The American Revolution — Multi-Perspective: Patriots, Loyalists, Black Patriots, Black Loyalists, Indigenous Split, French Alliance (TRAUMA-INFORMED on Dunmore's Proclamation)

Morning Meeting + standing recite Three Promises with MG-9 + MG-10 emphasis. Apply MG-15 trauma-informed opening — name the lesson's content explicitly: 'Today we learn about the American Revolution as a multi-perspective wartime moment — including Dunmore's Proclamation 1775 in which ~20,000 enslaved African Americans chose to flee to the British army seeking freedom. We open with the HUMANITY of these African Americans — they made a CHOICE in the context of slavery — and we close with RESILIENCE.'

• Standing recite Three Promises
• Apply MG-15 trauma-informed opening
• Confirm counselor co-presence available
• Confirm opt-out alternative available
• Apply MG-9 Humanity-FIRST: Black wartime mobility was AGENCY in the context of slavery

M-5-F-HIS-19-C Photograph

Photograph of the Black Loyalist Heritage Centre exterior (Birchtown NS Canada, 2024) showing the modern museum building dedicated to the Black Loyalists who settled there in 1783. Caption: 'Black Loyalist Heritage Centre, Birchtown NS, Canada, 2024. Birchtown is the largest free Black settlement outside Africa in the late 18th century — founded by Black Loyalists evacuated from New York under the Book of Negroes 1783. The Black Loyalists are part of the Revolutionary story — and their descendants in Canada today are still telling that story. RESILIENCE-FIRST anchor.'

FRAMING: The American Revolution was NOT a single story of unified Patriots versus tyrannical Britain. It was a complex wartime moment of choice — and many people did not have any choice at all. Walk through MG-14 5-Column Chart: (1) PATRIOTS (40-45% of colonists by 1776) — John Adams, Sam Adams, Patrick Henry, George Washington as commander, Mercy Otis Warren (writer/historian), Sybil Ludington (40-mile night ride April 1777), Deborah Sampson (served disguised as Robert Shurtleff 1782-83), Esther De Berdt Reed (Ladies Association 1780), Salem Poor (commended for bravery at Bunker Hill 1775 by 14 Patriot officers), Peter Salem (Bunker Hill 1775, credited with killing Major John Pitcairn), James Forten (free Black powder boy aboard the Royal Louis 1781, later Philadelphia abolitionist), Prince Hall (Boston, Revolutionary-era African American organizer), Lemuel Haynes (free Black minuteman who marched on Lexington and Concord, later first African American ordained Christian minister in US), Crispus Attucks legacy (Boston Massacre 1770), 1st Rhode Island Regiment (1/3 Black and Indigenous), ~5,000+ Black soldiers total in Continental Army. (2) LOYALISTS (15-20% of colonists) — Joseph Galloway, Jonathan Boucher, Ann Hulton, ~20,000 enslaved African Americans who fled under DUNMORE'S PROCLAMATION November 7 1775 (Virginia Royal Governor Lord Dunmore offered freedom to enslaved African Americans of Patriot enslavers who fled to British army; ~800-2000 immediately joined the Ethiopian Regiment in Virginia 1775-1776; over the war, ~20,000+ enslaved African Americans chose this option), Mary Brant/Konwatsi'tsiaienni and Joseph Brant/Thayendanegea (Mohawk Loyalist leaders), most Iroquois Confederacy. (3) NEUTRALS (35-40%) — Quakers in Pennsylvania, many German Pietists, many enslaved people not given a choice, many Indigenous nations attempting to stay outside the Anglo-American conflict. (4) INDIGENOUS NATIONS SPLIT — Mohawk/Onondaga/Cayuga/Seneca with British under Thayendanegea/Joseph Brant + Mary Brant/Konwatsi'tsiaienni; Oneida and Tuscarora with Patriots; Cherokee mostly with British under Dragging Canoe; Catawba mostly with Patriots; Continental Army's 1779 Sullivan Campaign against Haudenosaunee. (5) FRENCH AND OTHER FOREIGN ALLIES — 1778 Franco-American Treaty (Benjamin Franklin in Paris); Marquis de Lafayette (French officer who volunteered 1777, became Washington's protégé); Comte de Rochambeau (French ground troops at Yorktown 1781); Comte de Grasse (French naval power blockading Yorktown); Baron von Steuben (Prussian drill master at Valley Forge 1777-78); Spanish entry 1779 under Bernardo de Gálvez; Polish volunteer Tadeusz Kościuszko + Casimir Pulaski. KEY BATTLES: Lexington and Concord April 19 1775; Bunker Hill June 17 1775; Washington crosses Delaware → Trenton December 25-26 1776; Saratoga October 1777 (decisive Patriot victory triggering French alliance); Valley Forge winter 1777-78 (Continental Army survival; ~12% Black including 1st Rhode Island Regiment); Yorktown October 19 1781 (Rochambeau + Grasse + Continental Army defeat Cornwallis). TREATY OF PARIS 1783 — British recognize US independence; western boundary at Mississippi; NO PROVISIONS for Indigenous nations who fought; NO PROVISIONS for ~20,000 Black Loyalists who fled (Britain evacuated ~3,000 to Nova Scotia via the BOOK OF NEGROES 1783 ledger in partial violation of the Treaty's property-return clause — these Black Loyalists settled at Birchtown Nova Scotia, today preserved by the Black Loyalist Heritage Centre Birchtown NS).

• Dunmore's Proclamation is a primary source — but its motivation is military pragmatism not abolitionist principle.

  model Sourcing: Lord Dunmore, Virginia Royal Governor (British); November 7 1775 from aboard HMS Fowey; purpose was to recruit Black soldiers to the British army in Virginia, weakening Patriot economic base. Contextualization: 1775 in early Revolutionary War; the British were militarily struggling in the colonies. Close reading: 'I do hereby further declare all indented Servants, Negroes, or others (appertaining to Rebels) free, that are able and willing to bear Arms, they joining His Majesty's Troops, as soon as may be...' NMAI 5th move: Dunmore's British voice is present; whose are absent — the ~20,000+ enslaved African Americans who chose to flee but whose own narratives are largely lost.

  prompt Apply MG-7 to Dunmore's Proclamation November 7 1775.
• Humanity-FIRST means honoring the agency of the people in the situation.

  model These enslaved African Americans made a CHOICE in the context of slavery — choosing British freedom over Patriot enslavement was an act of AGENCY in deeply constrained circumstances. They were not 'traitors' (a Patriot framing that erases their wartime choice). They were not 'helpless' (a passive framing that erases their agency). They were human beings making the best choice they could in the face of chattel slavery.

  prompt Apply MG-9 Humanity-FIRST: how do we frame the ~20,000+ enslaved African Americans who fled to the British army?
• The Black Loyalists are part of the Revolutionary story — and their descendants in Canada today are still telling that story.

  model The Book of Negroes is a 1783 ledger created by British General Carleton listing 3,000+ Black Loyalists evacuated from New York to Nova Scotia at the end of the Revolutionary War. The British honored their freedom commitment to Black Loyalists in part by evacuating them rather than returning them to American enslavers (partial violation of the Treaty of Paris property-return clause). The Black Loyalist settlement at Birchtown Nova Scotia is today preserved by the Black Loyalist Heritage Centre Birchtown NS — descendant community center.

  prompt What is the Book of Negroes 1783? Why does it matter?

• Apply MG-7 SOURCING to Dunmore's Proclamation.
• Apply MG-9: how do we frame the Black wartime mobility?
• Name 3 Black Patriots and 1 Black Loyalist context.
• What is the Sullivan Campaign 1779?

Children apply MG-7 full 4-question routine + NMAI 5th move to Dunmore's Proclamation AND to the Book of Negroes 1783 (paired primary sources).

M-5-F-HIS-19-A Diagram Physical / non-image

Large 36 x 48 inch wall poster with 5 columns: PATRIOTS / LOYALISTS / NEUTRALS / INDIGENOUS NATIONS SPLIT / FRENCH AND OTHER FOREIGN ALLIES. Each column has 5+ named figures and 1-2 sentence context. Banner at bottom: 'The Revolution was not a single story. It was a wartime moment of choice — and many people did not have any choice at all.'

MG-14 Chart

Multi-Perspective Revolution 5-Column Chart — large unit-wide chart used in Lesson 19. COLUMNS: (1) PATRIOTS — the 40–45% of colonists who supported independence by 1776 (e.g., John Adams, Sam Adams, Patrick Henry, George Washington as commander, 5,000+ Black soldiers in Continental Army including Salem Poor / Peter Salem / James Forten / 1st Rhode Island Regiment which was 1/3 Black and Indigenous, Mercy Otis Warren, Sybil Ludington, Deborah Sampson, Crispus Attucks legacy); (2) LOYALISTS — the 15–20% who remained loyal to Britain (e.g., Joseph Galloway, Jonathan Boucher, Ann Hulton, ~20,000 enslaved African Americans who fled under Dunmore's Proclamation 1775, most Iroquois Confederacy nations especially Mohawk under Thayendanegea / Joseph Brant); (3) NEUTRALS — the 35–40% who sought to stay out of the conflict (e.g., Quakers in Pennsylvania, many German Pietists, many enslaved people not given a choice, many Indigenous nations who tried to remain outside the Anglo-American conflict); (4) INDIGENOUS NATIONS SPLIT — Iroquois Confederacy split with Mohawk/Onondaga/Cayuga/Seneca with British and Oneida/Tuscarora with Patriots; Cherokee mostly with British; Catawba mostly with Patriots; (5) FRENCH ALLIES — the 1778 Franco-American Treaty (Benjamin Franklin in Paris) brought decisive French naval power at Yorktown 1781 (Comte de Rochambeau, Comte de Grasse, Marquis de Lafayette), plus Spanish entry 1779 (Bernardo de Gálvez), plus 1,500+ Native American allies on the French side at Yorktown including Catawba and Lenape scouts. Banner: 'The Revolution was not a single story. It was a wartime moment of choice — and many people did not have any choice at all.' Style: clean 5-column chart.

• In small groups, complete MG-14 5-Column Chart with at least 5 named figures per column.

  scaffold Use the unit's primary-source materials list; trauma-informed protocol — children may pass on the Dunmore's Proclamation column work if needed.
• Write one paragraph using MG-9 Humanity-FIRST applied to the ~20,000+ Black Loyalists.

  scaffold Sentence frame: 'In the context of chattel slavery, ~20,000+ enslaved African Americans made the CHOICE to flee to British army seeking freedom under Dunmore's Proclamation 1775. This was an act of AGENCY.'

• Name 3 Black Patriots and explain Dunmore's Proclamation.
• Why is the MG-14 5-column framing important?
• What is the 1st Rhode Island Regiment?
• What is the Sullivan Campaign 1779?

• Compassion Circle — 4-5 minutes
• Standing recite Three Promises
• Preview tomorrow: Federal Civic-Action Letter drafting workshop

• Optional family conversation (MG-15 home guide): How does the multi-perspective framing of the Revolution compare with what YOU were taught in school? NMAAHC family resources hyperlink.