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 OUTLINE
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:19 The Frank Brothers' Revolutionary Choices
00:05:14 Discovering the Frank Brothers Through Family Oral History
00:09:01 Blending Genalogy and Microhistory
00:15:22 Life for Free Black Families in Early Rhode Island
00:20:50 Why Free Black Men Joined the Continental Army
00:24:00 Motivations: Land, Pay, and Equality
00:29:15 The Gamble of Military Service Amid Policy Shifts
00:41:13 Daily Life and Combat in the Integrated Regiments
00:44:46 Ben Frank's Desertion
00:52:51 The Book of Negroes
01:00:02 Postwar Outcomes: Did Promises of Land, Pay, and Equality Hold?
01:02:47 Lessons from Black Soldiers' Experiences
01:07:26 Conclusion
RECOMMENDED 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 Revolution
SUPPORT OUR WORK
🎁 Make a Donation to Ben Franklin’s World
REQUEST A TOPIC
📨 Topic Request Form
📫 liz@benfranklinsworld.com
WHEN YOU'RE READY
🗞️ BFW Gazette Newsletter
👩‍💻 Join the BFW Listener Community
🌍 Join the History Explorers Club
TAKE THE QUIZ
🧭 Discover How You Explore History (under 2 minutes)
👉 https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/quiz
LISTEN 🎧
🍎 Apple Podcasts
💚 Spotify
🎶 Amazon Music
🛜 Pandora
CONNECT
🦋 Liz on Bluesky
👩‍💻 Liz on LinkedIn
🛜 Liz’s Website
SAY 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

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(521)

452 How Everyday Loyalists Experienced the Revolution

452 How Everyday Loyalists Experienced the Revolution

We often ask why some Americans chose to remain loyal to the British and why they did not want to seek independence. But the question some Americans asked at the time of the Revolution focused more on...

6 Okt 1h 23min

BFW Revisited: The Reintegration of American Loyalists

BFW Revisited: The Reintegration of American Loyalists

What would it take for you to forgive a neighbor who sided against you in a civil war? And what would you say to win back a community that you had fought against?In our last episode, we explored loyal...

29 Sep 48min

BFW Revisited: Loyalism in the British Atlantic World

BFW Revisited: Loyalism in the British Atlantic World

In the late winter of 1775, colonists in a village outside of New York City hoisted the royal standard of King George III 75 feet into the air. The standard raisers signed their names to a proclamatio...

22 Sep 1h 6min

BFW Bonus: We Want More History

BFW Bonus: We Want More History

American history is in the news a lot these days. We see and hear about fights over monuments, textbooks, and the stories we should include or exclude from our museums and historic markers.What these ...

18 Sep 20min

451 The Court-Martial That Put The American Revolution on Trial

451 The Court-Martial That Put The American Revolution on Trial

In December 1777, Continental Army Colonel David Henley climbed off his horse to discipline a drunk British prisoner of war who was screaming epithets about Americans and vowing to fight for his king....

15 Sep 1h 5min

BFW Revisited: The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution

BFW Revisited: The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution

What caused the American Revolution? Taxation without representation? Colonies that had outgrown their dependence on the British Empire? Or something harder to see: a quarrel about power itself and ab...

8 Sep 51min

450 Whose Revolution? The Delaware and the War for Independence

450 Whose Revolution? The Delaware and the War for Independence

In December 1776, a Delaware Chief named White Eyes stood before the Second Continental Congress. He had not come to declare himself a revolutionary, nor had he come to pledge his loyalty to King Geor...

1 Sep 1h 8min

BFW Revisited: The Brafferton Indian School, Part 1

BFW Revisited: The Brafferton Indian School, Part 1

In 1723, the College of William & Mary opened the Brafferton building, a permanent home for an Indian School the college had been chartered to run and struggled to fill for its first 30 years. The pre...

25 Aug 1h 23min

Populärt inom Samhälle & Kultur

podme-dokumentar
gynning-berg
svenska-fall
p3-dokumentar
en-mork-historia
hor-har
aftonbladet-krim
killradet
flashback-forever
rss-kansli-med-jessica-sebastian
rss-hemlispodden
rss-creepypodden
aftonbladet-daily
p1-dokumentar
rss-schyffert-sundin-ar-det-har-nat
mardromsgasten
rss-nemo-moter-en-van
vad-blir-det-for-mord
kod-katastrof
rss-mer-an-bara-morsa