Response Paper 1: After reading the four petitions against slavery from 1773 to 1777, and Karen Cook Bells essay on Black women in Revolutionary-era America (links to these documents are in the Syllabus), please write a two-page (2) essay answering the following big-picture questions: (1) How did African Americans like Felix, Peter Bestes, and other petitioners develop their own ideas about freedom during the American Revolution? And (2) how did Black women in particular pursue their own freedom from slavery during the Revolutionary War? To help you get started, consider the following questions:
What ideas or arguments did Felix make to convince Governor Hutchinson to grant him and his fellow African Americans their freedom?
What ideas or arguments did Peter Bestes make to convince the Massachusetts government to grant him and his fellow African Americans their freedom?
What does Bell mean when she writes that enslaved women like Margaret knew their soul value?
How, practically speaking, did women like Jenny and Bett escape from slavery?
Why have people like Felix, Peter Bestes, Margaret, Jenny, and Bett been ignored or overlooked by researchers of the American Revolution?
links to articles:
http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/fourpetitionsagainstslavery.html
https://www.aaihs.org/black-women-and-american-freedom-in-revolutionary-america/
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