A Fight for Freedom

An AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY BEHIND THE WAR RECORDS “ A FIGHT FOR FREEDOM” An Automatic PowerPoint Journey Length: 10 Minutes

When you make men slaves, you deprive them of half their virtue, you set them, in your own conduct, an example of fraud, rapine, and cruelty, and compel them to live with you in a state of war . Olaudah Equiano

A Reason to Fight Since their arrival on the shores of the North American Continent, Africans have been living in a perpetual state of war against forces that would abridge their natural rights and human freedoms.

Freedom’s War The ultimate goal of the slave society was not to enslave Africans, but to transform them into a permanent labor-class of sub-human beings. The War for Freedom was fought on the battlefield of hope, using the day-to-day weapons of human resistance !

Freedom Fighters In the war for freedom, the soldiers were those who resisted and fought back in ways, both covert and overt .

The Freedom Fighter "Aunt Polly Jackson." Polly Jackson was a key figure in the Underground Railroad movement and is listed today on a local monument dedicated to her and others who risked their lives to help free the enslaved. According to legend, as a fugitive herself, Jackson fought off bounty hunters with a butcher knife and Kettle of boiling water. Aunt Polly Jackson’s Story" Jackson joined a community of free blacks in the settlement of Africa, Ohio, that was established near Ripley. Many of the local black residents served as conductors on the Railroad. The look of determination on Polly Jackson’s face reveals her resolve to fight for her freedom.

The Freedom Fighter Reverend John Rankin and Wife. (1793-1886) As a Presbyterian minister, Rankin started an anti-slavery society in Carlisle, Kentucky, amidst angry slave owners. He eventually moved to Ripley, Ohio, where slavery was illegal although many whites in the area remained strong pro-slavery supporters, and risked working as a conductor and station keeper on the Underground Railroad. Rev. John Rankin’s Story Rankin lectured across the northern states for the American Anti-Slavery Society, often falling victim to mob-violence. One time, pro-slavery advocates shaved his horse’s tail and mane in an effort to embarrass and scare him. In 1829, Rankin established the historic Ripley College, enrolling the first African-American student in 1831.

Slave Rebellion http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/natturner/slave_rebellions.html#1838

Many African Americans (enslaved or free) considered the conventional American war as their opportunity to negotiate for freedom and to prove their human value . So Why Fight for America?

Revolutionary War Timeline : 1775 – 1783 No President : Continental Congress Revolutionary War

Revolutionary War
Historical Context:
Africans served in the French and Indian war (1765- 1763)
Crispus Attucks 1770 was the first to die for America’s freedom
Somerset case in England frees slaves who join the British armed forces (1772)
Massachusetts slaves petition the legislature for their freedom
Massachusetts enlists African Minutemen companies
Spain gets control of Louisiana, more than half of black population is “mulatto.”
Racial slavery is the standard
Africans uprising in SC, west of Charleston at Stono (1739).
31 Africans and 5 Whites in New York are executed for alleged arsonist acts (1741).
Free African Americans lead troops in war against Native Americans in Louisiana
Revolutionary War

Revolutionary War
African American Soldiers:
5,000 African Americans fight Patriot forces
Three times that many fight for the British, but only 20,000 African American loyalist leave with the British troupes
100,000 enslaved Africans flee their master during the revolution
South Carolina law states slaves can get the death penalty for joining British forces.
Spanish controlled Louisiana sends black troops to fight for the Patriot forces.
African American soldiers distinguish themselves at Saratoga, Stony Point, Bunker Hill, Trenton, Brandywine, Monmouth, Ticonderoga, Rhode Island and others.
Peter Salem, Jack Sisson, Prince Whipple, Lemuel Haynes, Salem Poor, Prince Hall and Oliver Cromwell and other African American soldiers are celebrated for their service
Revolutionary War

War of 1812 Timeline : 1812 -1815 President : James Madison War of 1812

War of 1812
Historical Context :
1800 US Census says there are 1 million African Americans (18.9%) of that 100,000 are free (10%)
The Haitian Revolutions takes place
Eli Whitney’s cotton gin revitalizes the cotton economy and the need for land and slaves
Louisiana Purchase takes place
Prohibition on the importation of slaves from Africa
First Great Awakening fuels anti-slavery sentiment
War of 1812

War of 1812
African American Soldiers :
Andrew Jackson: Battle of New Orleans and Commodore Perry at the battles of Lake Erie
Two African regiments are formed New York
Accounted for between 15 and 20% percent of enlisted men on all ships and all stations in the United States Navy
Fought for British and Patriotic Armies
The Treaty of Ghent is signed, ending the war and consigning many of the African soldiers back into a life of slavery
War of 1812

Mexican American War Timeline : 1846 – 1848 President : James K. Polk Mexican American War

Mexican American War
President Polk annexed Texas as a slave state, fulfilling America’s “Manifest Destiny” and moving slavery westward.
1840 Census: 2 million African Americans (16.1%) nearly 400k are free
Denmark , Nat Turner, Amistad rebellions have occurred
David Walker’s Appeal is published, Henry Highland Garnet gives a speech to revolt; William Lloyd Garrison and Fredrick Douglas in one the scene
The abolitionist movement is mainstream
Slave or Free is the question of the day

Free and enslaved Africans volunteer in military
First Regiment of Volunteers, New York; the Fourth Artillery; and the Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, and Thirteenth Infantry regiments provided many names continue the tradition

Post War:
California Gold Rush 4,000 African Americans migrate to California
California becomes a state under the Missouri Compromise and the country has another fugitive slave law
The Kansas/Nebraska Act of 1854 allows states to determine the status.
The Dred Scott decision: “.blacks weren’t citizens and had no rights…”

"Once let the black man get upon his person the brass letters, U.S., let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in his pockets, and there is no power on earth which can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship in the United States." Frederick Douglass

American Civil War Timeline : 1861- 1865 President : Abraham Lincoln American Civil War

American Civil War
John Brown raid on Harpers Ferry
South Carolina and its confederate
States have seceded from the Union
1860 Census: 4 million Africans in the US—400,000 are free
Lincoln Emancipates slaves in all confederate states, leaving border states alone.
American Civil War

American Civil War
200,000 African Americans fight for the Union, 38,000 will die
23 Colored soldiers will receive the Medal of Honor
U.S. Colored soldiers were initially paid less per month than White soldiers
Fredrick Douglas calls Colored Soldiers to arms
The 54th Massachusetts distinguishes itself, fighting bravely
Harvard Educated, Major Martin Delaney is the highest ranking Colored man in the army
Displaced slaves leave their plantations in mass for the chance to fight
American Civil War

Indian Campaigns Timeline : 1866 -1890 President : Andrew Johnson through Benjamin Harrison Indian Campaigns

Indian Campaigns
15,000 African Americans soldiers from the Ninth and Tenth cavalry and Twenty Fourth and Twenty Fifth infantry
The Indians gave them the name
Buffalo Soldiers for their bravery
Henry Flipper was 10th cavalry lieutenant
Indian Campaigns

Spanish-American War Timeline : 1898 President : William McKinley Spanish-American War

Spanish-American War
African American Soldier :
U.S.S. Maine explodes killing the crew of 260 including 22 African Americans.
War is declared on Spanish controlled Cuba
The Buffalo Soldier regiments played an important role on the small island of Cuba.

Post War:
President Roosevelt discharge 167 African American soldiers without much evidence because of the Brownsville, TX. Incident.
Lynching of African Americans are happening in record numbers

World War I Timeline : 1914 - 1918 President : Woodrow Wilson World War I

World War I
America enters the World War I and African Americans wanted a piece of the action
367,710 African American soldiers were drafted; 140,000 were sent to France to fight; only 40,000 of those actually saw combat
Henry Johnson was the first American, black or white, to receive France's Croix de Guerre
World War I

The Marines had made it clear during the period when George Washington was President that it barred "Negroes, Indians and mulattoes" from enlisting among its ranks. The fate of the black as a serviceman was therefore in the hands of the Army.

Among blacks, those questions took on a different point of focus in both feelings and expressions. Since the Army had provided a type of life that gave blacks a measure of social recognition and economic security, it was a common practice for many of them to take advantage of its membership in order to partially escape the restricted range of social options open to them.

The military constituted a "special class" among blacks, allowing them to escape some of their " Negroness ." Even so, the lives and experiences of blacks in the military can be viewed in many ways as a reflection of the lives and experiences of blacks in American life in general. Black Americans in Defence of Our Nation

The National Archives www.archives.gov

The National Archives www.archives.gov/genealogy/

The National Archives www.archives.gov/genealogy/military/

Ancestry.Com U.S. Military Collection

Thank You! Presentation Presented By: Sam Starks Mark Freeman

A Fight for Freedom

by mfreeman

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