African-american involvement in the american revolution

Name: Instructor: Course: Date: African-American Involvement in the American Revolution Grant, Jehu.

“ The Songs of Liberty That Saluted My Ear.” The Revolutions Remembered: Eyewitness Accounts for the War for Independence. Ed.

John C. Dann. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980. 26-28. Print.

Savas, Theodore P, and David Dameron. The New American Revolution Handbook: Facts and Artwork for Readers of All Ages. New York: Savas Beatie, 2010. Print. Involvement of African-Americans in the Revolutionary War is a subject that was important during the clash between the Americans and the English in the Revolutionary War. This is according to the personal narratives provided by in the compilation of accounts, The Revolutions Remembered: Eyewitness Accounts for the War for Independence by John C. Dann and the book, The New American Revolution Handbook: Facts and Artwork for Readers for All Ages by Theodore Savas and David Dameron.

The two accounts provide a historical meaning to the American Revolution. This is because they include the efforts made by war veterans and ordinary men in leading America to independence. The authors of both works provide subsequent historical accounts regarding the events that took place in the numerous battles fought all over American states against the British. Adding on, a look into the contents provided by both authors illustrates several aspects exuded by the writers of the accounts. Analyzing the two narratives will provide adequate contextual information regarding the extent of the involvement of African Americans in the Revolutionary War. Adding on, the book, The New American Revolution Handbook: Facts and Artwork for Readers for All Ages by Theodore Savas and David Dameron provides an account of the involvement of African Americans in the American Revolution. Accordingly, the material discussed by both authors, regardless of their separate works, allows the reader to understand the main issue presented in the texts, which was the involvement of coloreds in the war.

The authors of both documents sought to discuss the difficulties African Americans underwent under the hands of the British especially in New England. Nonetheless, both authors did not have a target audience regarding the accounts they provided based on the nature of what the experiences at that time. However, for Jehu Grant, the audience he concentrated on was the Congress of 1832. At this time, the Congress was concentrating on providing pension to the people that took place in the American Revolutionary War.

The pension act, which was specifically accessible for veterans of the Revolutionary War, awarded the entire or partial compensation to every person who took part in the war for nearly six months. As such, for the veterans to receive pension, persons such as Jehu Grant submitted applications as well as primary accounts of their involvement in the battle. His narrative, The Songs of Liberty that Saluted My Ear, specifically targeted the Congress of 1832 in order to verify his accessibility regarding the pension.

For Savas and Dameron, their book sought to provide a credible source of information for every person interested in learning about the involvement of African Americans in the American Revolutionary War. As such, the audience targeted by Savas and Dameron was merely any reader interested in gaining adequate knowledge regarding the Revolutionary War. The aspect of African-American involvement is indeed clear in the American Revolution. At this time, a considerable number of African Americans were under the rule of the Puritans especially in New England (Savas & Dameron, 157). As such, an account that dwells on this aspect in the compilation, The Revolutions Remembered: Eyewitness Accounts for the War for Independence, is the narrative by Jehu Grant, a former slave. Jehu Grant was an African-American slave within Rhode Island who took part within the American Revolution. His account, The Songs of Liberty that Saluted My Ear, provide an intimate outline of the inhumanity of the British on the slaves at that time. Adding on, Grant provides an account of the ongoing slave trade happening in Rhode Island, his fears of the British based on what he heard from previous accounts as well as his desire for freedom and his involvement in the American Revolution as a Patriot.

Particularly, the document written by Jehu Grant illustrates the ongoing activity of the slave trade in the American society. Accordingly, Grant states that, “ And living on the borders of Rhode Island, where whole companies of colored people enlisted, it added to my fears and dread of being sold to the British” (Grant, 28). This supposition by Grant indicates the reason for most African-Americans to join Patriot and Loyalist ranks in the Revolutionary War in order to escape slavery in the thirteen colonies as highlighted by Savas and Dameron (159). On a personal basis, Grant acknowledges that the slave trade as well as the atrocities committed by the British on colored persons coerced him to enroll in the American Army. In addition, other African-Americans enlisted in the armies based on the promise from their masters that they would receive freedom if they participated in the Revolutionary War (Savas and Dameron, 161). In summary, the primary account, The Songs of Liberty that Saluted My Ear, by Jehu Grant in Dann’s compilation, The Revolutions Remembered: Eyewitness Accounts for the War for Independence and the book, The New American Revolution Handbook: Facts and Artwork for Readers for All Ages provide a historical account of the issues facing the Revolutionary War between 1775 and 1861. From both accounts, the reader is able to connect the involvement of African-Americans in the Revolutionary War and their contribution towards the war of Independence between the British and Americans of that time.

Works Cited Grant, Jehu. “ The Songs of Liberty That Saluted My Ear.” The Revolutions Remembered: Eyewitness Accounts for the War for Independence. Ed. John C.

Dann. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980. 26-28. Print. Savas, Theodore P, and David Dameron. The New American Revolution Handbook: Facts and Artwork for Readers of All Ages.

New York: Savas Beatie, 2010. Print. http://books. google. co. ke/books? id= Tig-6VTEaOwC&printsec= frontcover&dq= The+New+American+Revolution+Handbook:+Facts+and+Artwork+for+Readers+of+All+Ages.&hl= en&sa= X&ei= jIfFUcbfEs3A7AaR_oCwDw&redir_esc= y#v= onepage&q= The%20New%20American%20Revolution%20Handbook%3A%20Facts%20and%20Artwork%20for%20Readers%20of%20All%20Ages.&f= false