Interviewees:
-
Maggie Creech
- Director of Education, Virginia Museum of History and Culture
-
James Herrera-Brookes
- Melanie Trent De Schutter Senior Director of Research & Publications, Virginia Museum of History and Culture
African American Virginians left few direct written testimonies, but their actions speak clearly. Roughly 10 percent of Continental Army service members were people of color, with Black individuals serving in the Continental Navy even earlier. Enslaved people also served extensively in the British Army, self-emancipating in response to Dunmore’s 1775 proclamation. James Fayette, an enslaved Virginian, served as a spy for Lafayette, gathering intelligence crucial to the Battle of Yorktown. After petitioning unsuccessfully for his freedom multiple times, he was finally freed when Lafayette personally advocated on his behalf. He later returned to Richmond periodically as a celebrated war hero, a figure whose story complicated easy narratives about whose Revolution it was.
