Midnight

by Beverly Jenkins

March 1770, and when the smoke cleared, men lay dead, including Crispus Attucks, a mariner of mixed African and Nantucket blood. In the five years since, the incident had become known as the Boston Massacre, and stood as one of the most grievous marks against the policies of the hated King George III and his equally despised Parliament.

The city of Boston was named after a town in England’s Lincolnshire County. Colonial Boston was the capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Following the end of the Seven Years’ War in 1763, it stood as the wealthiest and most influential city in the colonies.

William Blackston or Blaxton, depending on which records were consulted, and in 1625 he had lived alone on the open grassy plain known to present-day citizens as the Boston Commons. When other Europeans arrived in 1636, they purchased hundreds of acres of land from him, which no doubt surprised the native population, who’d had no idea Blackston owned the land they and their ancestors had lived on for centuries.

both loyalist and non, were hoping the end of slavery would be one of the issues dealt with should the colonists prevail.

The hypocrisy inherent in the rebels demanding freedom from the crown while they themselves own slaves is not lost upon any of us.

“And we wish to fight because this is our country, too. We helped build the colonies just as they have, only we’ve done it with no reward. If Jefferson and his Virginians didn’t own slaves they wouldn’t have the luxury of riding around the countryside bellowing for freedom. They’d be home behind a plow.”

Although women were not allowed to speak from the podium to promiscuous audiences, as mixed-gender gatherings like these were termed,

Each portion of the big fireplace was a different temperature, and it took skill to have everything done in the same time span.

Many mothers of eligible daughters thought Will Case quite the catch. Faith would rather catch fish.

Yankee Doodle came to town For to buy a flintlock. We will tar and feather him—and so will we John Hancock!

she wondered if other women meeting a man for the first time had to cook the dinner themselves.

don’t let what you’ve been led to believe about who you are, and what you can’t have, deny what you can have.”

The hated blockade was devastating what was once the most robust economy in the colonies.

Liberty poles bearing the drawing of the severed snake first seen in Ben Franklin’s paper, the Pennsylvania Gazette, continued to be displayed,

home to the small free Black community since the 1640s.

“Faith, you are blessed enough to have a man who is willing to provide for you in a way that is rare. Whatever the circumstances surrounding this sudden marriage, he cares about you. It’s in his eyes. You are not to throw it back into his face.”

“Let the man be nice to you. And if you do wind up in the almshouse, at least you will be well dressed.”

When the Revolutionary War began, there were five hundred thousand Blacks living in the thirteen original colonies. Most of them were slaves, but many of the larger cities like Boston, New York City, and Philadelphia were home to small free Black communities where men like Prince Hall led protests and presented petitions calling for equal rights and the abolishment of the slave trade. After the war ended in 1783, these communities would continue to grow in both numbers and influence, reaching their political zenith during the Abolitionist era of the 1850s.

William Lee, a slave who was General Washington’s valet and man servant before, during, and after the war. Lee can be seen in some of the paintings of the general, the most notable being the portrait done by John Trumbull.

Peter Salem, Salem Poor, and the young James Forten. Search out these names as a way to increase your knowledge of American History.

Women also played a vital role in the conflict with the British. One of the most celebrated was a female patriot spy known only as 355. She is said to have supplied vital information to the rebel forces, but her true identity remains a mystery. Because of the accurate intelligence she passed along, it was assumed that she had access to the upper echelons of the British military.

Eggerton, Douglas E. African Americans and the Revolutionary War. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. Fleming, Thomas. Liberty! The American Revolution. New York: Viking Press, 1997. Greene, Lorenzo Johnston. The Negro in Colonial New England. New York: Athenum Books, 1968. Lanning, Michael Lee. African Americans in the Revolutionary War. New York: Citadel Press, 2005. Malcolm, Joyce Lee. Peter’s War: A New England Slave Boy and the American Revolution. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009.

Knowledge is power but shared knowledge empowers us all.