Standing in Their Own Light: African American Patriots in the American Revolution by Judith L. Van Buskirk (review)

Although it has taken some time for a vigorously researched study of African American participation in the fight for American independence to appear, Standing in Their Own Light satisfies every anticipation. What we learn about black Americans who supported the Patriot cause is that these men and women have a unique story to tell. Theirs should be considered apart from the history of those who understandably took advantage of Lord Dunmore's 1775 proclamation inviting slaves to fight for the British in return for freedom. Dunmore presented a crucial opportunity for the enslaved to escape bondage, but hundreds of free and enslaved black Americans chose differently. Yet because Dunmore's efforts are considered a blow against slavery, the African Americans who fought for independence and the creation of a new republic shared a more obscure history (35). Even though some of these men and women are mentioned in scholarly works now and then, their appearances are anecdotal and largely detached from major events of the American Revolution (5, 6).

Judith L. Van Buskirk reverses this trend. Along with demonstrating that Revolutionary rhetoric transformed the debate over slavery throughout the thirteen colonies, Van Buskirk introduces readers to hundreds of African Americans who fought for and in many cases died for America's independence. By bringing their service to light the author enables each one to "stand in their own light and shine for everyone to see" (xiv). Van Buskirk's research demonstrates through these Patriots' own words and actions that liberation from colonial rule and the creation of a new nation were important to black men and women who saw their participation in the Revolutionary War as part of their larger, personal fight against racial injustice and slavery. From the beginning to the end of a well-written and coherently arranged book, Van Buskirk surpasses her goal.

Utilizing scores of manuscript collections located in repositories across the country, the book relies on period newspapers, military records, pension applications, government documents, letters, wills, and other primary sources. With the use of these sources, Standing in Their Own Light recreates the world of inequality and systemic racism that necessitated African Americans' fight for equality. The book then places their perspectives in the forefront, including disappointment over the nation's failure to end racial discrimination and slavery (73). One of the study's most important contributions is Van Buskirk's detailed record of the part African Americans played in key events that occurred before, during, and after the Revolution. This includes firsthand accounts of their participation in the Boston Massacre (1770), the Boston Tea Party (1773), and the Battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill (1775). In addition, the book provides a comprehensive geographic assessment of the laws and public sentiments that African Americans circumnavigated in order to join militias and the Continental Army or to participate in noncombat roles (18).

After spending a great deal of time researching and becoming familiar with these men and their families the author admittedly formed an emotional attachment to many (xiii). Nonetheless, nowhere in the book does the scholarship sacrifice objectivity for sentimentality. Indeed, where a record exists it is pursued, but where there is none or a lead is truncated, the author acknowledges the dead end and moves along. Nor does the book lionize any of the black protagonists or their white supporters beyond the accolades bestowed by contemporaries who fought alongside or witnessed their achievements on or off of the battlefield (5, 11). An objective approach along with a meticulous process of verification and elimination increases the value of Van Buskirk's scholarship and enables us to comb through the lives and service of African Americans in George Washington's military with confidence.

Revolutionary rhetoric had clearly begun to transform African Americans' outlook about their prospects in a new nation long before Washington welcomed them into his fighting forces. After initially issuing...