William Flora was a free black from Portsmouth, Virginia, Flora fought at Great Bridge, Virginia, in December 1775. James Forten was a 15-year-old free black who served as a powder boy on the ship Rolay Louis, preying on British shipping. In 1780, after Elizabeth Freeman’s mistress struck her with a hot fireplace shovel, “Mum Bett” sought refuge with friends. Lemuel Hayes fought at Lexington and Concord for the minutemen. Saul Matthews was enslaved when he enlisted as a soldier under Colonel Josiah Parker, a commander in the Virginia militia. Thomas Peters was enslaved and living in North Carolina when, encouraged by Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation, he escaped to the British. Salem Poor was a hero of the Battle …show more content…
The experience of the Revolution differs for free and enslaved blacks by the free being able to fight in the Revolutionary War and the enslaved still not being free. The experience of the Revolution differs for free and enslaved blacks in the North and South by the North being freer than the South. There were many essential documents from this time period. Andrew Estave, Letter in the Virginia Gazette, July 20, 1775. John Murray, Lord Dunmore, A Proclamation, November 7, 1775. John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore (1732 – 25 February 1809), was the colonial governor of Virginia at the outbreak of the American Revolution. He was the son of William Murray, the third Earl, and his wife Catherine (née Murray), and born in Scotland in 1732. Wartime Fugitive Slave Advertisements, 1776–1782. Extract of a Letter from Monmouth
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