Black Founders and/or Black Revolutionary War Patriots You Never Heard About In School
83Yep, Glenn Beck did it again. Yesterday, he was right there on the TV, expounding about prominent black men who'd been involved in founding our country. One such man even rode one way when Paul Revere went another as they both warned colonists the British were coming. Can you imagine the flak Sarah Palin would have caught if she'd mentioned Wentworth Cheswell, the African-American version of Paul Revere?
I ignored the show. Sort of. Had other things going on.
Now it's my turn, just digging through the Internet at random, maybe picking up on some of the same historical black superstars Beck mentioned, but most certainly fnding others as well. None of them come from school memories, though. The only famous black genius I can recall at all from my school textbooks--you guessed it, George Washington Carver with his work on agricultural crops, especially peanuts.
Plus, because of my background in rodeo, I obviously had to know about black cowboy Bill Pickett, who invented the sport of bulldogging (steer wrestling) the hard way. His technique involved biting the bovine on the lip and then falling backward. For some reason, later 'doggers quit biting the bull and just rassled the critters to the ground. No idea why!
Even those two, however, came along much later than the founding of our nation. Let's see who we can find out there, lurking in the labyrinth of under-reported (to put it mildly) history.
Like Wentworth Cheswell, James Armistead first came to my attention via Glenn Beck's program. This dude, according to Beck, "...may have won the war" for the colonists.
"Why? Double spy."
That is, the British believed Armistead was working for them when in truth his deeper allegiance was to the future United States of America. You know, fed George the Third's people a pile of horse poo while passing on accurate intel to the George the Washington.
Gotta love a guy like that. Especially if he's on your side.
One correction: Beck may have only part of the man's name, which appears as James Armistead Lafayette in most online sources.
Finding records of the names of individual black soldiers fighting for the rebel cause turned out to be a bit of a "lost cause", but there were definitely more than a few such. An excerpt from an article by Robert A. Selig at AMERICANREVOLUTION.ORG states,
During the winter of 1777-78, dozens of black Virginians served in every one of the state regiments, freezing, starving, and dying at Valley Forge. By February 1778, the survivors were marching with white comrades through the snow, practicing Baron von Steuben's as yet unfamiliar drill. When the Steuben-trained army proved its mettle at Monmouth in June, about 700 blacks fought side-by-side with whites. Eight weeks later, an army report listed 755 blacks in the Continental Army, including 138 Blacks in the Virginia Line.
Some of those must have been members of the Rhode Island First Regiment, sometimes called "the black regiment" because several companies were made up of African-American soldiers.
Austin Dabney of Georgia was one of the few black men who soldiered against the British in the South. Not that he volunteered or anything like that; his owner "sold" him into service with the Continental Army as a substitufe for having to do his own fighting for the American cause.
Naturally, there was a whole lot of lying going on. Slaves weren't acceptable as soldiers to the rebels (though they could readily flee to the British and fight for them, which many did), so Dabney kind of got his freedom and his draft notice all in one motion. But he served honorably, took a wound to the thigh that crippled him forever after, and--heck, Google the guy yourself; his is overall a pretty cool story.
Hint: He didn't let a little thing like being cripped up keep him from succeeding in business!
That's not the end of the list by a long shot, but enough for now. Time to get to Glenn Beck's question. He wants to know why our nation's history has been so inaccurately represented for as far back as any of us living can remember.
Guess what? I don't care why. Sure, it could involve some great long-lived conspiracy (at which Glenn seems to be hinting), but you know what? A simpler answer seems more likely. It could be (even unconscious) racism, who needs to hear about the black heroes of the Revolution, that sort of thing--but probably no more than that at most.
Our Progressive NWO-advocating political opponents may not even know their black history when it comes to the Founding of the United States of America. They may even believe it when they spout off (incessantly) about the Constitution being written by and for "a bunch of old white men" (and therefore something akin to disposable Charmin to be used and abused at will).
What does matter is that those of us who are now Awake in America encourage our fellow citizens to begin correcting this oversight in their American history education. If they know any American history at all as a foundation, that is.
According to Jay Leno's "Jaywalking" segments, far too many believe our nation was founded in 1922. By whom, they doubtless have no clue.
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Living in southern Arizona, we get plenty of "visual evidence" regarding the Buffalo Soldiers in particlar. One major artery half-circling Sierra Vista, for instance (and ending right at Fort Huachuca's main gate), is labeled as Buffalo Soldier Trail.
Beck is done with Fox News now, so I won't be seeing much of him for a while, either. He's got his own channel, I believe, but no clue how to find it (if that's even possible). Still get his radio show, though, IF I happen to be driving somewhere at the right hour(s). Great reception in the Subaru, zip in the house.
I have cable but no interest in TV, except for a very few shows. NCIS, Criminal Minds, a few like that. Got fed up with reality shows and nothing else. Dennis likes old movies(we have the Western channel and all the movie channels) and his news. Katie is a normal kid and has her shows she watches. They have TV's all over the house but I don't watch them and I don't have one.
Love this hub, Ghost32. I used to watch Glenn Beck regularly. I will have to see if I can get his radio show. I appreciate this well-written piece. UP and awesome.
Becky: Got it. I'm more into escapism (just watched America's Got Talent). See enough Criminal Minds just checking out the latest Washington, D.C. shenanigans.
vocalcoach: If you've never heard Glenn's radio show, it's TOTALLY different from his TV presentations. I still have no idea who his sidekicks are, but they (and he) have an almost slapstick rapport at times that depends on MY day, whether I love it or hate it.
Thanks for the Vote Up, etc.
Hi Ghost! Great hub! Unfortunately, there are a lot of folks that are unfamiliar with the contributions of black's during the founding of the US. I hope more people read this great hub! Thanks for sharing!
I do not even think of them as possibly being real, I look at them as a show about an intelligent bunch of people. I don't think of movies and TV as being real. It is a mental block on my part.
I don't watch TV either, and everywhere I go I hear about Mr. Beck. So much it drives me nuts. However, I am glad he spurned you to write a hub and an interesting hub it is! Thanks for enlightening me. I just cannot understand this racism against blacks when in some cases, as you wrote about, they would even give loyalty where none was deserved.
Great Hub. As a graduate of Booker T. Washington High School, I'd be remiss if I didn't add the following.
One of the last politicians to be born during the era of the civil war was Booker T. Washington. He basically led the efforts at the turn of the 19th Century to gain back the vote for black men in the South. Wikipedia has a great article on him.
Dexter: Thanks for commenting. Truthfully, I was one of those unaware of the contributions until Beck slapped me upside the head, said, "Wake up, Dummy!" (But at least he capitalized "Dummy", so I wasn't offended.)
Becky: A mental block on your part, or a weakness in my own mental defenses. I LIVE every show I watch. I'm THERE. Much different effect on me than on thee, obviously.
For that matter, Pam--who "lives 'em" a bit like I do--can, with her interest in anything medical, watch ER and/or fat surgery shows all day long. Not me!
Alexander: For whatever reason (karma?), the two soldiers I trusted most during my 2 draft years of Army service were both black. With either of those men watching my back, combat (which I fortunately did NOT experience during my service) would have been enormously less spooky than otherwise--and (this being key, of course) they felt the same way about me.
Jim: Booker T! Shame on me; we DID study Booker T. Washington in school, along with George Washington Carver. So much for memory....
Thanks for an informative, interesting and long overdue piece of writing. Up useful and awesome.
This is a great Hub. I like to think of myself as a student of history. But I didn't know some of this stuff. Although history lacking Black contribution is not just an American thing. Blacks have made major contributions to human kind through out history but get little if any credit.
But we must remember, knowing history as it really was is what it important. And the more we know, the better we can live in the present and prevent in the future the mistakes made in the past. Lets hope that we begin to teach our kids the FULL historical story and not just bits and pieces.
BPop: Thanks.
Rod: I didn't know some of this stuff, either.
And that gives me an idea for ANOTHER Hub....
My step-sons history book had 1 paragraph on the Viet Nam war.
I'm not all that surprised....
In the way-back machine, college level history was no better than 3rd grade history on any topic, it's ridiculous. I remember one thing from science 7th grade the man who figured out how to use blood plasma and infusion bled to death on the steps of a hospital because he was black. I don't recall the name but the irony of ignorance has lasted 55 years, dust
You got me curious on that one, Dusty. Googled it. Dr. Charles W. Drew...though at least some biographies are saying he died from massive blood loss due to a car accident rather than from being refused treatment.
Either way, though, the irony (with or without the ignorance we've all watched over the decades) is still there. That is, having a brilliant black scientist specializing in blood work that did for so much for so many BLEED to death.
He was in a car accident and driven to the hospital by a person who was at the scene. He was not allowed into the hospital because it was a whites only hospital. He bled to death on the steps. I have heard about that one before.
I am sure a whole book could be written about the black american's who contrubuted to the health, safty and well-being of our country that are pretty much unknown and ignored.
I heard about Dr Drew from an episode of MASH.
I'm sure there's probably even a book out there right now that does that, for that matter. With lazy luck, maybe a reader will drop by who can identify one such.
An episode of MASH...that DOES ring a bell, now that you mention it. Pam and I've seen pretty much episode more than once (though for some it's been a while). With all the hunting-for-plasma they were doing on that show (understandably!) I'll bet I can Google that....
Thanks!
Yep. That didn't take long. Here's a link that talks about that episode and Dr. Drew:
It was also in "Driving Miss Daisy".
Haven't seen that.
It is worth seeing for the look at the times for blacks in the South and because it is a good movie. With Jessica Tandy.
Understood. Trouble is,I don't NEED to see it to have a grasp on those times, and I'm pretty sure (absolutely sure, in fact) it would be--well, I'd rather have my toenails yanked out with hot pliers. Such a movie is NOT my cup of tea.
Spartacus, yeah. I could handle that. Driving Miss Daisy...not so much.
A man has GOT to know his own limitations.
I believe I saw that episode. It seems that, sometimes, history is like the evening news, it focuses on the negative. We've heard all about slavery, and the war that was fought to end it, but we heard nothing about all the black Americans who fought in the Revolutionary War.
Exactly. It was certainly news to me, at least.
Amazing, is it not? - In 4th grade, we were given the names of these men you found in the Revolution, but led to believe that they were all white. Yeah, and James Armistead Lafayette was supposed to be the Frenchman's white brother. I didn't find out the facts until about 20-25 years later. Haven't thought about this in a while. Thanks for putting this Hub up for people to see. It would have surely helped me years ago. It will help people now.
It is amazing, Patty.
I don't remember any of these names popping up when I was in 4th grade--in Drummond, Montana, 25 kids in the class--but I do have a "racially tinted" memory from that age. It had to do with the local barber shop.
Dad had dropped me off to get a haircut. He wasn't in the room, having left to either get some groceries of a couple of drinks at one of the seven bars in the town of (at that time) 400 or so. But there WERE 4 other adult males (including the barber) present...and however it happened, we got into an argument over race.
Point being, I ended up standing my ground as the only one arguing against racial prejudice. Me, age 10, vs. four so-called grownups--and while I doubt any of them took "the kid" seriously, I distinctly remember holding my own.
It was a start.
Good for you, Ghost! And because of that, good for us all. Thanks!
You're welcome, Patti--and back atcha on the thanks. You do some pretty fine work yourself, even just counting what's here on HubPages.
That's nice of you to say, with all your experience and insights! I enjoy your writing.
That's good to hear.
I'd be showing up on your Hubs more often (and on the Hubs of other writers I appreciate)...except that time restraints and priorities and such keep me bound a bit snugly. If it's 1:00 a.m. when I'm "done for the night" with the essentials, I'll hop a few Hubs. But more often, it's around 3:00...:)
Quite interesting. There are many black folks involved in all arenas of American life. Seems there was a plot way back to when there were only indians in what is now America, there were african merchants coming to trade or sell their wares. History would want all black folks to only have surfaced through slavery. History has proven that many ocean travelers came bringing goods from various parts who were of black African origin. The whites who originally came had been sent away because they were criminals. No wonder, Americans of European descent want to erase that information while placing themselves in a higher light. Even when taught how to survive by the Indians, they soon turn on these Indians, referring to them as savages, took their land and their women as the ealiest sex slaves and killed the men. Add that to your study of early American Life. Many black folks also have an Indian heritage as well. It was well after that, blck people through enslavement inherited the white gene line, and during the days of the Renaissance often passed for white, appearing so white looking. Keep up the good work. You're on the right path, just increase your study. Peacefuuly.
Hmm....
"Americans of European descent want to erase that information while placing themselves in a higher light."
I can't buy that as a blanket statement. SOME "Americans of European descent" obviously slanted the history books while writing/editing/publishing/distributing them, obviously. But there have been plenty of us (me being an American of European descent) who've fought for equality and full disclosure of the facts from Day One.
Becky 10 months ago
Very interesting information. I do not watch TV and so no Glenn Beck. I was aware that black people served in the Revolution and the Civil wars. In fact, they have served in all the American wars. The Muskogee and Buffalo soldiers are the most famous, but they are definitely not all the blacks that have served.