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Agrippa Hull: The Sage of Stockbridge
Charlie Rosenberg Charlie Rosenberg

Agrippa Hull: The Sage of Stockbridge

When he died in 1848, Agrippa Hull was Stockbridge, Massachusetts's last surviving veteran of the American Revolutionary War. He had become the role model adults in the village pointed out to their youth, a model citizen and village sage

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The Bugle Boy Who Won the Battle of Cowpens
Charlie Rosenberg Charlie Rosenberg

The Bugle Boy Who Won the Battle of Cowpens

The Battle of Cowpens, one of the most vicious and bloody in the War for American Independence, was essentially decided by a 14 year old bugler, a young man of African descent who at a crucial moment shot the British officer riding with Lt. Colonel Banastre Tarleton

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1774: "we will wholly discontinue the slave trade...
Charlie Rosenberg Charlie Rosenberg

1774: "we will wholly discontinue the slave trade...

Of course that clause in the Articles of Association, adopted 20 October 1774, wasn't a commitment to abolish slavery. The First Continental Congress was looking for ways to hit the British Empire in the pocket book.

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What the Hessian officer saw at Saratoga…
Charlie Rosenberg Charlie Rosenberg

What the Hessian officer saw at Saratoga…

“No regiment is to be seen in which there are not Negroes in abundance and among them there are able-bodied, strong and brave fellows.” This is the panoramic view of the army that won the Battle of Saratoga for the United States of America.

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Gage: “the Rebels have brought all the Savages they could against us here.”
Charlie Rosenberg Charlie Rosenberg

Gage: “the Rebels have brought all the Savages they could against us here.”

Among the many Native American nations who fought for American independence from the British Empire, the Stockbridge were the first, fighting at Bunker Hill, White Plains, Saratoga, and the Philadelphia campaign, before most of the company was killed in a British ambush in what is now Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.

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Liberty and Property: Seeking the truth about Prince Whipple
Charlie Rosenberg Charlie Rosenberg

Liberty and Property: Seeking the truth about Prince Whipple

Prince Whipple was purchased by William Whipple, a future delegate to the Continental Congress, about 1766. He accompanied Whipple during the Revolutionary War, and gained his freedom — but when and how? There are a lot of different stories. Some ring true, some ring hollow. At age ten, his parents sent him to America to go to school — but the captain of the ship he traveled on sold him and his brother on arrival instead.

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James Forten: “I have been taken prisoner for the liberties of my country…”
Charlie Rosenberg Charlie Rosenberg

James Forten: “I have been taken prisoner for the liberties of my country…”

"I have been taken prisoner for the liberties of my country, and never will prove a traitor to her interest." Refusing an offer of special treatment from a British captain, Forten risked more than confinement on a British prisoner of war barge. When Americans of African descent were captured in Continental army or navy service, they were often sold into slavery in the West Indies.

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