Black Patriots were African Americans who sided with the colonists who opposed British rule during the American Revolution. The term Black Patriots includes, but is not limited to, the 5,000 or more African Americans who served in the Continental Army and Patriot militias during the American Revolutionary War.[1]
Their counterparts on the pro-British side were known as Black Loyalists, African Americans who sided with the British during the American revolution. Thousands of American slaves escaped to British lines to take up their offers of freedom in exchange for military service as per Virginia Governor Dunmore's Proclamation of 1775, promising freedom to Blacks who deserted their Patriot masters and fought for the British and the 1779 Philipsburg Proclamation, which declared the freedom all Blacks enslaved by Patriots who came over to the British side, whether or not they fought.
- ^ White, Deborah; Bay, Mia; Martin Jr., Waldo E. (2013). Freedom on My Mind: A History of African Americans. Boston: Bedford St. Martin's. pp. 124–127.