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COLORED PATRIOTS
of the
AMERICAN REVOLUTION,
with sketches of several
DISTINGUISHED COLORED PERSONS:
to which is added a brief survey of the
Condition and Prospects of Colored Americans.
By Wm. C. Nell,
with an introduction by
Harriet Beacher Stowe
Published
Boston:
Published by Robert R. Wallcut
1855.

AUTHOR'S PREFACE.

     IN the month of July, 1847, the eloquent Bard of Freedom, JOHN G. WHITTIER, contributed to the National Era a statement of facts relative to the Military Services of Colored Americans in the Revolution of 1776, and the War of 1812.  Being a member of the Society of Friends, he disclaimed any eulogy upon the shedding of blood, even in the cause of acknowledged justice, but, says he, "when we see a whole nation doing honor to the memories of one class of its defenders, to the total neglect of another class, who had the misfortune to be of darker complexion, we cannot forego the satisfaction of inviting notice to certain historical fats, which, for the last half century, have been quietly elbowed aside, as no ore deserving of a place in patriotic recollection, than the descendants of the men, to whom the facts in question relate, have to a place in a Fourth of July procession, [in the nation's estimation.]  Of the services and sufferings of the Colored Soldiers of the Revolution, no attempt has, to our knowledge, been made to preserve a record.  They have had no historian.  With here and there an exception, they have all passed away, and only some faint traditions linger among their descendants.  Yet enough is known to show that the free colored men of the United States bore their full proportion of the sacrifices and trials of the Revolutionary War."
     In my attempt, then, to rescue from oblivion the name and fame of those who, though "tinged with the hated stain," yet had warm hearts and active hands in the "times that tried men's souls," I will first gratefully tender him my thanks for the service his compilation has afforded me, and my acknowledgments also to other individuals who have kindly contributed facts for this work.  Imperfect as these pages may prove, to prepare even these, journeys have been made to confer with the living, and even pilgrimages to grave-yards, to save all that may still be gleaned from their fast dissappearing reords.
     There is now an institution of learning in the State of New York, (Central College,) where the chair of Professorship in Belles Lettres has been filled by three colored young men, CHARLES L. REASON, WILLIAM G. ALLEN, and GEORGE B. VASHON, each of whom has worn the Professor's mantle gracefully, giving proof of good scholarship and manly character.
     These men, as teachers, especially in Colleges open to all, irrespective of accidental differences, are doing a mighty work in uprooting prejudice.  The influences thus generated are already felt.  Many a young white man or woman who, in early life, has imbibed wrong notions of the colored man's inferiority, is taught a new lesson by the colored Professors at McGrawville; and they leave its honored walls with thanksgiving in their hearts for their conversion from pro-slavery heathenism to the Gospel of Christian Freedom, and are thus prepared to go forth as pioneers in the cause of Human Brotherhood.
     But the Orator's voice and Author's pen have both been eloquent in detailing the merits of Colored Americans in these various ramifications of society, while a combination of circumstances has veiled from the public eye a narration of those military services which are generally conceded as passports to the honorable and lasting notice of Americans.*
     I was born on Beacon Hill, and from  early childhood, have loved to visit the Eastern wing of the State House, and read the four stones taken from the monument that once towered from its summit.  One contains the following inscription: -

     "Americans, while from this eminence scenes of luxuriant fertility, of flourishing commerce, and the abodes of social happiness, meet your view, forget not those who by their exertions have secured to you these blessings.

     These words became indelibly impressed upon my mind, and have contributed their share in the production of this book, which, like the labors of "Old Mortality," rendered immortal by the genius of Scott, I humbly trust will deepen in the heart and conscience of this nation the sense of justice, that will ere long manifest itself in deeds worthy a people who, "free themselves," should be "foremost to make free."

                                                                                                                         WILLIAM C. NELL.

     BOSTON, October, 1855.

     * In 1852, Dr. M. R. DELANY published a work with special reference to the condition of the colored people in the United States.

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