Come All You Brave Soldiers: Blacks in the Revolutionary War

by Clinton Cox

Book Overview

In the Revolutionary War of the United States, black soldiers fought bravely for the freedom of a country that had enslaved and oppressed them. Their story of courage and sacrifice is finally told. A... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0590475770
• ISBN13: 9780590475778
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks
• Length: 182 Pages
• Weight: 0.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.1" x 7.4"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

freedom for all

"But perhaps the greatest legacy of all from those 5,000 black heroes of the Revolutionary War was their belief that the eloquent words of the Declaration of Independence applied to all Americans: `We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness...' " This quote, on page 172 is probably one of the most important passages in the book. Thomas Jefferson wrote that all men are created equal in the Declaration of Independence, yet not all men (and women) were treated equal. One of those groups were African-American slaves (and some free, too) who fought for a country that did not recognize them as citizens but just "property" and yet thousands of African-Americans fought and died for the freedom of themselves and others. After the war many African-Americans, those who survived anyway, were forced back into slavery. For example, James Robinson, a veteran of Brandywine and Yorktown, and who later fought in the War of 1812, was re-enslaved and was not freed until after the Civil war more than 80 years later! He was fortunate because he died in freedom at age 115 but many others were not so lucky. I think that Clinton Cox put together an excellent account of African-American bravery in the Revolutionary War, even with the few records and sources available. African-Americans were just as important in their contributions to the Revolutionary War as whites were, and were just as brave if not more brave than many whites. To get a vivid account of African-American bravery in the American Revolution, mixed with historical dates and places, you have to read Come All You Brave Soldiers!

Come All You Brave Soldiers

This book has teached me how black people were an important part in history of the United States of America. It also gave me ideas how the Revolutionary war was started by showing me historical events that happened during this time period. The author pointed out events like the Boston Massacre and following the course of the war through the Battle of Yorktown. It expresses how the blacks and Native Americans were treated as none equal and legal rights were opposed to them. The best thing about this book is that it gives enough detail to understand what really happened in the Revolutionary war.

The rest of the story

Clinton Cox should have his own historical radio show similar to Paul Harvey's. Cox tells the rest of the story of the American Revolution. He writes about blacks(free and slave) who fought in the war. He carefully elucidates facts such as the hedging of colonial leaders to allow blacks to serve eventhough many were already signed up and fighting. There were blacks involved in the war starting with the Boston Massacre and up until the end. The use of blacks by the British as a ploy against the Americans is also detailed. Cox masterfully shows once again why there is not American History and African American History it is the History of the United States.