Ben Franklin's World BFW Revisited: The American Revolution's African American Soldiers
Feb 17, 2026
Judith Van Buskirk, Professor Emerita and author who reconstructs African American Revolutionary lives. She discusses why 5,000–7,000 Black men enlisted, shifting Continental Army policies on Black service, vivid pension-story sources, the First Rhode Island Regiment, and veterans’ postwar struggles and legacies.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Recounting Black Soldiers' Numbers
- More than 6,000 Black men served in the Continental Army, and recent estimates push the number above the long-cited 5,000 figure.
- Judith Van Buskirk centers individual veterans to recover their distinct personalities and experiences from sparse sources.
Pension Records: Rich But Flawed
- Pension acts (1818, 1820, 1832) created a wealth of veteran testimony but with limits like memory gaps and white clerks recording statements.
- Van Buskirk cross-checks pensions with other records to validate surprising claims.
Hessian Prisoners At Freeman's Farm
- A veteran mentioned Hessian prisoners shot at Freeman's Farm, which led Van Buskirk to find a nurse's diary confirming the incident.
- She uses such cross-checks to separate accurate memories from lone claims in pension files.
