The Role Of Native Americans In The Revolutionary War

When we learned about the Revolutionary War in eighth grade, we never discussed the impact it had on black, Indians, or women which in hindsight is pretty sad because history is not meant to be one dimensional. Young white men were not the only people who played a part in the war neither were they the only ones impacted by the war. One of the marginalized groups of people, blacks, played a more subdued part of the war. Many blacks flocked to the British army in South Carolina and Georgia because Sir Henry Clinton promised any slave who joined British ranks that they could join any occupation of their choice after the war. Other Blacks mostly freemen joined the American cause. Blacks on both side were put to work as agricultural or construction workers out of fear of rebellion if they were given weapons. Sadly the war strengthened the institution of slavery in the South but exactly the opposite occurred in the North. “The Revolutionary War helped to bring an end to slavery (in the North) although it remained legal there for some time.” (The American Journey Ch.6, Pg.162). Some blacks left with the British at the end of the war, settling in the West Indies, Canada, and Sierra Leone.
Many tribes found themselves having to make a decision on what side to ally with. Most of the tribes sided with Britain because they believed that Britain could protect them against white settlers and provide them with more goods and arms. American forces did not like this these decisions so they retaliated by committing raids especially against the Cherokees. Another tribe who was seriously affected was the Iroquois who ended up dividing into factions. I’m sure that Natives were very scared about what would happen if America ended up winning the war which as we all know happened. After the war Britain surrendered its territory east of the Mississippi. This enabled white settlers to invade native American