Tells the story of the thousands of enslaved African Americans who fled to British forces during the war in what became the largest emancipation of enslaved Americans until the abolition of slavery in the United States. During the Anglo-American War of 1812, British forces launched hundreds of amphibious raids on the United States. The richest parts of the United States were slave-states, and thousands of enslaved African Americans fled to British forces in what was to be the largest emancipation of enslaved Americans until the abolition of slavery in the USA. From these refugees from slavery, the British built a force - the Corps of Colonial Marines. Black redcoats, they were a fusion of two great American fears, the return of the British King and an uprising by their own oppressed slaves. The Corps of Colonial Marines turned Britain's campaign on America's coasts from one of harassment to one of existential threat to the new nation. Although small in number, the Colonial Marines - fighting to liberate their own families as much as for Great Britain - exerted a massive psychological impact on the United States which paralysed American resistance with fear of a widespread slave uprising, and allowed British forces in the Chesapeake to burn down Washington DC. As well as examining this little-remembered part of British military and African-American history, this book will also look to the post-war history of the Colonial Marines, their continued survival as a unique ethnic group in the Caribbean today, and their involvement in the largest act of armed African-American resistance to slavery. The "Battle of Negro Fort" in 1816 was the only time American forces left American territory to destroy a fugitive slave community - a community led by former Colonial Marines who, when faced with American attack, raised the British flag. This book brings black history to the fore of the War of 1812, and gives a voice to those enslaved people who - amidst great power competition between a slave-holding Republic and a slave-holding Empire – demonstrated exceptional bravery and initiative to gain precious freedom for themselves and their descendants.

A surprising look at the roles of African Americans in the Revolutionary War: “An elegant and passionate writer, Alan Gilbert pulls no punches.”—Historian We think of the American Revolution as the war for independence from British colonial rule. But, of course, that independence actually applied to only a portion of the American population—African Americans would still be bound in slavery for nearly another century. Drawing on first-person accounts and primary sources, Alan Gilbert asks us to rethink what we know about the Revolutionary War, to realize that while white Americans were fighting for their freedom, many black Americans were joining the British imperial forces to gain theirs. Further, a movement led by sailors—both black and white—pushed strongly for emancipation on the American side. There were actually two wars being waged at once: a political revolution for independence from Britain, and a social revolution for emancipation and equality—planting the seeds for future freedom. “The personal stories of those who fought on the patriots’ side in an all-black regiment and on the loyalist side in exchange for a promise of freedom are fascinating and informative.”—Booklist

The ‘scramble for Africa’ is underway. British colonists control territory between the Zambezi and Cape Colony. Only Zululand remains independent. The threat of invasion is ever present, and thirty thousand Zulu warriors stand ready to defend Cetshwayo, their king. Swazi princess Nomguqo Dlamini serves in the royal household. Her life is made miserable by her hut mates’ bullying. Cetshwayo, however, values her discreet presence and invites her to serve him directly. In this position, she observes first-hand the royal council’s discussions. To restore his cuckolded father’s honour, Mehlokazulu Ngobese crosses into British-protected Natal where he garrots his own mother. The trespass is used by the Cape Colony government to justify its invasion. As the country is put on a war footing, an unlikely friendship develops between Nomguqo and Mehlokazulu. The first military action at iSandlwana produces an overwhelming victory. However, in succeeding battles, inferior weaponry results in the Zulu defeat. In the power vacuum a civil war breaks out. Will Cetshwayo’s monarchy be restored? Will Mehlokazulu and Nomguqo be reunited? They plan for their future, but is their love strong enough to survive the chaos and anarchy left by war?

An indispensable resource for investigating America's War for Independence, this book provides a comprehensive yet concise narrative that combines the author's original perspectives with the latest scholarship on the subject. Without the War for Independence and its successful outcome for the patriots, the course of American development—our institutions, culture, politics, and economics—would have run in radically different directions. From any perspective, the War for Independence was one of the seminal events of national history. This book offers a clear, easy-to-read, and complete overview of the origins of the imperial crisis, the course of the war, and the ultimate success of the movement for independence. It also emphasizes the human cost of the struggle: the ferocity of the fighting that stemmed from the belief among participants on all sides that defeat was tantamount to cultural, political, and even physical extinction. The narrative encompasses the author's original insights and takes advantage of the newest scholarship on the American Revolution. The book includes primary documents and biographical sketches representative of the various participants in the revolutionary struggle—for example, private soldiers, senior officers, loyalists, women, blacks, and Indians—as well as famous speeches and important American and British official documents. The edited documents offer readers a sense of the actual voices of the revolutionary struggle and a deeper understanding of how primary documents serve historians' narration and interpretation of long-ago events. The result is a new synthesis that brings a deeper understanding of America's defining struggle to an informed public readership as well as college and high school students.

Davis begins with the dramatic "Amistad" case, and then looks at slavery in the American South and the abolitionists who defeated one of human history's greatest evils.

"[This] story will tell the birth of the modern British army? and of how and why it began. It will chronicle its dramatic growth within the space of two reigns, from a small force of foot and horse guards, which Charles II raised and paid out of his own pocket to protect his person and safeguard his throne, to a standing army of over three dozen famous regiments. This army saw active service on the Continent, in the colonies and on the African mainland, where at Tangier it would win the first battle honour to be inscribed on a British regimental colour. It is a story of wars, plots and rebellions, of fire and plague, of love and romance, and of two kings? I have attempted to place the army in its political and social setting, and to show how the events in which the regiments were engaged were shaped and influenced not only by the sovereigns but also by the men and women who surrounded them"--Preface.