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Gary Nash's Motives Of The American Revolution

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Gary Nash's Motives Of The American Revolution
In the American Revolution, gaining freedom was the strongest motive for black slaves who joined the Patriot or British armies. The free black may have been drafted or enlisted at his own volition—Nash says they enlisted at higher rates than did whites.[1]

Additional motives for those who joined the rebel American forces could have been a desire for adventure, belief in the goals of the Revolution and the possibility of receiving a bounty. Bounties were monetary payments also the chance to be given freedom; they were promised to those who joined ether side. Free blacks in the North and South fought on both sides of the Revolution; slaves were recruited to weaken those masters who supported the opposing cause. Gary Nash reports that most blacks

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