During the middle 1700s, demands for freedom made slaves impatient. The American colonists wanted freedom from Great Britain to govern themselves, and slaves wanted freedom from their white masters, for the same reason .
Some Blacks in the north took their masters to court, demanded their freedom, and often won. For the most part, however, the government paid no attention to the slaves' complaints.
In April, 1775, British troops marched into Massachusetts to destroy guns and ammunition stored there; they found instead, a band of armed colonists in the towns of Lexington and Concord waiting for them. Although the British forces
resisted the attacks, they did not get the weapons.
These battles convinced colonial leaders that they should form an army of their own. Many Blacks wanted to join this army, but the Continental Congress, the governing body of America, decided that Blacks could not enlist.
Since most Blacks were slaves, colonial leaders did not want to give slaves a reason to run away from their masters, and they also feared that armed slaves might be dangerous.
Meanwhile, the British announced that they would free any Blacks who joined their army. Many Blacks accepted this offer and joined the British army.
It did not take long for the colonial leaders to realize they needed more soldiers to fight the well-trained British army, and they quickly changed their minds about enlisting Blacks.
Finally, in 1776, the Continental Congress passed a law saying that Blacks could enlist in the American Continental Army.
When the war ended in 1783, the British kept their promise to free the Black soldiers who fought for them. Those Black soldiers who fought in the American army also kept their freedom.
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