Overview

A boy named Peter, born to a slave in Massachusetts in 1763, was sold nineteen months later to a childless white couple there. This book recounts the fascinating history of how the American Revolution came to Peter's small town, how he joined the revolutionary army at the age of twelve, and how he participated in the battles of Bunker Hill and Yorktown and witnessed the surrender at Saratoga. Joyce Lee Malcolm describes Peter's home life in rural New England, which became increasingly unhappy as he grew aware of racial differences and prejudices. She then relates how he and other blacks, slave and free, joined the war to achieve their own independence. Malcolm juxtaposes Peter's life in the patriot armies with that of the life of Titus, a New Jersey slave who fled to the British in 1775 and reemerged as a feared guerrilla leader. A remarkable feat of investigation, Peter's biography illuminates many themes in American history: race relations in New England, the prelude to and military history of the Revolutionary War, and the varied experience of black soldiers who fought on both sides.

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9780300119305

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Reviews

From the fogs of war and hidden records, Joyce Lee Malcolm has retrieved this amazing story of slavery and freedom in the midst of the American Revolution. With graceful, old-fashioned narrative style, Malcolm tells the story of Peter, an African American youth whose footprints traversed many battlefronts of the Revolution. Peter's voice is elusive, but his life left many traces. He saw and fought the war, returned to his Massachusetts home, lived and worked as a farmer, and died far too young. This book is a marvelous example of what can be learned from heretofore unknown people, and a beautifully-told tale about the ugliest underside of American history. -David W. Blight, author of A Slave No More: Two Men Who Escaped to Freedom, Including Their Own Narratives of Emancipation -- David W. Blight

A well-written and important contribution to our understanding of the black experience during the Revolution. --Edward Rugemer, Yale University<br><br>--Edward Rugemer

The life of a young Massachusetts slave who fought for his freedom in the Revolutionary War.Malcolm (Law/George Mason Univ.; Guns and Violence: The English Experience, 2002, etc.) begins with Peter's bill of sale, dated 1765. He was just 19 months old, and it was unheard of for a child so young to be sold without his mother. Intrigued by the implications of this document, the author investigated further and uncovered the tale of a heroic, conflicted boy whose dream was to live as a free man with his parents and twin sister. At age 12, as nearby Concord Road filled with the sights and sounds of battle, Peter joined the patriot army. In clear, engaging language, Malcolm reconstructs the surroundings, relationships and political atmosphere of the Revolution: the toil of New England farm life, the battles at Bunker Hill and Yorktown, Commander George Washington and traitor Benedict Arnold. Peter's tale comes to life in rich detail and provides a new perspective on this era of change - that of a black soldier. His shifting identity - slave boy, adolescent soldier, free man - reflects the mercurial nature of the colonial Congress as it evolved toward eventual victory against the British. Peter, too, ultimately earned his freedom; his final enlistment was rewarded with emancipation. Other slaves would not be so lucky. In counterpoint to Peter's story, the author introduces Titus, a slave from New Jersey who defected to the British, lured by the false promise of freedom once the war was over. The new American government did not abolish slavery either, despite any optimism it might have instilled in colonial slaves during the war. Malcolm seamlessly captures the intersection of personal, political and military strategy. History buffs will revel in Peter's never-before-told story, which makes a vivid addition to Revolutionary War literature. (Kirkus Reviews)

Author Information

Joyce Lee Malcolm is professor of law at George Mason University School of Law. She lives in Alexandria, VA.

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