The American Revolution: Crash Course Black American History #8 - Free Educational videos for Students in K-12

The American Revolution: Crash Course Black American History #8 - By CrashCourse

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00:0-1	Hi , I'm Clint smith and this is crash course
00:02	black american history , imagine living in a place where
00:06	your labor exists primarily for someone else's benefit . Now
00:10	imagine living in a country where emotions to pass laws
00:12	that would benefit your greater good largely go ignore it
00:16	. And when you feel like the governing body that
00:18	creates the laws that shape your life don't represent you
00:22	or your best interest , imagine being regularly surveilled and
00:26	watched by people with guns . Imagine being convicted of
00:29	crimes without a trial by jury . Imagine your sees
00:32	plundered your coast , ravaged your town's burnt down the
00:36	lives of your people destroyed and all of that on
00:39	top of having to pay taxes without having any sort
00:42	of meaningful representation . Oh , I'm sorry . Did
00:47	you think I was talking about black people ? Oh
00:50	no . I was actually going down the list of
00:52	grievances . The american colonists outline for great Britain in
00:54	the Declaration of Independence , which is interesting given what
00:58	so many of these same columnists would do to black
01:00	people both during and after the revolution . Now imagine
01:13	you're a black person living in colonial America and a
01:17	war for independence . Freedom and certain unalienable rights is
01:22	taking place right in front of you . But the
01:24	freedom being fought for is one that would largely only
01:27	benefit white americans , not you . The american revolution
01:32	. Hypocritical as it may have seemed to . Black
01:34	people did provide some opportunities for enslaved people to gain
01:38	their freedom . Some did so by fighting for and
01:41	aligning themselves with the americans , while others fled To
01:45	fight for the British . Over 200,000 people served in
01:48	the American Army during the Revolutionary War . Historians have
01:52	determined that anywhere from 5000 to 8000 of these troops
01:55	were of African descent . Some were forced to take
01:59	up arms when able bodied men were needed to fight
02:01	on behalf of the colonists . Others willingly did so
02:05	as a show of goodwill , hoping to convince in
02:07	slavery's that black people were americans too . And with
02:11	us also worthy of all the rights that these american
02:13	colonists were fighting for , for themselves . At the
02:17	same time , there were also a lot of black
02:19	people who calculated that They should take their chances fighting
02:22	for the British crown because it was actually the British
02:25	who seem more likely to widely enforce emancipation in the
02:28	event of their victory , it's estimated that some 20,000
02:31	black men would end up fighting for the British Army
02:34	, far more than the number who fought for the
02:37	americans , no matter which side they were fighting for
02:39	. Though there is no question that black people played
02:43	a significant role in the war and one of the
02:45	most important figures of the Revolutionary War was a black
02:48	man named Crispus atticks . And why was he so
02:50	famous ? Well , it said that he was the
02:53	first person to be killed as part of the revolutionary
02:55	costs man . For some reason , whether it's movies
03:00	in the 90s where 18th century revolutions , black people
03:03	always seem to be the first ones to go ,
03:06	but I digress so Crispus Attucks died during the Boston
03:09	massacre on March five , on a cold March evening
03:14	, british troops fired into a crowd of angry americans
03:17	who had been taunting them . Five colonists were killed
03:20	and the americans were absolutely furious . It amplified the
03:24	already heated tensions with the british and served as a
03:26	major catalyst for the revolution . A sailor and a
03:29	rope maker , Crispus Attucks hail from Framingham massachusetts .
03:33	As far as we know , he was a runaway
03:35	in 17 50 someone in Framingham put out an advertisement
03:39	in search of a 27 year old , 62 short
03:42	and curly haired mulatto fellow and though he was called
03:45	mulatto , a pejorative name that was given to people
03:48	of mixed white and black ancestry , addicts was likely
03:51	of african and native american descent . Let's go to
03:54	the thought of them . Christmas was at a local
03:57	tavern when an altercation between a few angry colonists and
04:00	a british soldier began escalating nearby . When the town
04:04	bell rang , christmas joined the swelling crowd to see
04:07	what all the commotion was about . At some point
04:10	, he stepped to the front of the crowd ,
04:11	wielding a large wooden stick , joining other armed men
04:15	ready to defend themselves against the british troops . There
04:18	are two versions of what happened next version one Samuel
04:22	Adams , leader of the Sons of Liberty and namesake
04:25	of the beer brand founded many years later , says
04:28	addicts was simply leaning on his stick when he was
04:30	shot by the british and that he posed no threat
04:32	to anyone in those moments before he was killed .
04:35	Version two according to an enslaved man named Andrew who
04:39	testified as an eyewitness christmas threw himself into the mayhem
04:43	, striking at least two soldiers before he was struck
04:45	down . Remember though that an enslaved persons testimony has
04:49	to be understood in the context of the power dynamics
04:52	at hand . In any case , what seems to
04:54	have happened is that as the colonist rain fire ,
04:57	well snowballs on the british somehow , whether accidentally or
05:02	deliberately a weapon went off . This started both the
05:05	crowd and the royal soldiers believing that their officer had
05:09	ordered them to open fire . The rest of the
05:12	soldiers started shooting at the angry mob of columnists .
05:14	The cause of christmas addicts death was to musket balls
05:18	to the chest thanks to bubble future U . S
05:21	. President john Adams served as one of the british
05:24	soldiers , defense attorneys . According to a trial transcript
05:27	, he said that addicts was a stout mulatto fellow
05:30	who's very looks was enough to terrify any person john
05:35	Adams man yikes . We should note though , that
05:39	this is part of a long history of making black
05:41	people seem beast like to justify the violence that was
05:44	used against them . Little did Adams know however ,
05:47	that addicts would emerge as one of the most significant
05:49	figures in the war , ultimately becoming a symbol of
05:52	black patriotism and sacrifice . There were several other black
05:55	americans who played a part in other pivotal moments during
05:58	the war . For example , Peter Salem , Caesar
06:02	Pharaoh , Salem Poor and Barzilai Lew served on the
06:07	American side during the Battle of Bunker Hill on June
06:11	17 , the Americans actually lost that battle , but
06:14	it was one in which they inflicted significant casualties to
06:17	the British , which gave them the confidence that they
06:19	indeed could go toe to toe with the royal adversaries
06:22	. But as we said , black people fighting for
06:24	the american forces wasn't always a given at first ,
06:28	the commander in chief of this whole thing . George
06:31	Washington didn't allow black men to serve in the military
06:35	because , well from his perspective and others , giving
06:38	weapons to thousands of enslaved black men and having them
06:41	fight alongside the men who enslaved them didn't seem like
06:45	the smartest idea , but as it became clear that
06:47	the colonist reservoir of white man power was dwindling .
06:51	It quickly changed his mind . Unfortunately for Washington ,
06:55	Fighting for the British was a more compelling prospect for
06:58	the majority of black people . On November seven ,
07:02	royal Governor Lord Dunmore promised freedom to enslave black people
07:06	if they ran away from their Virginia and slavery and
07:08	fought for the british . In the war Dunmore proclamation
07:11	announced martial law in the colony , declaring all indentured
07:16	servants , negroes or others free that are able and
07:19	willing to bear arms , they joining his majesty's troops
07:22	as soon as may be for the more speedily reducing
07:25	this colony to a proper dignity . The proclamation sparked
07:29	outrage in the colony and ignited a fierce rebuke from
07:31	the columnist . But even though Dunmore was hoping to
07:34	receive droves of men anxious to jump into battle ,
07:37	Historian Woody Holton tells us that half of those who
07:40	joined him and survived the war for women and Children
07:44	. The Ethiopian regiment , as Lord Done mars .
07:46	Military unit would be called was composed of around 300
07:50	black men who fled there in slavery's in Virginia .
07:52	Unfortunately , this unit went on to lose the only
07:55	major battle they fought , The Battle of Great Bridge
07:58	on December nine , Still , this unit , black
08:02	soldiers fighting for the british against the slaveholding colonists had
08:06	profound symbolic importance . One significant result was that it
08:10	inspired many other enslaved people to run away the british
08:14	though , aren't the only ones to employ this tactic
08:17	. In 1778 , Rhode island declared that they would
08:20	allow both free and enslaved black americans to participate in
08:23	the war , promising freedom to enslave men who would
08:26	join them , consisting of only 130 men . This
08:30	regiment was pretty small , but their service was held
08:33	widely for many black people , particularly those who were
08:37	enslaved who you fought forward during the revolution was less
08:40	about allegiance to any particular side and more a calculation
08:45	about your best opportunity for freedom . According to historian
08:48	Benjamin quarrels , the negroes role in the revolution can
08:52	be best understood by realizing that his major loyalty was
08:56	not to a place nor to a people , but
08:59	to a principle , no matter which side they were
09:01	fighting for . When enslaved people hope was to prove
09:04	that they were just as worthy of freedom as those
09:07	who were fighting alongside them . And this idea of
09:10	black people using military service as a means of legitimating
09:13	their claim and right to freedom is something that will
09:15	see come up again and again throughout all of american
09:19	history . In the midst of all , the rhetoric
09:21	about liberty and justice for all , what became clear
09:24	to many is that this revolution was largely intended for
09:28	white colonists . Independence . The emancipation of all enslaved
09:31	black people Wouldn't occur for another 80 years . What's
09:35	more losing the war nullified any promises the british have
09:39	made too many black people about gaining their freedom and
09:42	many of them even face re enslavement after the end
09:45	of the war , the british retreat left black people
09:48	in an incredibly vulnerable position . Runaways were prevented from
09:52	gaining passage on british ships and we're meant to be
09:54	returned to the custody of american officials . There were
09:57	many , however , that did make it onto british
09:59	ships , so they weren't necessarily destined for freedom .
10:04	Around 15,000 black loyalists ended up in places like Australia
10:08	, Sierra , Leone , Canada England , Jamaica and
10:11	the Bahamas . And despite the promises that have been
10:14	made , some of these passengers were re sold into
10:17	slavery in other british colonies . Unfortunately , the american
10:21	revolution did not result in the large scale of freedom
10:24	for black people in America as it did for their
10:26	white counterparts , and only a relative few were granted
10:30	the freedom they fought for and had been promised .
10:32	But what remains true is that without black people's contributions
10:36	on either side , the war would have looked fundamentally
10:38	different than it did . Black participation in the american
10:41	revolution would not be the last time black men would
10:44	fight alongside white men in wartime , even when they
10:47	weren't sure that they would be allowed to reap the
10:49	benefits of victory . And as I mentioned before ,
10:52	we'll see that military service and the prospect of freedom
10:55	for black people back home has a long complicated relationship
10:58	throughout american history and we'll learn more about that soon
11:02	. Thanks for watching . I'll see you next time
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