7 Black Heroes of the American Revolution

When the American Revolution erupted in 1775, the promise of liberty rang hollow for the nearly half-million African Americans held in bondage across the thirteen colonies. Yet thousands of Black men and women seized the conflict as an opening—a chance to trade military service for the possibility of freedom. Historians estimate that between 5,000 and 8,000 African-descended people served on the Patriot side, while upward of 20,000 served the British Crown, lured by promises of emancipation. Their stories—a martyr at the Boston Massacre, a poet who corresponded with George Washington, a guerrilla leader feared across New Jersey, and an enslaved double agent who helped win Yorktown—form an essential but long-overlooked chapter of the Revolutionary era.

These men and women did not merely participate in the founding of the United States; they fought to expand its most radical promise. Their legacy is inseparable from the broader story of Native American cultures and the entangled histories of race, freedom, and sovereignty that shaped early America.

The Revolutionary War and Black Enlistment: A Choice Between Two Empires

For enslaved people, the Revolution was not a single war but a set of competing opportunities. As historian Edward Ayres of the American Revolution Museum in Yorktown, Virginia, observed, when enslaved people had any choice in the matter, they enlisted with whichever side seemed most likely to grant them personal freedom.

Initially, George Washington barred Black men from the Continental Army, reflecting the fears of Southern slaveholders. But manpower shortages—especially after the brutal winter at Valley Forge—forced a reversal. By 1778, Rhode Island authorized the enlistment of both free and enslaved Black men, promising freedom at the end of service. The British made a similar calculation earlier, issuing Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation in 1775, which offered freedom to enslaved people who fled rebel masters and joined the Crown.

The result was a war in which Black soldiers, sailors, and spies operated on both sides—some fighting for a nation that would not fully free them for nearly a century, others for an empire that often betrayed its promises once the fighting ended.

Crispus Attucks: The First Martyr of the Revolution

Crispus Attucks, a middle-aged man of African and Native American descent who worked as a sailor and rope maker, is credited by many historians as the first person to die for the American cause. On March 5, 1770, escalating tensions between British soldiers and colonial laborers in Boston erupted into the confrontation known as the Boston Massacre.

Witnesses described Attucks as playing an active role in the initial scuffle outside the Customs House. He was struck by two musket balls to the chest and became the first of five colonists killed. His death transformed him into a symbol of Black patriotism and sacrifice—a man who, in the words of later abolitionists, was among the first to shed blood for American liberty.

Salem Poor: A ‘Brave and Gallant Soldier’ of Bunker Hill

Salem Poor was born into slavery in Massachusetts in the late 1740s. He purchased his own freedom around 1769 for 27 pounds—the equivalent of several thousand dollars today—and soon after enlisted in the Patriot cause.

Poor is believed to have fought at Saratoga and Monmouth, but his fame rests on the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775. His conduct so impressed his fellow soldiers that fourteen officers later signed a petition to the General Court of Massachusetts, praising him as a “brave and gallant soldier” who “behaved like an experienced officer.” Poor is credited with killing British Lieutenant Colonel James Abercrombie and several other enemy soldiers during the engagement—one of the earliest documented acts of Black heroism in the war.

Colonel Tye: The Guerrilla Leader Patriots Feared

Known as Titus during his enslavement in New Jersey, Colonel Tye escaped a brutal master in 1775 and joined the British after the Crown offered freedom to enslaved people who enlisted. He became the most formidable guerrilla leader of the Revolutionary War.

The British recognized that Tye’s knowledge of New Jersey—the strategic corridor between British-occupied New York and Patriot Philadelphia—was invaluable. Leading a mixed-race unit known as the Black Brigade, Tye conducted daring raids on Patriot estates, capturing supplies, freeing enslaved people, and targeting notorious slaveholders.

His exploits earned him the honorary rank of Colonel from British commanders. For Patriots he was a terror; for enslaved people he was a symbol of fearless resistance. His death in 1780 from a wound sustained in a skirmish cut short one of the war’s most effective irregular commanders.

The First Rhode Island Regiment: America’s First Integrated Army Unit

The First Rhode Island Regiment, organized in 1778, was the first Continental Army unit composed largely of Black New Englanders. Critics called it the “Black Regiment,” but its soldiers proved their mettle on multiple battlefields.

Commanding General John Sullivan praised the regiment’s “desperate valor in repelling three furious Hessian infantry assaults” at the Battle of Newport. A French officer who observed them in Virginia described them as “most neatly dressed, the best under arms and the most precise in all their maneuvers.”

The regiment’s loyalty became legendary. When Colonel Christopher Greene was cut down in a surprise attack in May 1781, the historian William Cooper wrote that “the sabers of the enemy only reached him through the bodies of his faithful guard of blacks, who hovered over him to protect him, and every one of whom was killed.” You can read more about this unit on the courage of the 1st Rhode Island Regiment.

Phillis Wheatley: Poet, Intellectual, and Voice of Abolition

Phillis Wheatley was captured as a child in West Africa, transported to North America, and enslaved in Boston. Unusually, her owners educated her and encouraged her literary ambitions. In 1773, at approximately age 20, she became the first African American and the third woman to publish a book of poetry in the colonies.

Wheatley’s work drew on classical antiquity and Biblical theology, and carried powerful anti-slavery messages. In her poem “To His Excellency, General Washington,” she praised the commander’s leadership, and Washington responded warmly, writing that he would “be happy to see a person so favored by the Muses.”

Her most quoted lines—“Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain, / May be refin’d and join th’ angelic train”—became a rallying cry for abolitionists on both sides of the Atlantic. Wheatley died in poverty in 1784, but her legacy as a foundational Black American intellectual endures.

Peter Salem: Minute Man and Slayer of Major Pitcairn

Peter Salem was born into slavery in Massachusetts and joined the Patriot cause as a minute man at Lexington and Concord. His owner freed him so that he could remain enlisted—an unusual act for the era.

Salem’s place in history was secured at the Battle of Bunker Hill. As British Major John Pitcairn scaled the American redoubt and demanded surrender, Salem is credited by many historians with firing the shot that killed him. His role is believed to be memorialized in John Trumbull’s painting The Battle of Bunker’s Hill. Salem later reenlisted and served through the war. His story is featured in depth in the article on Peter Salem’s Revolutionary story.

James Armistead Lafayette: The Double Agent of Yorktown

James Armistead was enslaved in Virginia when he joined the Patriot cause with his owner’s permission. Assigned to infiltrate the British, he posed as a runaway slave seeking to serve the Crown—and was welcomed warmly by British commanders eager for local intelligence.

Armistead’s greatest value lay in his ability to move between the two camps. He fed false information to the British while delivering accurate intelligence on troop movements, fortifications, and battle plans to his commander, the Marquis de Lafayette.

This intelligence proved decisive. Armistead’s reports helped the Americans and French execute the Siege of Yorktown in 1781, which effectively ended the war. After the conflict, Lafayette wrote a testimonial in support of Armistead’s freedom, which he received in 1787. In gratitude, he adopted the surname Lafayette.

Historical Context & Key Cultural Takeaways

• Black service was decisive but conditional. Between 5,000 and 8,000 Black Americans served the Patriot cause, and roughly 20,000 served the British—motivated overwhelmingly by the hope of emancipation.
• Enslavement shaped military strategy. Both armies adjusted their policies to attract Black recruits, revealing how thoroughly slavery underpinned the politics of the Revolution.
• Freedom was promised but rarely guaranteed. Many Black veterans secured liberty after the war; many others were re-enslaved or sold south, especially after the British evacuated.
• Cultural memory and erasure. For nearly two centuries, the contributions of Crispus Attucks, Salem Poor, Phillis Wheatley, and others were marginalized in mainstream histories. Modern scholarship and museum interpretation, including work at Yorktown and the Museum of the American Revolution, have begun to restore their stories.
• Intersections with Indigenous history. Figures like Attucks, of African and Native descent, illustrate how thoroughly the Revolutionary era entangled the fates of Black and Indigenous peoples in the making of America.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many Black soldiers fought in the American Revolution?
Historians estimate 5,000 to 8,000 Black Americans served on the Patriot side, with upward of 20,000 serving the British Crown, though precise numbers remain debated due to incomplete records.

Who was Crispus Attucks, and why is he important?
Crispus Attucks, of African and Native American descent, was killed on March 5, 1770, during the Boston Massacre. He is widely regarded as the first person to die for the American revolutionary cause.

Did Black soldiers receive freedom for their service?
Some did. The First Rhode Island Regiment promised freedom to enslaved recruits at the end of service, and individuals like James Armistead secured freedom through military service or powerful patrons. Many others did not.

What was Phillis Wheatley’s contribution to the Revolution?
Wheatley was the first African American to publish a book of poetry (1773). Her writings condemned slavery and supported the Patriot cause, making her a powerful voice for abolition and American independence.

Which side offered more freedom to enslaved people?
The British, through proclamations like Lord Dunmore’s in 1775, initially offered broader emancipation—though these promises were often only partially honored. The Continental Army eventually offered freedom on a limited basis, primarily in the northern states.

How are these figures remembered today?
Modern museums, monuments, and public history initiatives—including exhibits at Yorktown and texts like those curated by history institutions—have increasingly restored their stories to the narrative of the American Revolution.

Legacy and Modern Preservation

The stories of these seven figures—a martyr, a poet, a guerrilla, an enslaved double agent, and the soldiers of America’s first integrated regiment—are not merely biographies. They are evidence that the Revolutionary era’s promise of liberty was claimed and contested by people the founding documents did not include.

Their legacies endure in ongoing efforts to document Black participation in the Revolution, in public monuments, and in educational curricula that recognize the full complexity of America’s founding. To understand their courage is to understand the deeper roots of the struggle for freedom that runs through American—and Indigenous alike.