In most cases, slaves were granted their freedom at the end of their
military service. During the war some five thousand blacks served in
the Continental Army with the vast majority coming from the North.
In contrast to later practice, during the Revolution the armed
services were largely integrated with only a few segregated units.
While the vast majority of Afro-American troops fighting in the
Revolutionary War will always remain anonymous, there were several who
achieved distinction and made their mark in history. Both Prince
Whipple and Oliver Cromwell crossed the Delaware with Washington on
Christmas Day in 1776. Lemuel Haynes, later a pastor of a white
church, served at the Battle of Ticonderoga. According to many
reports, Peter Salem killed the British major, John Pitcairn, at the
Battle of Bunker Hill.
Gradually, the colonies were split into two sections by differing
attitudes towards slavery. In 1780 the Pennsylvania Legislature
passed a law providing for the gradual abolition of slavery. The
Preamble to the legislation argued that, considering that America had
gone to war for its own freedom, it should share that blessing with
those who were being subjected to a similar state of bondage in its
midst.
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