Black Enlightenment

1. Black Enlightenment

2. How did African Americans contribute to the Enlightenment? • The Enlightenment helped to develop the careers of the first black intellectuals • Some African Americans became scientists and authors • Phillis Wheatley and Benjamin Banneker, the most famous intellectuals, contributed the first published works by African Americans • Most African Americans who gained intellectual distinction in this period owed more to the Great Awakening than to the Enlightenment

3. What was Phillis Wheatley’s attitude towards white culture and the American Revolution? • She was an advocate and symbol of the adoption of white culture by black people T’was mercy brought me from my Pagan land, Taught my benighted soul to understand That there’s a God, that there’s a Saviour too: Once I redemption neither sought nor knew • Patriot • Argues that perceived black inferiority was the result of enslavement Some view our sable race with scornful eye, “Their color is a diabolic dye.” Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain May be refin’d, and join th’angelic train.

4. To be or not to be… a racist • In his initial draft of the DoI, he denounced the British government’s role in the international slave trade, which he opposed as inhumane • Participated in the domestic slave trade • Believed to have fathered children with a female slave (Sally Hemings) • Held racist assumptions about the innate black inferiority

5. Who was Benjamin Banneker? • He gained international fame as a mathematician and astronomer • First black civilian employee of the U.S. government • Published an almanac based on his observations and mathematical calculations

6. How did Benjamin Banneker’s contribute to the discussions concerning human equality? • He sent Thomas Jefferson a copy of his almanac to refute Jefferson’s claim that black people were inherently inferior intellectually to white people • Called Jefferson to account regarding the contradiction between Revolutionary freedom and slavery

7. Revolutionary War

8. “The Negro’s role in the Revolution can best be understood by realizing that his major loyalty was not to a place nor to a people, but to a principle.” -Benjamin Quarles

10. What Roles did African Americans play in the War for Independence? • African Americans fought on both the Patriot and Loyalist sides. • In 1775, Washington forbade the enlistment of new black troops and the reenlistment of existing ones. However, as the war proceeded, necessity compelled the repeal of this policy. • Black Patriots fought in nearly every major battle of the Revolutionary war.

11. Why did General Washington Forbid the Enlistment of Black Troops? • Feared it would encourage slaves to leave their masters without permission • Feared that armed black men would endanger the social order • Believed black men were too cowardly to be effective soldiers

12. The Revolution and Emancipation

13. How did the American Revolution Weaken Slavery? • The willingness of African Americans to fight for the Patriot cause encouraged northern legislatures to consider emancipation. • Economic changes encourages this. • Northern emancipation made steady progress