No African-American colonist signed the Declaration of Independence. Indeed, despite the Patriots' common use of the words slavery, tyranny, and oppression in making a case for separation from Great Britain, the signers of the Declaration did not consider the slavery as it was lived by African-American colonists a cause for revolution. Holding no promise for freedom for the men and women in bondage, the American Revolution posed difficult choices for black colonists. For some, the Revolution's rhetoric of freedom raised the hope that the ideals of the Revolution would mean freedom for all Americans. Despite the lack of a clear statement from the Patriots on how the Revolution could benefit African Americans, black militiamen took part in the Revolution's initial skirmishes at Lexington and Concord, and by the end of the conflict an estimated 5,000 African-American colonists had served the Patriot...