Colonel Stephen Blucke led an all-black Regiment that fought for the British during the American Revolution. He settled in Birchtown, Nova Scotia in 1783 and became a leader in the Black Loyalist community. During the Revolutionary War, the most famous of the Black Loyalist Military … Read MoreStephen Blucke (?-1792)
In the following article, University of California at Los Angeles historian Gary B. Nash describes little-known Revolutionary War soldier who was attached by General George Washington to serve with Polish military engineer Tadeuz Kosciuszko. This account is part of a larger history of three individuals, … Read MoreAgrippa Hull: Revolutionary Patriot
James Varick was the founder and first bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Varick was born to a slave mother near Newburgh, New York. His father was Richard Varick, a free black man who was originally from Hackensack, New Jersey. Varick grew up … Read MoreJames Varick (1750-1827)
Shaka Zulu established the Zulu Empire and revolutionized warfare in Southern Africa in the early 19th Century. Shaka was born in 1787. His father, Senzangakhona, was a minor chief of one of the Zulu-speaking clans and his mother, Nandi, was daughter of Chief Mbhengi of … Read MoreShaka Zulu (1787-1828)
Isaac Jefferson, a slave of the third President of the United States, was born in December 1775 in Monticello, on the Thomas Jefferson plantation in Virginia. His family was an important part of the Monticello labor force. His father, Great George, was the only enslaved … Read MoreIsaac Jefferson (1775-1853)
Peter Hill, a clockmaker, was born on July 19, 1767 in the Burlington Township, New Jersey. He is assumed to be the son of slaves owned by a clockmaker named Joseph Hollinshead, Jr. Peter Hill grew up in the Hollinshead household and as he grew … Read MorePeter Hill (1767-1820)
Theodore Sedgwick Wright, prominent clergyman, antislavery leader, and reformer was thought to have been born in New Jersey in 1797. He attended the New York African Free School. With the help of New York Governor Dewitt Clinton, Arthur Tappan, and others he enrolled in the … Read MoreTheodore Sedgwick Wright (ca. 1797-1847)
James Armistead [Lafayette] was an African American spy during the American Revolution. Born in Virginia as a slave to William Armistead in 1760, he volunteered to join the Army in 1781. After gaining the consent of his owner, Armistead was stationed to serve under the … Read MoreJames Armistead Lafayette (1760-1832)
Ignatius Sancho was an African composer and author who grew up as a house slave in England. We do not know how Sancho left domestic servitude but according to historians by the time he was an adult he was an emancipated employee of the Duke … Read MoreIgnatius Sancho (1729-1780)
California’s 18th Century history is embedded with that of settlers from many racial and cultural groups. Terms such as mestizos, mulattos, españoles, lobos, and coyotes indicated a variety of Indian, Spanish, and Mexican, white and black families who migrated into the area in the 18th … Read MoreJuan Francisco Reyes Reyes (ca. 1749-ca. 1800)
