1775

Prince Hall and 14 other free Black men in Boston are initiated into African Lodge No. 441 by a British military lodge attached to an Irish regiment stationed in Boston in 1775. After American Masonic lodges refuse them a charter, Hall obtains one directly from England's Grand Lodge in 1784, founding Prince Hall Freemasonry — the first Black civic organization in the United States.

Virginia's Royal Governor Lord Dunmore issued a proclamation offering freedom to enslaved men who escaped Patriot owners and joined British forces, leading to the formation of the Ethiopian Regiment of hundreds of Black soldiers. As many as 800 men joined and bore the motto 'Liberty to Slaves' on their uniforms, representing one of the largest freedom-seeking military actions in early American history.

Peter Salem, a formerly enslaved man from Framingham, Massachusetts who had been freed to serve in the militia, fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill and is credited by multiple contemporaries with shooting British Major John Pitcairn at a pivotal moment in the battle. Salem went on to serve throughout the Revolutionary War, fighting at Saratoga and Stony Point, and became one of the most celebrated Black soldiers of the conflict.

Fourteen officers of the Continental Army petitioned the Massachusetts General Court to formally recognize Salem Poor, a free Black soldier, for his exceptional bravery at the Battle of Bunker Hill, calling him a 'brave and gallant soldier.' This formal commendation by white officers was a rare and significant acknowledgment of Black military valor during the Revolutionary War.