434 Freeborn Black Soldiers in the American Revolution

434 Freeborn Black Soldiers in the American Revolution

What would you fight for if you were free but still not equal? In 1777, brothers William and Benjamin Frank answered that question by enlisting in the Second Rhode Island Regiment of the Continental Army. Freeborn men of color, they gambled that military service would earn them what freedom alone had not: equality, land, and a better future. Historian Shirley Green, author of Revolutionary Blacks: Freeborn Men of Color, Soldiers of Independence, joins us to tell their story. Drawing on genealogical research rooted in her own family history, Green reveals what daily life looked like for free Black families in Revolutionary Rhode Island, how the Frank Brothers fought at the Battles of Red Bank, Monmouth, and Rhode Island, and how the Revolution ultimately divided them—one brother serving through Yorktown, the other crossing to the British side and resettling in Nova Scotia as a Black Loyalist. Their story is a window into the full range of Black experiences during the Revolution, and a reminder that for men like William and Benjamin Frank, choosing a side was never simple. It was a calculated gamble, shaped by promises made—and promises broken. Shirley’s Website | Book |Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/434 EPISODE OUTLINE00:00:00 Introduction00:01:19 The Frank Brothers' Revolutionary Choices00:05:14 Discovering the Frank Brothers Through Family Oral History00:09:01 Blending Genalogy and Microhistory00:15:22 Life for Free Black Families in Early Rhode Island00:20:50 Why Free Black Men Joined the Continental Army00:24:00 Motivations: Land, Pay, and Equality00:29:15 The Gamble of Military Service Amid Policy Shifts00:41:13 Daily Life and Combat in the Integrated Regiments00:44:46 Ben Frank's Desertion00:52:51 The Book of Negroes01:00:02 Postwar Outcomes: Did Promises of Land, Pay, and Equality Hold?01:02:47 Lessons from Black Soldiers' Experiences01:07:26 ConclusionRECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODES🎧 Episode 118: The Business of Slavery in Rhode Island🎧 Episode 157: African American Soldiers in the Continental Army🎧 Episode 301: From Inoculation to Vaccination, Part 1🎧 Episode 333: Disruptions in Yorktown🎧 Episode 348: Valley Forge🎧 Episode 413: Dr. Joseph Warren & the Battle of Bunker Hill🎧 Episode 424: Dunmore's Proclamation & the American Revolution in Virginia🎧 Episode 427: How States Are Planning the 250th of the American RevolutionSUPPORT OUR WORK🎁 Make a Donation to Ben Franklin’s WorldREQUEST A TOPIC📨 Topic Request Form📫 liz@benfranklinsworld.comWHEN YOU'RE READY🗞️ BFW Gazette Newsletter 👩‍💻 Join the BFW Listener Community🌍 Join the History Explorers ClubTAKE THE QUIZ🧭 Discover How You Explore History (under 2 minutes)👉 https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/quizLISTEN 🎧🍎 Apple Podcasts 💚 Spotify 🎶 Amazon Music🛜 PandoraCONNECT🦋 Liz on Bluesky👩‍💻 Liz on LinkedIn🛜 Liz’s WebsiteSAY THANKS💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts💚 Leave a rating on Spotify*Book links are affiliate links. Every purchase supports the podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(501)

BFW Revisited: Valley Forge

BFW Revisited: Valley Forge

Most of us learned the same story: During the winter at Valley Forge, George Washington's army suffered and endured. Ragged soldiers huddled together in frozen huts and gnawed on shoe leather for food...

26 Touko 1h 8min

441 The Escapes of David George

441 The Escapes of David George

When David George lay sick with smallpox in Savannah during the Revolutionary War, he faced three possible outcomes: death, re-enslavement, or freedom. Greg O'Malley, Professor of History at UC Santa...

19 Touko 1h 15min

BFW Revisited: Running from Bondage in the American Revolution

BFW Revisited: Running from Bondage in the American Revolution

She fled on horseback in the thick of war. Her six-year-old son rode with her. The white tailor at her side would pass, when anyone asked, as her husband. Her name was Sarah. She was one of tens of th...

12 Touko 57min

440 Jefferson's Cut Grievance and the British Monarchy's Role in Slavery

440 Jefferson's Cut Grievance and the British Monarchy's Role in Slavery

Thomas Jefferson's draft of the Declaration of Independence contained 28 grievances against King George III — not 27. The final grievance, the one Congress cut before signing, accused the British kin...

5 Touko 1h 16min

BFW Revisited: Whose Fourth of July?

BFW Revisited: Whose Fourth of July?

On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass stood before the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society and asked one of the most searing questions in American history: "What, to the slave, is the Fourth of July?...

28 Huhti 1h 15min

439 When the Declaration of Independence Was News

439 When the Declaration of Independence Was News

The Second Continental Congress voted for independence on July 2, 1776, but it had absolutely no plan for telling the world about it. Congress sent just one copy of the Declaration to France. It was ...

21 Huhti 1h 17min

BFW Revisited: Age of Revolutions

BFW Revisited: Age of Revolutions

Between 1763 and 1848, revolutions swept across four continents. We tend to remember three of them — the American, the French, and the Haitian Revolutions. But what about all the rest? And what connec...

14 Huhti 1h 20min

438 The American Revolution & the Fate of the World

438 The American Revolution & the Fate of the World

What if the American Revolution didn't just create the United States, but also created Australia? Most of us learned about the Revolution as a story of thirteen North American colonies pushing back a...

7 Huhti 1h 11min

Suosittua kategoriassa Yhteiskunta

seitseman
olipa-kerran-otsikko
i-dont-like-mondays
siita-on-vaikea-puhua
sita
hupiklubi
ihme-ja-kumma
uutiscast
kaksi-aitia
poks
antin-palautepalvelu
kolme-kaannekohtaa
rss-murhan-anatomia
mamma-mia
yopuolen-tarinoita-2
gogin-ja-janin-maailmanhistoria
rss-palmujen-varjoissa
aikalisa
rss-haudattu
kummitusjuttuja