Did Military Service Free Enslaved Soldiers in Revolutionary Massachusetts?

Histories often claim that enslaved men in Revolutionary Massachusetts routinely won their freedom by enlisting. The reasoning is simple: a man enlisted while enslaved and turned up free later, so service must have freed him. Research by John Hannigan for Minute Man National Historical Park shows the reality was murkier.

A cautionary case: Peter Salem

Peter Salem, one of the best-known soldiers of color from Massachusetts, marched with Framingham's minute company on April 19, 1775, and served almost continuously until March 1780. An 1887 town history claimed his enlistment was "a practical emancipation," since no slave could be mustered. But no record shows when or how Salem became free. He may have been freed to enlist — or have been free already.

The militia before the war

• 1693 onward: militia laws barred "Indians and negro's" from training days but required every householder to keep a musket.
• 1709: free Black men were exempted from training but had to turn out in an alarm. Probate records show they kept arms; the estate of Sash, a freed man who died in Bridgewater in 1730, listed a gun.
• The laws said little about enslaved men. They probably served in alarms or as servants to officers.

So on April 19, 1775, towns mustered every able-bodied man — free and enslaved men of color among them. At least eight were in minute companies, and perhaps forty more marched with the militia.

Shifting rules, 1775–1777

Massachusetts never enforced Congress's ban on enslaved soldiers. Its leaders were torn between ideals of liberty and fear of upsetting the South; they rejected a South Carolina motion to discharge all Black soldiers, yet never openly sanctioned enslaved enlistment. Drafted men could also hire substitutes: in 1778, Nathan Coolidge of Medfield sent James Arcules, a free African man, in his place.

Freedom by private bargain

At no point did Congress or Massachusetts offer freedom for service. Any deal was private — between the enslaved and their owners, officers or employers — and few were written down.

• Pomp Jackson enlisted on June 15, 1776; four days later his owner, Newburyport merchant Jonathan Jackson, freed him, citing the wrongness of bondage while the country fought for liberty. He reenlisted and served as a fifer until 1783.
• Brister, owned by John Cuming of Concord, served three enlistments as "Brister Cuming"; on his fourth, in 1779, he appears as "Brister Freeman." How he won freedom is unknown.
• Richard Hobby, 19, enlisted in 1781 without permission. When his owner came to West Point in 1783, a military court ruled the army's claim came first, and he stayed.
• Bacchus Cochran, hired as a substitute in Lincoln in 1781, was claimed by the Russell family; the legislature ruled enslaved men could not enlist without their owners' consent.

Bounties — and who kept them

Men of color often received the same bounties as white soldiers: in 1777 Plymouth County paid the same Continental and state bounties to Black recruits such as Aesop Jacobs and Asher Freeman. In Hingham in 1781, Black recruits received £60 to £72 for three years, within the range white recruits got.

But owners could profit. John Green of Medfield sent his slave Warwick in his place in 1776. Dr. Israel Ashley of Westfield gave his slave Gillam £30 of his bounty, kept the rest, and planned to send him back for more. The large bounties Northampton promised to Primus Jackall and Pelatiah McGoldsmith went to their owners.

The answer

Military service gave enslaved men a narrow opening to bargain for freedom. The loose, overlapping rules kept the army open to them — and left them at the mercy of owners and officials.

Sources

Based on John Hannigan, "Enslavement and Enlistment," a paper written as a Scholar in the Park (Friends of Minute Man National Park, summer 2014) and published by Minute Man National Historical Park, National Park Service, in the Patriots of Color series. It is summarized here in hubnx's own words; eighteenth-century documents are quoted briefly. Hannigan's sources include the Massachusetts Acts and Resolves, muster and bounty records, and J. H. Temple's History of Framingham (1887).