Chapter One
THE REVOLUTION
Slavery and Independence
I served in the Revolution, in General Washington's army. . . . I have stood in
battle, where balls, like hail, were flying all around me. The man standing next
to me was shot by my side—his blood spouted upon my clothes, which I wore for
weeks. My nearest blood, except that which runs in my veins, was shed for
liberty. My only brother was shot dead instantly in the Revolution. Liberty is
dear to my heart—I cannot endure the thought, that my countrymen should be
slaves.
—"Dr. Harris," a black Revolutionary veteran, in an address to the
Congregational and Presbyterian Anti-Slavery Society of Francestown, New
Hampshire, 1842.
Crispus Attucks: The First Martyr of the Revolution
"BLOODY MASSACRE," screamed the March 12, 1770, issue of the Massachusetts
Gazette, Paul Revere's four-color illustrated broadsheet, depicting redcoats
with muskets firing into a crowd of well-dressed Boston citizens. Four victims
lie bloodied on the ground. ... read full excerpt from American Patriots ebook
