The First to Die
for the Cause of Liberty 1. Crispus Attucks, a fugitive enslaved Afro-Indigenous man from Framingham, Massachusetts was the first to be assassinated at the Boston Massacre, making his murder the first casualty of the Revolutionary War. 
Dunmore's Proclamation 2. To destroy patriot loyalty in the South, on November 7, 1775, British Lord Dunmore issued a proclamation that established martial law and offered freedom to the enslaved who would leave their enslavers and join the British army. His action forced General Washington to admit Americans of African descent into the Continental Army.
George Washington's Views on Americans of African descent serving in the military? 
3. General George Washington initially opposed allowing free or enslaved Americans of African descent to serve as soldiers in the Revolutionary War. He changed his mind when British Lord Dunmore offered freedom to the enslaved if they fought against their patriot owners.
African American Percent of the Population at the Time of the American Revolution 
4. Between 1760 to 1790, Americans of African descent were a constant 20% of the colonial population. At the time of enlistment, the Forgotten Patriots were free, freed, and enslaved Americans who came from every corner of the thirteen colonies. | | 
Theaters of War 5. During the Revolutionary War the Continental Congress managed the war effort into five distinct geographic theaters of war, each with its own unique characteristics. American men, women and children of African and Indigenous descent participated in each of the five theaters and served in all of the major battles during the war.
Integrated Troops 6. During the Revolutionary War, the Continental Army and most State Militias were integrated. American men of African, Europeans and Indigenous descent lived, fought, and died side by side. The United States military would not be integrated again until President Harry Truman’s 1948 Executive Order 9981 "Equality of Treatment and Opportunity" that mandated “equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin.”
Forgotten Patriots
Have Been Documented 7. In 2008, the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution published the book Forgotten Patriots: African American and American Indian Service in the Revolutionary War, 1775-1783 documenting the names of over 6,600 patriots and includes “details of the documented service of the listed patriots, historical commentary on happenings of the time, and assortment of illustrations and an extensive biography of resource sources related to the topic.” The Daughters of the American Revolution has made this valuable research tool free on their website and includes periodic updates. 
| | Highest Commissioned Officer
of Native and African Ancestry
During the Revolutionary War 
Painting: The Death of General Montgomery in the Attack on Quebec,
December 31, 1775, by John Trumbull 8. Joseph Louis Cook of mixed African and Indigenous blood, was an Iroquois leader and the highest-ranking Native American officer in the Continental Army, achieving the rank of lieutenant colonel, and the only known of African descent to receive a commissioned officer rank. After the war, he later served as an ambassador to the Seven tribes.
African American Regiments during the American Revolutionary War 9. Virginia’s Royal Governor Lord Dunmore formed the first African American unit named the Ethiopian Regiment with freed slaves. The 1st Rhode Island Regiment was an African American regiment formed in Rhode Island. The Bucks of America was a militia unit comprised of all African American men out of Massachusetts. A third segregated regiment was the French Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint-Domingue which enlisted both free and enslaved Blacks who served at the Siege of Savannah, in autumn 1779. Another primary black unit was Connecticut’s 2nd company of the Fourth Regiment under the nominal command of Colonel David Humphreys.
Forgotten Patriot who had a U.S. Postal Stamp Named in His Honor 10. Salem Poor was enslaved and purchased his freedom in 1769. He became a soldier in 1775, and became a war hero during the American Revolutionary War during the Battle of Bunker Hill. |