Freedom Delayed

More than 700 Black soldiers camped and trained at Valley Forge, and around 100 of these men were enlisted with the 1st Rhode Island Regiment and camped near this location in the winter of 1777-78. Black patriots contributed valiantly to the Continental Army's success. Although the United States of America won its freedom as a result of the Revolutionary War, slavery continued for another 82 years. At Valley Forge, both enslaved men and freemen in the Continental Army strove to overcome the injustices of slavery. Nero Hawley of the 2nd Connecticut Regiment fought in place of his enslaver but did not receive his promised freedom until 1782. Oliver Cromwell, a free soldier with the 2nd New Jersey Regiment, was later awarded a Badge of Merit. An estimated 5,000 to 8,000 Black soldiers served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War alongside soldiers of many different ethnicities. The U.S. Army was not racially integrated again until the 1950s.

Pennsylvania · United States