Racism and the Founding Period

For my third blog I will be discussing the relevance of race to the revolution and founding period.

When I say George Washington the first thing that comes to your mind is the great founding father that we all idolize. Now of course with all do respect, he was a fierce leader and all but could you believe that even he had purchased many people as slaves during the founding period because of the race they belonged to?!

Furthermore, they were politicized by the language and modes of white protest and were quick to seize the opportunities for securing their own freedom that emerged from the disruptions of a society in rebellion.

I chose this interesting article to support my ideas:
http://history.rutgers.edu/clemens/AfricanAmericansRevolution.html

In short, the author here mentions the African American slaves and talks about how both the British and the Americans were afraid to arm them. Yet blacks were probably present on both sides for every major battle of the Revolution. Both armies accepted blacks in the military to win the war, not to enact social change. The Revolution gave them a chance to articulate and indulge their desire for freedom. While the war did not lead to emancipation, it united their belief of freedom. It helped to create a sense of community and gave them a position from which to fight for the abolition of slavery. 


I strongly agree with the contents of this article and it applies to all that we learned in our history lesson.

Racism in the Colonial Period

Mr. Harding has exempted me from my second blog seeing as I wasn't here for this unit.