How were you, personally, affected by slavery?
This thread you piece of trash is about blacks and 4th of July, not race relations, can't you retards stay on topic without getting overwhelmed with a collective sense of guilt about what happened years ago? My position is that 4th of July is irrelevant to blacks as a celebratory holiday because our ancestors were slaves in 1776 and none of what was written in the Declaration if Independence applied to my ancestors. The holiday is essentially a celebration of American whites being independent from the British Crown.
I doubt any of your ancestors were slaves.
Oh and what do you say to the blacks who had ancestors that fought for our independence?
African-Americans, slaves and free blacks, served on both sides during the war. Black soldiers served in northern militias from the outset, but this was forbidden in the South, where slave owners feared arming slaves. Lord Dunmore, the Royal Governor of Virginia, issued an emancipation proclamation in November 1775, promising freedom to runaway slaves who fought for the British; General Sir Henry Clinton issued a similar edict in New York in 1779. Tens of thousands of slaves escaped to the British lines, although possibly as few as 1,000 served under arms. Many of the rest served as orderlies, mechanics, laborers, servants, scouts and guides, although more than half died in smallpox epidemics that swept the British forces, and a number were driven out of the British lines when food ran low. Despite Dunmore's promises, the majority were not given their freedom.[5]
Due to manpower shortages, Washington lifted the ban on black enlistment in the Continental Army in January 1776. All-black units were formed in Rhode Island and Massachusetts; many were slaves promised freedom for serving in lieu of their masters. Another all-black unit came from Haiti with French forces.
At least 5,000 black soldiers fought for the Revolutionary cause.[6][7][8]
Most American Indians east of the Mississippi River were affected by the war, with many communities dividing over the question of how to respond to the conflict. Most Native Americans who joined the fight fought against the United States, since native lands were threatened by expanding American settlement. An estimated 13,000 warriors fought on the British side; the largest group, the Iroquois Confederacy, fielded about 1,500 warriors against the Americans.[2]
