the American Struggle for Independence

Reasons for American Independence may be summed up as “the crisis of the British Empire”

Elements of the Crisis War broke out in 1754 over competing British and French efforts to control the Ohio River valley The war reached global phase as the Seven Years War, American colonists traded with the enemies during the war Britain defeated France and its ally, Spain

Elements of the Crisis (contd.) Britain wanted American colonists to pay the cost of war –new taxes and monopolistic trade regulations American colonists felt they no longer needed British protection since France and Spain had been defeated American colonists claimed they had freedom to choose who to trade with

Crisis of the British Empire 1760s: British Parliament passed several oppressive laws –Proclamation Line Act, 1763 –Sugar Act, 1764 –Stamp Act, 1765 –Quartering Act, 1767 –Townshend Act, 1767 –Tea Act, 1773

Colonists’ Response 1.Collective resistance –1765: Stamp Act Congress, colonists decided to not import British goods –1774: Continental Congress met in Philadelphia 2.Open rebellion –Boston Massacre (five men killed, including a black sailor Crispus Attucks), 1770 –Boston Tea Party, 1773

Colonists’ Response (contd.) 3.Armed resistance –1775 clash between MA Minutemen and British troops in Lexington and Concord 4.Revolutionary action –1776 Declaration of Independence

Declaration of Independence Key element: –Equality: all men are created equal –Liberty: all men had natural inalienable rights that included the right to liberty Note: Draft produced by Thomas Jefferson and John Adams denounced slavery, but the clause was edited out of final version –Universality: “all men”

Sources of Revolutionary Ideas The Enlightenment ideas of John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau

African American Reaction 1.Pointing out apparent contradiction of the “Declaration” and enslavement of Black people 2.Protests in Charleston, SC 3.Escape of slaves in SC and GA 4.Legal route—Blacks sued for their freedom citing the “Declaration” 5.Petitioning colonial/state legislatures

Black Intellectuals of the Era Phillis Wheatley Benjamin Bannecker

African Americans in the American War for Independence Division –Black Loyalists –Black Patriots Common elements: –Enlistment and fighting on promise or struggle for liberation from slavery –Most served in integrated units

Results of the War for Independence 1.Britain evacuated most Black Loyalists to Canada; from here, many were relocated to Sierra Leone after States in the North made significant progress in emancipating Black Patriots

Results (contd.) 3.Distinctions between the North and the South began to deepen –The movement to abolish slavery began among white Northerners, esp. the Quakers –Emancipation increased in the North –Southern whites became more dependent on slavery