kara4's review against another edition
5.0
Used during homeschool history, and the majority of these individual stories were unknown to me. Prompted a lot of discussion around the (forgotten) roles of Black soldiers during the Revolutionary War, and how important they were.
kaylana's review
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.5
I really enjoyed reading about black heroes of the American Revolution. Crispus Attucks and James Lafayette really stand out. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote almost a century after the Revolution that "We are to reflect upon the mas far more magnanimous...[inasmuch as they served] a nation which did not acknowledge them as citizens and equals, and in whose interests and prosperity they had less at stake. It was not for their own land they fought, not even for a land which had adopted them, but for a land which had enslaved them, and whose laws, even in freedom, oftener oppressed than protected. Bravery, under such circumstances, has a peculiar beauty and merit." Amen.
audrarussellwrites's review
5.0
I have always known that my people have contributed way more to this country's founding than history wishes to admit. This book, though short, gives a very good idea of the THOUSANDS of enslaved Africans who fought for a country that gave them no rights. Whether it was Crispus Attucks, whose actions ignited the revolution, or the many enslaved who served as spies and delivered information back to American troops that helped with the war, or the thousands who dug ditches and built roadways for companies to advance, this country's founding and its success, even to this day, is owed to Africans and Black Americans.
So many names of black people who were instrumental in the American Revolution are listed, and homage paid to the many more whose service went undocumented.
A great and somber read.
So many names of black people who were instrumental in the American Revolution are listed, and homage paid to the many more whose service went undocumented.
A great and somber read.
imperfectcj's review
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
This little book, published the year I was born (probably more to celebrate the bicentennial, though), contains a surprising amount of information about the role that Black soldiers, sailors, and spies played during the American Revolution. I'm disturbed---but not surprised---by how some (not all) were given the chance to "win" their freedom by laying down their lives for their country, freedom that any white person had just by virtue of being born. Even those who were already free before they volunteered to fight had to fight after the war for the pensions and recognition due them by the country they had served.
I feel compelled to learn as much of the full story of my country of birth as possible, but it is exhausting to be so disappointed so much of the time. At least my children are learning it from the start so it's woven into their view of the US. Maybe they'll be spared the feeling of shock and betrayal I feel at being fed such a sugar-coated patriotism growing up and can focus their energies instead on reconciling our country's hypocrisies and building a truly egalitarian society.
I feel compelled to learn as much of the full story of my country of birth as possible, but it is exhausting to be so disappointed so much of the time. At least my children are learning it from the start so it's woven into their view of the US. Maybe they'll be spared the feeling of shock and betrayal I feel at being fed such a sugar-coated patriotism growing up and can focus their energies instead on reconciling our country's hypocrisies and building a truly egalitarian society.
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