The Forgotten Fifth by Gary B. Nash

The Forgotten Fifth: African Americans in the Age of Revolution, by Gary B. Nash,reviewed by Sean Anderson, Claytor Library Harvard University Press, 2006, $19.95, 235 pgs

Usually forgotten in American history books are the many African-Americans who played a vital role in the American Revolution. Imprisoned in the institution of slavery, they longed for an opportunity to experience the liberty that all Americans have a right to. When offered freedom in exchange for servitude in the British forces, many slaves fled from their masters to fight alongside the loyalists. Mr. Nash’s book gives a timeline of the American Revolution with an emphasis on slavery and how the founding fathers decided to deal with the issue. The thoughts of our nation’s founders regarding slavery are quite surprising.