Customer Reviews

The Black Regiment of the American Revolution

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People interested in the First Rhode Island and Afro-American contributions to the Revolution will enjoy David R. Wagner's article "Desperate Valor" at ANCIENTLIGHTS.ORG

The Revolutionary War army of Rhode Island was in poor condition, so they decided to enlist slaves in the army. The slaves would make the same pay as whites and earn their freedom. The book also discusses the Native Americans who were colonists's slaves after King Philip's War (100 years before the Revolutionary War), whose descendants were still slaves at the time of the Revolutionary War. The drawings are interesting and the information about this unique part of US history is fascinating.

Rhode Island's "Black Regiment" was made up primarily of slaves who had been promised freedom in return for fighting. This is a fascinating story, thoroughly told and amply illustrated with original watercolors, maps, historic images and documents, with sidebars for clarifications. Though designed for Grades 2-6, I feel the reading level and type size are really more suitable for 4-6, though younger grades will definitely enjoy it as a book talk.

A bit of history regarding the American Revolution is relatively unknown and rarely taught in school. In order to fill out its military forces, the fledgling state of Rhode Island recruited into the ranks of the American forces hundreds of black and Native American slaves who worked on plantations in the state, promising them their freedom at the end of the war. Several black freemen also responded to the call, making up the first predominantly African-American fighting force in U.S. history. Within weeks of its creation, the Black Regiment was thrust into the Battle of Rhode Island -- the only major land battle against the British and their Hessian mercenaries in New England during the American Revolution. The Black Regiment Of The American Revolution was scrupulously researched by author and library program coordinator Linda Crotta Brennan, and superbly illustrated by Cheryl Kirk Noll for young readers ages 7 to 11 and grades 2 to 6. No elementary school or community library should be without at least one copy of The Black Regiment Of The American Revolution for the American History and Black Studies collections.