American Revolution 311as Peter Williams Sr., served the patriot cause without being
an offi cial member of the military. Williams Sr., an enslaved
black man, heard of the impending arrival of the British
and rode throughout his region, informing all residents to
protect themselves. Th en, despite threats of death by British
soldiers, Williams refused to reveal the location of an infl u-
ential white American rebel.
Even so, on July 10, 1775, George Washington decided
to end the recruitment of African Americans into the mili-
tary, and on November 12, he issued orders prohibiting all
black men from serving in the Continental Army. Ironi-
cally, however, Washington’s decision to ban black men
from military service ultimately had the opposite result. In
an eff ort to undermine the rebel cause, British leader Lord
Dunmore, who at the time was governor of Virginia, issued
a profoundly important proclamation. Dunmore allowed
black men to fi ght alongside the British and bear arms
against the Americans, in exchange for their freedom. In
response, black men fl ocked to British military lines, where
they were immediately armed and given military training.
One famous regiment, in particular, was called “Lord Dun-
more’s Ethiopian Regiment,” and their uniforms were em-
blazoned with the words “Liberty to Slaves.”
Almost immediately aft er Dunmore’s Proclamation,
George Washington, sensing the disaster that would almost
surely result, changed his position and ordered all recruit-
ers to enlist any black men who wanted to fi ght. In fact,
Washington famously declared Lord Dunmore the most
dangerous man in America and warned that victory would
go to whichever side could arm black people faster. Once
allowed to serve, black men also heeded the call to arms in
support of the rebel cause. By the end of the war, over 5,000
black men had served as soldiers in the Revolutionary War
on the American side in both the army and the navy. Nota-
bly, however, black soldiers were consistently placed on the
front lines more frequently than other regiments and were
usually the lowest ranking and lowest paid in the military.
Beyond military service, however, black people played
another crucial role in the Revolutionary War. Again, Lord
Dunmore’s Proclamation contributed signifi cantly to the
black experience, given that his declaration promised free-
dom not only to slaves who fought in the war, but also to
those who sought refuge behind British military lines. Of
course, this was strictly a military strategy, rather than a
moral imperative. Dunmore’s desire was neither to over-
throw the system of slavery, nor to make war on it; instead,Paul Cuff e employed an alternative strategy in 1780, when
he and his supporters submitted a petition to the Massa-
chusetts legislature challenging the government’s policy
on taxation without representation. Specifi cally, he argued
that the small free black population should be exempt from
paying taxes because they were not allowed equal political
representation. Although Cuff e’s petition was successful, in
1783 the state legislature determined that the small portion
of the black population that was subject to taxation should
be allowed to vote, and most petitions demanding freedom
were ignored or denied. Even so, the swell of black political
activism continued to expand.
In fact, although black people clearly understood the
contradiction within Revolutionary rhetoric, they did not
remain neutral during the war. On the contrary, black
people allied themselves strategically and were active on
both the American and British sides. Historian Benjamin
Quarles explained it best when he wrote that black people’s
major loyalty during the Revolutionary War was not to a
particular nation, but rather to a principle. Th at principle,
of course, was their right to freedom. Th e black population
essentially played the British and the Americans against
each other, in hopes of gaining their freedom, a strategy
that for many enslaved people actually worked very well.
Th ose who were active on the American side were
likely inspired by the early participation of black men in
the war and the appeal of Enlightenment philosophy that
seemed to off er the hope of freedom and equality. In 1770,
Crispus Attucks, a mixed-race man of African descent, be-
came the fi rst casualty of the American Revolution when he
was shot and killed in what became known as the Boston
Massacre. Once the war offi cially commenced, black men
fought valiantly in the early battles, including Salem Poor,
whose bravery in the Battle of Charlestown in 1775 earned
him offi cial commendation from the Continental Congress.
Likewise, Peter Salem fought with distinction at the Battle
of Bunker Hill in June 1775 and was remembered for killing
an infl uential British offi cer. Perhaps the most instrumental
black patriot was James Armistead, who posed as a fugi-
tive slave and infi ltrated the British lines at Yorktown. In so
doing, he was able to provide British tactical information
to the Americans at a critical juncture of the war. In fact,
the information he delivered gave the Americans the upper
hand and allowed them to emerge victorious from a decisive
battle. As a testament to his service, the General Assembly
granted Armistead his freedom at war’s end. Others, such